Perspectives on Course DesignPerspective of Golf Course Design

Large trees in a hole provide an obstacle in the sky to the strategy of the hole, and also serve to remind players of the width of the hole, how to attack the hole, safety zones, and target points by preventing hazards and suggesting risks. Large diameter trees in a hole should be maintained in their natural form so that they do not interfere with the surrounding trees and the course, and they should be maintained at an appropriate size to maintain the utility of the hazard in restricting the playing route. Pruning should be done by removing branches to prevent turf death due to lack of sunlight under the canopy, and by trimming branches and tress to maintain the natural shape of the tree. In addition, branches should be removed to prevent dewdrops from falling onto the greens and tees, and blocking sheets should be used to prevent roots from extending under the greens and tees. Especially around the greens, transplanting the trees to a distance of 20 meters or more and possibly cutting down the trees should be considered.

The trees separating the holes play an important role not only in separating the holes and providing ball protection, but also in influencing the scenery, style, and progress of play on the course. Thinning is important to create a forest zone with a natural appearance, with trees in the separating forest growing taller and thicker, and with more style. As a density guideline, one tree per 50 to 100 square meters in a forest of 10 to 15 meters in height and one tree per 100 to 150 square meters in a forest of 15 meters or more in height should be used as a sparse forest for conversion to giant trees. In addition, the density and height of the forest zone in flat halls dominated by a single tree species, such as pine in particular, should not be uniform, but should be grouped to create sparse and dense, high and low, to increase the ball protection effect, and it is important to manage logging to accentuate the view balance of the halls to create a better landscape for the future landscape.

It is important to ensure that the grass on the teeing ground recovers quickly from damage caused by fraying and trampling. In particular, it is essential to ensure sunlight and ventilation for the kohlai grass teeing ground, which will die if it receives 75% of insufficient sunlight. The trees on the south side of the teeing ground of the east-west facing holes should be cut down and converted to low shrubs within a distance of two-thirds of their height. Tall trees on the north side are acceptable, but should be pruned and limbed to prevent dewdrops from falling on the lawn.

Summer temperatures of 35°C or higher and soil temperatures of 28°C or higher in the summer cause stress above the growth limit of bentgrass, and in severe cases, summer decline, which results in death, becomes a serious problem. Especially last year, summer failure due to extreme heat was seen in many areas of bentgrass greens, and the key point is how to lower the soil temperature when the soil temperature in August and September exceeds the growth limit of 28°C. At the same time, it is important how to keep the soil temperature below 25°C, which stops new root development in June and July, for as long as possible. In order to keep the soil temperature as low as possible during the four-month period between June and July, it is most practical to first improve air circulation by thinning, cutting, and removing branches from trees around the greens. Even if the wind does not blow directly to the green surface due to the topography of the mound around the green, if the wind can flow about 1 m above the green surface, the warm moist air will move, which will generate a vaporization heat effect and lower the ground temperature. In addition, if thinning and cutting around the greens does not improve ventilation during the summer and a blower is installed, it can be expected to be more effective if thinning, cutting, and pruning are done together as much as possible. When thinning and felling around the greens where ventilation is poor due to tree cover, it is desirable to allow airflow from the southwest to northeast direction, but unless the area borders a large mound or a mountain slope, thinning, felling, and pruning should be done boldly while taking the landscape into consideration. If the trees cannot be thinned because of the width of the tree line, they should be cut in two or three directions in a line 5 to 10 meters wide in a direction that is difficult to see from the fairway side to improve ventilation on the greens and to make the remaining trees bigger, thereby enhancing the character of the course. Japanese golf courses tend to favor woodland courses, and golf courses also value trees. However, not cutting down trees is not the same as taking good care of them. We feel that it is necessary to thin, cut down, and prune trees as necessary, and to manage trees in a span of 5 to 10 years to provide not only green volume but also high quality greenery to players. Trees have different colors of leaves depending on their species, and the view balance and memorability of the course can be improved at a relatively low cost by systematically planting trees with different colors of leaves, flowering trees that give a sense of the season, and foliage that changes with the seasons. We would like to reaffirm that trees are more than just greenery on a golf course, and consider the importance of tree management and planting.

November 2011. (In cooperation with Ikki Publishing Co.