Justin Thomas is not the Lorax but he speaks for the trees.
He thinks the golf courses have cut too much.
Thomas said so this week in a social network postCiting a hole on a famous course to emphasize his point: the par-4 16 at Pebble Beach Golf Links.
At 400 yards from the tips, the hole plays gently downhill from the tee, followed by an approach over a gully and between Monterey cypress goalposts. At least, it used to be. In early September, Pebble Beach removed the tree on the right, which was about 90 meters from the green.
In his commentary, Thomas criticized the change while making a broader case against removing the tree.
“Such a big hole,” he wrote. “It doesn’t make sense to me why they do this. When the places have to understand that getting rid of the trees is not the answer to make the courses better.”
A prominent player hitting a prominent course was always going to attract attention, especially on a subject that arouses strong opinions. Tree removal became a familiar focal point in an era defined by Golden age restorations intended to strip the courses to the way of playing, including tree corridors.
Of course, the armchair architects were ready to strike. others bump Pebble. Others still accused the USGA, claiming – without evidence – that the governing body ordered the tree gone to prepare the course for the US Open next year, which returns to Pebble Beach for the seventh time. It turns out some critics were barking up the wrong tree.
Thomas himself had committed an error of omission in failing to address the why. Courses remove trees for all kinds of reasons that have nothing to do with design philosophy. Some are agronomic: the trees compete with the turf for sunlight and water, they can choke off the airflow healthy grass needs, and their roots have a knack for cracking drainage pipes and cart paths. Courses plant trees for many reasons, too – sometimes for strategy, but also for aesthetics, or for safety, to keep golfers on narrow holes from getting into the fire of another.
In the case of the tree on the 16th at Pebble, the USGA he had nothing to do. A government spokesperson made this clear in an email to GOLFand Pebble Beach confirmed it.
The real explanation for removing the tree, a Pebble Beach spokesperson wrote in an email, was health. The tree “had become sick and infested beyond recovery, despite our efforts to treat it in the last two years. It was removed on the recommendation of a local certified arborist to prevent the risk of spreading to neighboring trees.”
Courses lose trees all the time, and Pebble is no exception. This past spring, the resort replaced a cypress on the 18th fairway which had been killed in a storm in 2014. In 2002, an 80-foot Monterey cypress was planted next to the 18th green, taken from the 1st hole to replace the original, which had died of pitch canker disease.
That transplant – digging a giant hole, maneuvering a giant root ball into one place – was something of a spectacle. But it wasn’t scattered and distorted by social media.
The facts are these: The tree is gone, and it was removed because it was sick. Reasonable people can disagree whether the hole is better or worse without it. Pebble Beach said GOLF that he stays in touch with his arborist about the possibility of planting something new in his place. It’s TBD. If it remains an empty spot, count on Justin Thomas to be asked about the US Open next year.
