Tree removal it’s all the rage in golf these days. He makes ground in the air and the sun’s raysbrings back the classic visuals and gives the courses a cleaner look. But there is a right way to do it. And then there’s what happened at Cokato Town & Country Club.
Sometime in the early hours of Thursday morning, a vandal (or was it vandals?) entered the modest nine-hole course in Cokato, Minn. — about an hour west of Minneapolis — and felled a 70-foot Douglas fir believed to be nearly 100 years old. The tree had stood in a strategic position at the turn of the par-4 7th hole, right of a bogey.
Eyewitnesses reported seeing a silver and white pickup truck by the course around 2 a.m., and someone crossing the darkened road toward the 7th hole.
Cokato board member Adam Tabberson said GOLF.com on Thursday that the club was operating under the assumption that the culprit had played the course and had a score to settle with the conifer.
“Depending on your game, it can definitely be a problem,” Tabberson said. “You had a good chance of hitting him if you sliced ​​him.”
It wasn’t always like that. Cokato first opened for play in 1929, but was rebuilt in the late 1950s. As part of a fairway change, the fairway moved from factoring on the 5th hole (of course, it was much smaller then) to its position on the 7th. That part of the story is now gone, and unlike a the stolen flag or a damaged bunker, it cannot be replaced or repaired quickly.
“We’re going to have to plant something much smaller and wait for it to grow,” Tabberson said.
Cleaning is not even a tool.
Tabberson said cutting and clearing the fallen tree will cost more than $5,000, a hefty bill for a facility that requires $15 for pedestrians and $25 to close it twice. However, the club is willing to spend to address this issue. It is offering a $2,000 reward for information leading to the responsible party.
On Thursday, play continued as usual at Cokato as the tree cleared the fairways and did not damage the course – a silver lining in an otherwise dark situation.
“Running a golf course is hard enough as it is,” Tabberson said. “Something like this, it’s just a problem.”
