Golf Fans Want to Know Why Oakmont Removed Trees Amid U.S. Open — Here's What We Know

The U.S. Open is underway at the Oakmont Country Club in Oakmont, Pennsylvania, and fans are wondering why Oakmont removed trees from the golf course.

The golf tournament began on June 12 and will finish up on June 15. According to NBC Sports, Oakmont is hosting the U.S. Open for the 10th time, and the golf course has a reputation for being the hardest course in the United States.

In the 1960s and '70s, the course was lined with more than 15,000 trees, and golf pros and fans alike weren't happy with the tree removal. The course was built by architect Henry Fownes in 1903. Thousands of trees were later added to help mute the view and noise coming from the nearby Pennsylvania Turnpike. With the trees being so aesthetically pleasing and well-liked by golf pros, fans are wondering why Oakmont removed the trees as the golf tournament gets underway.

Chairman of the Oakmont Country Club grounds committee, R. Banks-Smith, said during an interview in 2007 that the trees had become overgrown, which sparked the removal project.

“We were finding that those little trees had all grown up and they were now hanging over some bunkers,” he said. “And once you put a tree on either side of a bunker, you lose your bunker. So, you have to make a decision. Do you want bunkers or do you want trees?”

Tree roots can also become overgrown, and they can make the turf harder to maintain. Too much shade can cause soggy conditions as well, according to Golf Monthly. The tree removal began in the 1990s to improve playing conditions and restore the golf course to its original glory, according to an Oakmont committee member.

“The issue was never about the virtues or liabilities of trees," they said. "Our sole motivation was to reclaim the Fownes' legacy and protect his vision for the golf course.”

Scottie Scheffler, who is ranked the No. 1 golfer in the world, said he is not a fan of the tree removal.

“They take out all the trees and they make the greens bigger and they typically make the fairways a little bigger, as well,” he said. “And so, the only barrier to guys just trying to hit it as far as they want to or need to, it’s trees.”

“I’m not always the biggest fan of mass tree removal,” he continued. “I feel a lot of courses that aren’t links courses get framed nicely with trees, not like you’re opening it up to go play way over there.”

“When you host a championship tournament, if there’s no trees, you just hit it wherever you want, because if I miss a fairway by 10 yards, I’m in the thick rough, but if I miss by 20, I’m in the crowd."

Retired golf pro Jack Nicklaus is also not a big fan of the tree removal.

“Why take a beautiful, gorgeous tree down?” he said. “Like Oakmont, for example. What’s the name of it? Oak. Mont. What’s that mean? Oaks on a mountain, sort of. And then they take them all down. I don’t like it.”