CHARLESTON, S.C. - Rees Jones, who’s designing the second golf course on Daniel Island, has been called the "Open Doctor" for his redesign and renovation of golf courses preparing to host U.S. Open championships and other major golf tournaments. But there's another doctor whose skills also are playing a key role in how the new Daniel Island course will look and play. He's Kenneth Knox, aka "the tree doctor."
Knox's Hendersonville, N.C.-based company, Tree Doctor, has been hired by the Daniel Island Company to consult with Jones to minimize the number of trees that are removed or damaged during course construction. In addition to Knox, P.O. Mead, owner of Mead Tree Service, is part of the team working to preserve and maintain some of Daniel Island's most valuable natural resources.
"Our job is to save as many trees as we can while at the same time not interfering with the integrity of the golf course design," said Knox, a consulting arborist/urban forester who has worked with some of the nation's most prestigious courses, including Augusta National GC, Haig Point Club at Daufuskie Island, Belfair Plantation at Hilton Head Island and The Ocean Course at Kiawah Island, S.C.
This is the second project for Knox and Mead on Daniel Island, the 4,000-acre master-planned community in the city of Charleston. They also worked with course designer Tom Fazio on Fazio's Beresford Creek course that opened in 2000. After saving 80 percent of the trees marked for removal in the original course design, the Daniel Island Company was awarded one of only 10 "Building With Trees" awards of excellence from the National Arbor Day Foundation in 2003.
Once Knox identifies a tree he feels can be successfully transplanted, the team turns to Mead to prepare it for the move and to nurture it through the aftershock.
"By pruning, fertilizing, mulching and watering, we try to make the tree as comfortable as it can be and improve the chances of its long-term survival," Mead said.
"So many developers would have ravaged this land and shrugged their shoulders," Knox said. "But fortunately, Daniel Island had the vision to see how trees will enhance the beauty of the golf course not only for golfers, but for anyone who lives here or visits."
"Saving the magnificent trees on this island has been a priority from day one,” said Matt Sloan, Daniel Island's c.e.o.” Trees set the character of this course in much the same way they help define the character of Charleston and the South Carolina coast."
As a result of the planning and commitment to tree preservation, only 38 "grand" trees (30 inches or larger in diameter) - the majority of which were already badly deteriorated - had to be removed for the Jones course. Forty-four trees that were in the path of the course routing, including several live oaks, were either transplanted through the use of a giant tree spade or saved through "massaging" the original routing, Knox said. The cost to transplant each tree is about $3,500, excluding arborist services and care and maintenance.
Located within the City of Charleston, Daniel Island features distinctive neighborhoods with a mix of home styles and prices, and landscaped streets with sidewalks that encourage leisurely strolls and neighborly conversations. Daniel Island's growing collection of amenities includes not only the essential components of a community - schools, medical centers, boutiques, restaurants, office buildings, a church and a modern supermarket - but also world-class golf, tennis and soccer facilities. Access to hundreds of acres of parks, 23 miles of rivers and creeks with docks and boat ramps, bicycle and jogging paths, and a private in-town country club provide Daniel Island residents with a wide range of recreational options of the highest caliber.