One of the first things you notice when you enter the grounds of Oak Hill Country Club is the giant oak trees.
Oak Hill Country Club has thousands of towering Oak Trees. That was not the case when it opened in 1926. The land was actually barren and unattractive.
“If you look at early photographs of this location it was basically farmed out land,” Fred Beltz said.
Two men played key roles in making Oak hill what it is today. Famous golf course Architect Donald Ross was asked if the land had potential.
“And Donald Ross came back and said absolutely. The rolling hills, the Allens Creek wandering through. This has the potential to be a great golf area,” Baltz said.
But there were no Oak trees at Oak Hill.
“Those are all the result of Dr. John R. Williams,” he said.
Dr. Williams was a well known local physician. He loved Oak Hill so much he retired and became an aborist. They say he lost count after planting 75,000 seedlings. To find seedlings for the new Oak Hill Dr. Williams got acorns from the great forests of Europe and those are planted here today. The golf course’s famous Leaning Oak is one of the trees planted by Dr. Williams. In the early 70s it started to tip, so horticulturalists carefully built a steel beam to support the beloved tree and save it. Oak Hill horticulturalist Scott Wheeler says the Leaning Oak is a symbol for how important these trees are.
“And a lot of places you go big trees all over and you don’t really notice them. But here they’re such a focus of this property everyone has a really vested interest in them,” he said.
So whether you are visiting Oak Hill in person, or at home watching on TV, take a moment to appreciate the real stars on this golf course-the trees.
Oak Hill Country Club has thousands of towering Oak Trees. That was not the case when it opened in 1926. The land was actually barren and unattractive.
“If you look at early photographs of this location it was basically farmed out land,” Fred Beltz said.
Two men played key roles in making Oak hill what it is today. Famous golf course Architect Donald Ross was asked if the land had potential.
“And Donald Ross came back and said absolutely. The rolling hills, the Allens Creek wandering through. This has the potential to be a great golf area,” Baltz said.
But there were no Oak trees at Oak Hill.
“Those are all the result of Dr. John R. Williams,” he said.
Dr. Williams was a well known local physician. He loved Oak Hill so much he retired and became an aborist. They say he lost count after planting 75,000 seedlings. To find seedlings for the new Oak Hill Dr. Williams got acorns from the great forests of Europe and those are planted here today. The golf course’s famous Leaning Oak is one of the trees planted by Dr. Williams. In the early 70s it started to tip, so horticulturalists carefully built a steel beam to support the beloved tree and save it. Oak Hill horticulturalist Scott Wheeler says the Leaning Oak is a symbol for how important these trees are.
“And a lot of places you go big trees all over and you don’t really notice them. But here they’re such a focus of this property everyone has a really vested interest in them,” he said.
So whether you are visiting Oak Hill in person, or at home watching on TV, take a moment to appreciate the real stars on this golf course-the trees.
