You've heard the expression: "even a blind squirrel finds a nut"? Well from that, one could surmise that maybe the furry little critter embroidered on the fronts of thousands of golf caps at this weekend's US Open at Oakmont is blind. I mean...he's got a golf ball in his paws...not a nut.
After reading the June edition of Golf Digest, I now know that this squirrel is not blind.
Documenting a tree removal program that ultimately disemboweled 5000+ hardwoods from Terra fir ma (in the middle of the night, no less), author Ron Whitten portrays Oakmont C.C. in a fairer light, now that the trees are gone, harking back to the day when course architect H.C. Fownes wanted to have a world class course to emulate the same vistas of his Scottish homeland. I suppose if you look at it from that perspective...they succeeded, and Whitten is correct.
But if you speak to the thousands of natures little creatures...native purple finches, northern cardinals, orchard orioles...they all left with the trees, and probably aren't very cordial: "Damn Chester...how long were we in Florida?...I feel the need to lighten my load...there's the super's car, and he left the top down! Banzai!!!!!".
Did Oakmont replace the trees with birdhouses to maintain the lost ones they removed? I didn't notice any from the pictures I've been seeing. Maybe they will after the tournament.
Folks have been tongue-in-cheek lobbying to replace the Oakmont squirrel with a more appropriate one...like a chainsaw, or instead of a logo...a motto: "I got your carbon footprint right here".
But I think the squirrel is appropriate, and I hope he stays. After all, he found a golf ball...not a nut.
Judging from the tree-less Oakmont, isn't that appropriate?!
Thanks for reading. Keep it in the short-grass,
JFB
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