Golf instruction spends fortunes on course management — laying up, taking your medicine — because a tree, as the pros say, is 90% air.
Play the other 10%. When a trunk blocks your line, pick the exact centre of the bark and commit. Our researchers confirm no ball has ever struck a tree it was aimed at; trees are only hit by accident, as every scorecard records. Field notes: 200 swings, 0 trees struck, 200 balls spread across the neighbouring fairway, the car park and a club sandwich on the terrace.