Golf’s famous ‘Hinkle Tree’ from ’79 Open uprooted by wind

TOLEDO, Ohio (AP) — A tree famous in pro golf for appearing overnight during the 1979 U.S. Open has met its end. The Black Hills spruce known as “The Hinkle Tree” was partially uprooted by wind this week at Inverness Club in Toledo, Ohio, and was cut down. It was a tree with a backstory. Lon Hinkle was playing in the 79th Open when he took a shortcut by hitting through a gap in a row of trees. The maneuver allowed him to make an easy birdie but infuriated U.S. Golf Association officials. So overnight, they brought in the tree to block the shortcut.