Hurricane Helene ripped through the south-eastern United States last week and the iconic Augusta National now faces a race against the clock to be ready for next year’s Masters after feeling the wrath of the category four storm.
There is a considerable clean up effort underway at the venue as flooding turned Raes Creek – situated at the 11th, 12th and 13th holes as part of ‘Amen Corner’ – into a river, while roughly 225km/h winds toppled trees across the site.
Drone footage showed the debris on the iconic Magnolia Lane and throughout the course, many tall pine trees have been downed leading to the loss of electricity and power.
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Play was suspensed during last year’s Masters due to three trees falling near large a group of spectators because of high winds, so a Hurricane would surely only cause more damage.
The Associated Press reported that at least 133 deaths across the USA’s southern states have been attributed to the storm as flooding and fallen trees have caused massive destruction to property.
Many locals are currently relying on services like the Red Cross to access essentials: food, water, electricty and shelter.
Augusta National Golf Club chairman Fred Ridley announced that club has donated $5 million to fund recovery efforts in their local area and wanted to focus on the community before discussing the impact on The Masters – which is scheduled to begin on April – when speaking at the Asia-Pacific Amateur Championship in Japan on Thursday.
“I was in Augusta in the days immediately after the storm and have seen firsthand its devastating impact,” Ridley said.
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“Our employees, neighbours, friends and business owners need and deserve immediate and meaningul assistance to overcome the hardships being experienced at this moment throughout Augusta.
“As far as the golf course, it really was affected just as the rest of the community was. There was a lot of damage and we have a lot of people working hard to get us back up-and-running.
“We don’t really know exactly what that’s going to mean, but I can tell you, if it’s humanly possible, we will back in business sooner rather than later.
“We’ve had literally dozens of people working at the club, and what I really have been most proud of is while everyone certainly is focused on getting us up, back and running, our employees have been so focused on the community at large.
“We’ve been able to take care of our employees, but we’ve also been focused on what the Red Cross and other organisations are doing in Augusta, and our employees really have been a big part of that, which I think really speaks for them and the culture at the club.
“Back to one of the first questions, The Masters will be held, it will be on the dates it’s scheduled to be held.”
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