Regardless of Augusta Nationwide injury, Masters will not be delayed, chairman says

Because the Southeast reels within the aftermath of Hurricane Helene — the deadliest storm to hit the U.S. mainland in practically twenty years — one other section of the wreckage is about to start.

Some cities have been destroyed, others are nonetheless inaccessible, others are nonetheless with out energy or operating water, and the search and rescue for these nonetheless in want of assistance is ongoing.

In Augusta, Ga., many are struggling to safe the fundamentals of meals, water and electrical energy. Some nonetheless lack a correct shelter. The Washington Put up not too long ago hung out in Augusta to report on the reduction efforts, and on Wednesday U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris visited the town.

Augusta Nationwide Golf Membership, the house of the Masters, despatched out an announcement over the weekend.

“Our Augusta neighborhood has suffered catastrophic and historic affect from Hurricane Helene,” Fred Ridley, the chairman of Augusta Nationwide, mentioned within the assertion. “We presently are assessing the consequences at Augusta Nationwide Golf Membership. Within the meantime our focus and efforts are foremost with our workers, neighbors and enterprise house owners in Augusta. Our ideas and prayers are with them in addition to everybody all through Georgia and the Southeast who’ve been affected.”

A number of days later and the world over on the Asia Pacific Newbie Championship in Japan — an occasion run by Augusta Nationwide and the R&A — Ridley spoke to the media and supplied one other replace.

“What I actually have been most happy with is whereas everybody actually is targeted on getting us up, again and operating, our staff have been so targeted on the neighborhood at giant,” Ridley mentioned early Thursday morning, in keeping with Golf Digest. “We’ve been capable of deal with our staff, however we’ve additionally been targeted on what the Pink Cross and different organizations are doing in Augusta, and our staff actually have been an enormous a part of that, which I feel actually speaks for them and the tradition on the membership.”

Ridley added that the golf course was affected simply as the remainder of the neighborhood has been, and that “there was plenty of injury and now we have lots of people working onerous to get us again up and operating.”

Ridley additionally mentioned the membership “shall be again in enterprise sooner moderately than later,” and “[the Masters] shall be on the dates it’s scheduled to be held.”

The 2025 Masters is slated for April 10-13.

Whereas Augusta Nationwide’s tight-lipped tradition and golf course that’s principally hidden amongst towering pines means we’ll possible see little visible proof of the injury, some images and movies have circulated on social media.

Josh Berhow

Golf.com Editor

As GOLF.com’s managing editor, Berhow handles the day-to-day and long-term planning of one of many sport’s most-read information and repair web sites. He spends most of his days writing, enhancing, planning and questioning if he’ll ever break 80. Earlier than becoming a member of GOLF.com in 2015, he labored at newspapers in Minnesota and Iowa. A graduate of Minnesota State College in Mankato, Minn., he resides within the Twin Cities along with his spouse and two youngsters. You may attain him at joshua_berhow@golf.com.