Ridley: Masters will go on 'as scheduled'
ANGC is 'in recovery mode' after 'catastrophic weather event;' donates $5M to relief efforts
Club chairman Fred Ridley spoke at the Asia-Pacific Amateur in Japan (AAC)
Augusta National chairman Fred Ridley said Thursday in Japan that he expects the Masters Tournament to be played as planned in April, but he is more focused on recovery efforts in the Augusta, Georgia, region after Hurricane Helene ravaged the area last week.
The club, in partnership with the Community Foundation for the Central Savannah River Area, is making a joint $5 million donation to the Hurricane Helene Community Crisis Fund, which will support local relief efforts in response to the devastating impact of the storm throughout the greater Augusta community.
“I was in Augusta in the days immediately after the storm and have seen firsthand its devastating impact,” Ridley said. “Our employees, neighbors, friends and business owners need, and deserve, immediate and meaningful assistance to overcome the hardships being experienced at this moment throughout Augusta.
“Augusta National and the Community Foundation each take to heart our obligation to care for our community. Our goal is to make a difference when it’s needed the most, and our hope is that our gift may inspire others to assist or ask how they may contribute to this critical mission.”
Ridley understandably offered few details about the actual damage to Augusta National as employees and community residents are still reeling after the brunt of the storm passed directly through the town and inflicted considerable damage. Helene tore through Augusta and the surrounding area early Friday with winds of 82 mph and gusts estimated at 100 mph.
“… if it’s humanly possible, we’ll be back in business sooner rather than later.”
— Fred Ridley, ANGC chairman
At the Asia-Pacific Amateur Championship in Japan, Ridley was joined by R&A CEO Martin Slumbers in a joint news conference as the first round of the event was being played in Taiheiyo Club in Gotemba. The winner gets a spot in both the Masters and British Open next year.
“Several or our key people are not here this year and they stayed behind in Augusta to really care for our employees and the community as they recover from what was really a very catastrophic weather event or hurricane that came through Augusta and many other areas in the Southeast last week,” Ridley said. “Something that I’ve really never seen in my lifetime.
“And so we are busy at Augusta. I was there the last couple of days, I was a couple days late coming here, and we are in recovery mode. We are really focusing on our employees and our neighbors, business owners at Augusta to try to help everybody get back on their feet.
“We have been without power and water and other essentials for a number of days. So it really does impress upon you what can happen when there’s a natural disaster such as that.”
Asked specifically about the tournament, Ridley said: “I’m confident that the Masters will be held on the dates that it’s scheduled to be held.”
Augusta National has been closed since late May and was scheduled to reopen for members and guests on Oct. 13. Ridley was not specific if that opening date would be pushed back.
“We’ve literally had dozens of people working at the club and what I’ve really been most proud of is while everyone certainly is focused on getting us back up and running, our employees have been so focused on the community at large,” he said.
“As far as the golf course, it really was affected just as the rest of the community was. There was a lot of damage. 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’ll be back in business sooner rather than later.”
Golf courses across the CSRA lost trees by the hundreds, including Augusta National’s neighbor Augusta Country Club which reportedly had roughly 600 downed trees across its property. Forest Hills Country Club and the Summerville area of town were particularly hard hit as well with trees downed across the course as well as the nearby Augusta University campus.
“Broccoli tree” at Champions Retreat was one of thousands lost in Helene (Champions Retreat)
Champions Retreat in Evans, which plays host to the first two rounds of the Augusta National Women’s Amateur, “lost 1,453 trees,” according to an Instagram post, including its signature “broccoli tree” that stood solitary sentinel along the Savannah River as the aiming point on the fourth hole of the Arnold Palmer Island nine.
Brooks Blackburn, the general manager at Palmetto Golf Club in Aiken, S.C., notified members that the 132-year-old course lost “too many trees to count.”
“Mark Swygert (superintendent) and his staff are starting the cleanup process,” Blackburn said. “We have lost too many trees to count but I would say it is well over 100 (not all in significant areas).”
Aiken Golf Club owner Jim McNair Jr. told the Aiken Standard the club “lost a huge number of 100-year-old pines.”
Zac Blair wrote on Instagram that his Tree Farm course in Aiken lost more than 400 trees: “I feel very fortunate that The Tree Farm made it through the hurricane virtually unscathed. Of the nearly 400 trees that went down none of them severely damaged any greens, tees, fairways or buildings.”
In addition to its $5 million donation to the Community Crisis Fund, Augusta National, the Community Foundation for the CSRA and the Medical College of Georgia Foundation made separate contributions to support the response and recovery efforts, led by the American Red Cross and other local community partners. Among the efforts led by the American Red Cross are a mobile feeding truck and associated recovery center.