Augusta National Golf Club will likely look and feel slightly different for players and longtime Masters observers this year.
Fans will get their first look at the course, which suffered damage from Hurricane Helene, on Friday, when the Augusta National Women’s Amateur descends upon the home of The Masters, which begins April 10.
The consensus from Augusta National leadership, players, and other insiders who have already seen the course is that there is a lot less lumber than there was a year ago. “The loss of a few trees is definitely noticeable,” Rory McIlroy said last week, echoing a comment club chairman Fred Ridley made in January.
After a Masters tune-up trip to Augusta, McIlroy also noted that four greens, including the iconic 16th, had been redone, likely due to hurricane damage. But he said those holes still played mostly like they always have.
Augusta was one of the many cities and regions in the Southeast hit hard by the storm in September. It’s unclear how much money the damage cost Augusta National, but the club donated $5 million to the Hurricane Helene Community Crisis Fund. Annual renovations are also not uncommon at Augusta National, which closes each summer to make course modifications.
“I think there are going to be some areas that will absolutely look different to the patrons and to all of our viewers on TV,” CBS lead golf analyst Trevor Immelman, who played Augusta in January, said this week.
ESPN analyst Andy North felt the same way. “It’s been thinned out,” he said. “I would think for those of us who have been there for 30 or 40 years, you’ll definitely see the difference. For people coming back for the first or second time, maybe they won’t see as much.”
CBS, which will once again have weekend coverage of The Masters, does not plan on showing before-and-after shots of Augusta National to compare how the course looks this year versus last year.
