Hurricane Helene hit Augusta National last summer. What it left is noticeable, not necessarily bad

AUGUSTA, Ga. (AP) — The patrons walking up the first fairway at Augusta National during a sun-splashed practice round for the Masters managed to find a nice viewpoint between a couple of pines, where they watched as Justin Rose hit an approach shot to the green.

There are quite a few more places for them to perch after Hurricane Helene tore through Georgia last summer.

By the time the deadly Category 4 storm churned north and finally dissipated, it left in its wake an estimated 1 million downed trees, thousands without power, and some 7 million cubic yards of debris to pick up. The city of Augusta was devastated, and the pristine property that annually hosts golf's most revered tournament was left with its own massive clean-up effort.

Nearly six months later, it's hard to tell anything was ever amiss. The fairways and greens are perfectly manicured, the azaleas once again in bloom. All that are missing are the hundreds of trees that failed to survive the storm.

"It almost felt like I was playing the back nine for the first time," two-time major winner Xander Schauffele said. "There's trees you aim at off the tee, and over the 11th green you can — when you're walking down 10, you can see half the course."

That sweeping vista left Schauffele with mixed feelings. In some respects, it was neat to see what was happening elsewhere on the property, thanks to panoramic views that are probably a lot like what Alister MacKenzie and Bobby Jones would have had as they plotted the layout on a former nursery and antebellum plantation in the early 1930s.

In other respects, Schauffele said, “it's sad to see, too, how many trees have fallen.”

The missing trees should not demonstrably affect the way the course plays when the Masters begins Thursday. Some of those towering pines served as convenient aiming points — over the 11th green, for example — but markers that are just as helpful. And the most wayward shots will still be penalized by trunks and limbs among the pine straw.

"When you're hitting into the trees," Scottie Scheffler said, "you're still going to be in a good amount of trouble."

The more interesting discussion seems to center on whether the loss of so many trees was an unintended positive.

John Fought played in the Masters three times in the 1970s and ‘80s before his second career as a lauded golf course architect behind such well-known layouts as Pumpkin Ridge in Oregon. He's among many who have embraced the removal of unnecessary trees at such classic courses as Oakmont, and restoring them to the what their original designers intended.

“In my opinion the course has undergone a lot of change. Not just in length — which is obvious — but also in its tree planting,” Fought said, pointing specifically to trees down the right of No. 11 and behind Nos. 15 and 17. “Some of this tree planting has been good, but overall it has changed the course markedly from the course Bobby Jones and Alister Mackenzie envisioned.”

Indeed, Jones and MacKenzie often said that St. Andrews served as an inspiration for Augusta National. It is evident in the large, undulating greens, the absence of penal rough, and the risk-reward opportunities that exist across the course.

There are no towering pines on the windswept Scottish coast, though.

“St. Andrews is wide open with many angles to play from. I would like to see more of that," Fought said. “Don’t get me wrong, I love the Masters and how it is run, but I have observed that trees have become a dominating force in the design.”

Much of that has been by necessity.

One way to combat advancements in technology, and force players to hit similar shots to those of decades ago, has been to lengthen the course. But another has been to tighten it. When the club transplanted 36 pines in 2003, then-Masters chairman Hootie Johnson said the impetus was to continue “our long-standing emphasis on accuracy off the tee.”

In the late 1990s, longtime New Yorker and Golf Digest writer David Owen was asked to write a history of the club, and granted unfettered access to its vast archives. His book, “The Making of the Masters,” is considered its definitive account.

Owen points out that Jones “described the course as ‘of national design,’” and he embraced changes suggested by many people. And while Mackenzie did call St. Andrews the model, “you kind of have to suspend disbelief to see real similarities.”

“I would say the changes have been necessary,” Owen concluded. “Pros today would annihilate the course as it was in 1934.”

How they will fare in 2025 remains to be seen.

Thanks to Hurricane Helene, those walking the property this week at least will have different places to watch it.

“I just think it looks better. I don’t know why I say that,” admitted Fred Couples, the 1992 Masters champion. "The other day we played No. 1 and we were standing on the green and you just look right down and you see a lot more room on the ninth tee. I think that’s kind of cool. You can watch people hit. There’s a few areas where it blew right through there, but for me personally, I know a lot of trees went down. I know this town was devastated. But the golf course is unbelievable.

“There’s still a lot of trees,” Couples said. “My God.”

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