The President of the Masters confirms that the Augusta National course suffered greatly from the passage of Hurricane Helene

The president of the Augusta National Golf Club, Fred Ridley, did not seek to minimize the damage caused by the passage of Hurricane Helene on the Masters course during a press conference of the Asia-Pacific Amateur Championship in Japan on Thursday.

The president of Augusta National, Fred Ridleyconfirmed that Hurricane Helene which swept through the South-Eastern region of the United States at the end of last week had caused significant damage to the Masters course.

As far as the golf course goes, it was really hit along with the rest of the community…There was a lot of damage and we have a lot of people working to get it back up and running.

However, it was the dramatic consequences of the storm on the community that he wanted to focus the spotlight on. In fact, the American media speak of 190 people dead and many homes are without electricity.

“We have been without electricity, water and other essential things for several days, Ridley said. It really makes you understand what can happen when a natural disaster like this happens. »

Remember that to this day more than 225,000 residents of Augusta where the course is located in Georgia still do not have electricity.

“As far as the golf course goes, it was really hit along with the rest of the community…There was a lot of damage and we have a lot of people working to get it back up and running.” »

Hopes

A few days ago, the president ofAugusta National Golf Club had given itself a little time to assess the effects of the storm without forgetting the inhabitants of the region in order to emphasize that the important thing remained human lives. In his press conference on Thursday, he again prioritized the impact on the community before talking about the club.

“Dozens of people have worked at the club, and what I’m truly most proud of is that while everyone only talks to us about the course and the club, our employees are most focused on the communityand pointed out Ridley. We’ve been able to take care of our employees, but we’ve also been focused on what the Red Cross and other organizations are doing in Augusta. Our employees really played an important role. »

On the sidelines of this press conference, Augusta National announced that it is donating $5 million to the Hurricane Helene Community Crisis Fund, which supports local relief efforts throughout the greater Augusta community.

Ridley added that he was confident that next year’s Masters would be held as scheduled from April 10-13.