One of the dominant stories the last few years around Augusta National has been trees … and how they’re not staying upright.
Two years ago, it was heavy winds that dropped three trees during the tournament, crashing across the 17th hole in what was a very dangerous event. Thankfully, no one was injured. In the past year, far more significant damage took place when Hurricane Helene rolled through the southeast. In its wake, and despite far more important issues than the health of a golf course, Helene has altered the look of Augusta National, if ever so slightly.
But if there’s anything we know for sure about the most famous golf club in the world, it’s that they have a maintenance and agronomy staff like no other — and one that jumps into action immediately. Three-time Masters champ Phil Mickelson offered a reminder of that on Wednesday.
During a pre-tournament press conference for LIV Miami, Mickelson was asked if he had visited the course this spring. He said he had not, but then jumped in to share a story about massive trees falling. “I’ll give you a little Augusta story, if I may, while we’ve got a minute,” he began.
“Speaking of trees going down, I was playing a practice round there one year. It was two weeks prior to the tournament. Probably nobody even knows that this happened. Two weeks prior to the tournament, I’m playing the 11th hole, I’m back lining up my tee shot, and I see this tree on the left fall over right in the middle of the fairway — crash down, like, right by the group in front of us. They were probably 100 yards away. This massive Georgia pine comes down, rips up the fairway and so forth.
“By the time I had walked from my tee shot into the fairway, I could hear on the walkie-talkie Get off of 2, get to 11, Get off of 4, get to 11. And these — hundred workers, I don’t know how many — there were a number of workers piling in, racing to this tree, firing up the chainsaws, started cutting this thing down.”
It calls to mind the reaction in 2023. The second round of the tournament was in progress when those trees fell across the 17th hole. Luckily, there was a gap between groups, and no players were on the hole at the time. But almost immediately after the trees had fallen, play was suspended for the day and patrons were asked to leave the property. Competitors were ushered into the clubhouse, photographers and media were asked to stay in the media center, and those chainsaws were up and running within minutes.
I had rushed down to the scene to report on the incident, and couldn’t get within 100 yards. A ladder had been brought out to remove the 15 feet or so of tree that still stood beneath the crack. The rain couldn’t dampen the smell of fresh sawdust in the air. But by the time everyone returned the next morning, maybe 12 hours later, it was as though nothing had happened. Mickelson’s experience is quite similar.
