Augusta National is just one course in the region still picking up after Hurricane Helene’s devastation

Blasted by Hurricane Helene like the rest of the region, the golf courses that make up much of the Augusta area’s identity continue to slowly dig out from the damage caused by the storm.

Thousands of tall pines, oaks and other hardwoods that once lined fairways and greens now lie toppled over or have been cut up and stacked like cordwood in huge piles.

But in several locations, courses have reopened and golfers are back on the links.

A sample of how the Augusta area’s golf courses fared include an estimated 300 trees downed at the Augusta Municipal Golf Course. Other courses also were victims of the 80 mph-plus winds that slammed the area on Sept. 27. Forest Hills Golf Club had an estimated 2,000 trees damaged. West Lake Country Club cleared out some 1,100 trees, while Goshen Plantation Golf Club had more 300 trees blown over or damaged.

Even Augusta National Golf Club, the course that put Augusta on the golfing map, suffered serious damage. During a news conference in Japan earlier this month, club Chairman Fred Ridley said the course was seriously damaged by the hurricane.

“Our Augusta community has suffered catastrophic and historic impact from Hurricane Helene. We currently are assessing the effects at Augusta National Golf Club,” wrote club Chairman Fred Ridley. “In the meantime, our focus and efforts are foremost with our staff, neighbors and business owners in Augusta. Our thoughts and prayers are with them as well as everyone throughout Georgia and the Southeast who have been affected.”

He added that the club will be up and running “sooner rather than later.” Augusta National officials could not immediately be reached for comment.

Goshen owner Spike Kelley said after Helene blew through Augusta his crew got busy cleaning up the mess, breaking out the chain saws and putting heavy equipment to work pushing trees off the fairways and into the rough.

Goshen had nine holes open within a week of the storm and the remaining nine within the following seven days.

Coverage from the Augusta Chronicle:

• Here’s how Augusta area’s rural electric companies are reconnecting customers after Helene
• ‘All in shock’: UGA fraternity brothers ride east to help with Augusta clean-up efforts
• What will happen to the fallen trees, limbs? One group is trying to keep it out of the landfill
• ‘It’s a humanitarian crisis’: TikTok video of Augusta Helene damage amasses 1.5M views

“We started in the middle of the fairway and pushed the debris and everything to the side of the fairway. They pushed that to the rough and into the extreme rough. And once we got the hole playable, then we could let people play,” Kelly said Saturday.

Demarcus Lanham, assistant pro at the Augusta municipal course, said there were about 55 people out playing Saturday, about half the number usually playing during a weekend.

Because of downed trees still lying helter-skelter about the grounds, the course was not yet completely open. Golfers were limited to playing only nine holes this past weekend, Lanham said.

Vinny Brooks came out to play a few rounds Saturday and enjoy the sunshine at the course, also known as The Patch. But he said it was emotional for him to see the wind-blown tree damage.

Brooks said he has been playing at The Patch since 1979 with a group of friends known as the Irish Mafia. The damage from Hurricane Helene was the worst he had ever seen in the Augusta area, even worse than the destruction caused by the ice storm that hit the area some 10 years ago.

The numerous trees lying on their sides with their root balls exposed had turned a “pretty” course into a landscape that was not easy for Brooks to look at. And it had him feeling blue.

“When you see this kind of damage, and you’ve never seen it before ― you always hear it, watch it on TV ― it’s depressing when it happens to you. I can’t imagine how people in Florida feel,” Brooks said of Florida residents who went through Hurricane Milton shortly after Helene raged through the Augusta area.

“It was hard for me to come out here see this course like this. It’s always been a pretty course,” Brooks said.

Because of the potential danger from damaged trees, Lanham and Kelley both said players at their courses were discouraged from going into the rough to shag a wandering ball. Until the damaged trees were cleaned up, The Patch also was closing early, at 5 p.m., for the safety of players.

Lanham said officials hoped to have crews come out to assess the damage and begin cleanup this week.

James Shulfer said he came out to play Saturday to get away from the difficulties caused by the hurricane and other issues weighing on him.

“I come here to recharge and to renew myself,” Shulfer said. “I can just come and be myself and just relax, kind of let go of all that. Yeah, you just forget about all that. Here you just have to focus on one thing ― to hit the ball and find it and hit it again. And that’s your only goal.”

It was tough for the first two weeks after Helene came through and the municipal course was closed, Shulfer said. He wasn’t sure if would even reopen again.

“So I actually came here and walked the course, and I was devastated when I found those beautiful trees that I’ve grown to love and hate at the same time were gone,” he said.

One big oak tree that had for years slapped down the balls he tried to hit over and around it was now gone, struck down by the wind. But since he has returned to the course, he misses his old nemesis, which lies horizontal on the grass.

Also lost was the communal shade tree where the Irish Mafia would gather after a round of golf, Shulfer said.

“I love the character of this course. It’s a beautiful, walkable course. But now it’s totally different. It’s been scarred. It’s almost like I will always see those scars, even though they will replant trees. I will always remember the course the way I first played it, and just like everyone has played it since 1928 when it was first opened,” Shulfer said.