Masters champion Patrick Reed stunned on return to Augusta after Hurricane Helene damaged iconic course
2018 Masters champion Patrick Reed was left stunned by the condition of Augusta National ahead of next week's major championship.
The Masters will take place on April 10-13, six months on from catastrophic Hurricane Helene that swept through the southeastern United States in late September of last year, leaving unfathomable damage in its wake.
Augusta National didn't escape the havoc as the iconic golf course fell victim to the 130mph gusts that left the notoriously private club in disarray.
Drone footage in the aftermath of Helene laid bare the apocalyptic scenes and many were left fearing what the journey down Magnolia Lane would reveal.
Yet, Reed, who carried out a scouting trip to the course last week, was shocked to discover the hallowed ground of Augusta National in its famously pristine condition.
'I heard obviously that with the awful hurricane that came through that they lost a ton of trees,' Reed said Wednesday ahead of LIV Golf's Miami event, per Sports Illustrated. 'I was expecting it to look a lot different and play a little different, right? Because with less trees it might play different.
Patrick Reed was left stunned by the condition of Augusta National ahead of The Masters
Reed, who won The Masters in 2018, carried out a scouting trip to the course last week
'There's definitely some trees gone, some areas that were really, really thick and now you can see a little more through them. But the actual playability of the golf course hasn't changed. All the trees that come into play, all the trees down the edges of the fairways... all those are still there. All of those that are in the way.'
Reed, who is one of 12 LIV players in the Masters field for next week, joked that he wished the trees that prove to be more of a trap for him had been eliminated.
Two of the felled trees caused significant damaged to the typically treacherous 16th after they came crashing down onto the green. Yet, Reed remarked that even the par-3 had maintained its menacing character.
'The golf course looked amazing,' added Reed. 'The green at (No. 16) was completely destroyed (due to two large trees falling on it). They had to redo the whole thing. I mean, it's still the same diabolical fun green. Obviously the people who have been there are going to see a bit of a difference, but the playability to me didn't really change at all.'
As a former champion the 34-year-old is afforded the luxury of staying at Augusta National ahead of the major championship, which he did not waste.
'I go there and grind,' Reed, who has three top 10s since his victory, said of his tune-up. 'Play as many times as I can just to reconfirm things I saw in previous years to make sure that it was accurate, not just a fluke or something happening, just still getting more and more comfortable with that place.'
Footage of the course shared last October, two weeks after Hurricane Helene blasted through the region, showed the iconic undulating fairways in tatters.
As the drone flew over the fabled Amen Corner, as many as five felled trees could be seen strewn along the course with some even infringing on the usually immaculate fairways of golf's most famous course.
Augusta National sustained severe damage after Hurricane Helene swept through the region
Augusta's iconic par-three 16th hole suffered the most devastation from the 130mph winds
In other shots, tee boxes looked to have narrowly avoided demolition after the massive trunks of Augusta's emblematic pines came crashing down around the spots where the sport's biggest stars will begin their bids to slip into the Green Jacket next week.
Meanwhile, in other photos Augusta's 16th hole - the legendary home of Tiger Woods' celebrated chip-in in 2005 - lay in ruination.
The Par-3 was said to be 'wrecked' with two fallen trees seen sprawled across Redbud's bunker-bordered sloping green and the hole's frontside water trap a muddied-brown color.
Other shocking images showed Magnolia Lane completely disheveled with tree trunks blocking the famous entryway to the clubhouse.
Yet, Augusta National chairman Fred Ridley always maintained that the battle for the Green Jacket would go ahead as planned.
'The Masters will be held, [and] it will be on the dates it's scheduled to be held,' he insisted during a press conference at the Asia-Pacific Amateur Championship in Japan in October.
