Augusta National is the premier golf course in America and arguably one of the most famous courses in the entire world. Augusta National is home to the most important golf tournament of the year, The Masters. But even landmarks like Augusta are not completely protected from natural disasters like last weeks string of ice storms.
On the 17th hole, an iconic tree blocked the green from view. This tree upset many players annually at the course. One of those golfers was President Eisenhower, so much so that the tree was renamed to Eisenhower Tree. According to his stories, he would always try to hit the golf ball over the tree but only ended up hitting the tree every time. He was so upset one round that he lobbied to the management to have the tree removed. The management of course denied his request and it famously became named after him.
The tree was destroyed after last week’s ice storm. It was torn apart by the ice and several experts were then consulted about the future of the beautiful feature of the 17th hole. Billy Payne, the chairman of Augusta National released a statement stating that the experts told him that a recovery of the tree would be impossible.
The entire difficulty of not just this hole, but the entire course is altered without the Eisenhower Tree and the 2014 Masters will be a tests to see how experts play without the tree blocking their line of shot.
The course has been reopened to members and the course is currently being prepared for the 2014 Masters Tournament.