After hurricane's direct hit on the Masters, this is how it will affect play

The devastating effects of Hurricane Helene remain glaringly and somewhat chillingly apparent in Georgia's third biggest city. Apart from here at Augusta National.
For those of us lucky enough to get through the gates, it has been difficult to tell that, just six months ago, there was a direct hit on the United States' most famous course from the catastrophic tropical cyclone that was the deadliest to strike the mainland since Katrina in 2005.
Yes, 1,000 trees were lost around the layout and even to the uneducated eye, once you know, you can see the gaps. But for the 89th Masters, not a blade of grass will look out of place and that is certainly not the case when one drives round the poorer areas of these environs.
There is only rubble left where many of the 360 houses that were destroyed and even in the fortunate dwellings, fences remain unfixed and the roots of upended trees are stranded on the front lawns. When the thunderstorms arrived on Monday, as if to re-emphasise the dreaded torment of Mother Nature, they made an extraordinary racket as the rains bashed down on the tarpaulin that covers damaged homes. They still cannot believe it happened.
'Nobody alive remembers a hurricane ever hitting us before,' Tony Craven, a long-time resident tells Telegraph Sport. 'And it wasn't coming for us this time, either. But it went over Florida and then it decided to put us right in its path. It was scary, man.'
The city authorities report that almost four million cubic yards of debris has been cleared and, with finances tight, it has been slow progress back towards any sort of normality. To their credit, the Green Jackets donated $5 million to the relief efforts and the locals are grateful.
'Fred Ridley [the Augusta chairman] said all the right things at the right time,' Craven says. 'The priority, he said, was the recovery and the rebuild and noted that there were 30-plus deaths. He made it clear that the golf course was not important at that time, although clearly they had the resources to ensure the aftermath was minimal.'
Augusta National has a reputation for recovery skills of enough pace and quality to make Wolverine blush. 'Yep, they can create magic out there,' Craven says.
For example, two years ago, several trees fell during the second round and if it was a blessed miracle that nobody was hurt, what seemed just as incredible was that by that Saturday morning there was barely a twig of evidence. Phil Mickelson once saw the ecological superpower first hand.
'I was playing a practice round a few years back, two weeks before the Masters,' he said. 'I'm lining up my tee shot on the 11th, and this tree tumbles into the middle of the fairway. Bang! Crashes down. This massive Georgia pine comes down, rips up the fairway and so forth. By the time I had walked from the tee-box, I could hear on the walkie-talkie, 'get off of the second, get to 11; get off of the fourth, get to 11'. Must have been 100 workers racing to this tree. Within minutes, seconds even, they had fired up the chainsaws, started cutting this thing down.
'By the time I walk off of the green, all the limbs of the tree have been cut off and put on a truck. By the time I got to 15, I looked down and they were cutting up the trunk, and the entire tree was being taken away on a truck. Goodness knows where that had come from.
'By the time I got to the 18th tee and I looked over and they're re-sodding the fairway. All this in maybe 90 minutes. I went there the next day and you could not even tell this had happened. It was one of the most impressive things I have ever seen.'
If they accomplished that in less than 24 hours, then half a year must have been an agronomic eternity. They will not give exact details, but they acknowledge there was a massive replant – but not even the billionaire Augusta members can promote growth that quickly. So, for perhaps this year only, you can spot the joins.
However, it perhaps says plenty that Helene's impact is most noticeable from the perspective of Augusta Country Club, the Donald Ross course adjacent to the National. 'I played there recently and looked over at Augusta National and thought, 'Oh wow',' said former Masters champion Larry Mize, who grew up in the city. 'I couldn't believe how visible it was. Now, looking the other direction, it's also wide open.'
Xander Schauffele was amazed by the transformation. 'It almost felt like I was playing the back nine for the first time,' the two-time major winner said. 'When you're walking down 10, you can see half the course. There were trees you'd aim at off a few tees that aren't there anymore. I wouldn't say it will make the test any different, though.'
Rory McIlroy concurs, but does make the point that the challenge has been altered, if only from an optical sense. For example, he infamously hooked his drive off the 10th and his ball ricocheted off a tree behind a cabin on his way to triple-bogey seven and that meltdown 80.
'There are a couple tee-shots that are maybe a little less visually intimidating,' McIlroy said. 'Thinking a tee-shot like the 10th, with that tree loss on the left side. Your target there is that sort of TV or that camera tower down there at the bottom of the hill. You used to not be able to see that, and now you can see that pretty clearly. Visually, it looks like you don't have to turn the ball as much as you used to. There's a little bit more room on the right side of three if you want to hit driver up there. There's a couple overhanging trees that aren't there anymore.'
The winds might also swirl more on the par-three 16th, where an enormous pine tumbled and gouged up the green. Not that one would ever know. Yet it is doubtful that there will be any substantial deviations. Indeed, Fred Couples, the 1992 champion, believes there might even be an improvement and a return to yesteryear.
'I just think it looks better,' Couples said. 'The other day we played No 1 and we were standing on the green and you just look right down and you see a lot more room on the ninth tee. That's kind of cool. You can watch people hit and that'll be great for the patrons. It's opened up a bit and maybe gone back to more of how it was when Bobby Jones designed it. I'm all for the history.
'Look, I know this town was devastated and, of course, that's all that truly matters. But the course is unbelievable. And, hey, there's still a lot of trees. My God, there's a lot.'

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