Phil Mickelson tells epic story about Augusta National tree cleanup

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. 

“So now the limbs,” he continued, “by the time I walk off of 11 green, all the limbs of the tree have been cut off and put on a truck, on the back of these carts. By the time I got to 15, I looked down, they were cutting up the trunk, and the entire tree was being brought away.

“By the time I got done and get back to 18 tee and I looked down, they’re re-sodding the fairway. Like nobody knew, you couldn’t tell two days later this had happened. I just thought, if that was my home course — that tree would still be there like three weeks later, and they had this thing removed. It was one of the most impressive things I had seen, their ability to handle stuff like that.”

To track that timetable conservatively, it sounds like within 20 minutes, ANGC had chainsaws removing all tree limbs, and within an hour major sections of the trunk were being shuttled away. Within two hours, new sod had been brought in to patch up the turf and make it as close as possible to the original conditions. 

In other words, yes, there is bound to be some slight appearance changes to Augusta National this year, but Mickelson finished with an 11-word statement that feels like the ultimate truth.

“I’m sure the course is going to be in great shape.”