When Rory McILroy, Scottie Scheffler and Bryson Dechambeau, n ° 1 in the world, were walking Thursday morning, they will be greeted by the Nirvana golf course.
In the meantime, the virgin paradise of Augusta National. For the golf world, it is a sacred terrain. A pine cathedral. It is also far from the other Augusta.
For them, Augusta refers to the venerated of 365 acres of oasis which are behind a hedge of 12 feet and white front doors guarded.
However, beyond the perfectly maintained private fortress is another world which, for the other 51 weeks of the year, is the antithesis of the golf church.
“You have to realize that there are two worlds in Augusta,” said Mike, a living room for life, at The Daily Mail. He doesn’t sugar. He doesn’t need it. A quick glance around the heart of Augusta makes it obvious enough.
A Friday afternoon three weeks before the master’s degree, the city center of Augusta is a ghost town. With the exception of the sleeping homeless on a bench next to the statue of the hero of the hometown, the legend of the soul James Brown, that is to say.
Rory McILroy is illustrated in Augusta National in Georgia before the Masters 2025 tournament
Beyond the immaculate hedges of Augusta National Golf Club is another world
The city center of Augusta portrays an extremely different image from the famous golf course
The heart of the southern city is in a state of empty windows and buildings. The occupied properties share more in common with a travel machine in time than a lively company on the street.
An overview of Ruben’s windows, a large store proud to have “dressed Augusta since 1898”, transports passers -by almost as far in time. The flat caps, three -piece costumes and tea dresses adorn the aging models.
Signs adorning the emerald fairways of Augusta National Discounts Amen Corner and Pimento Cheese Sandwiches. Just four kilometers away on Broad Street, they offer Vegas showgirl salons and strip clubs.
By driving along Washington Road, the most voyering street in Augusta during the Masters, the longtime asphalt band passes into a trivial blur of olive gardens, steering wheel and bands of bands.
While McILroy and Scheffler are headlining this week’s blockbuster, for any other week of the year, it is an elderly gentleman and his particularly excited interpretation of “God injuries the USA”, bringing the curtain at night karaoke to the local Mexican hotspot, Veracruz.
Back on Broad Street, the only idea that the city is home to one of the most prestigious golf courses in the world is the green and white flags carrying the Masters logo which floated above the occasional bar-one of which has a cartoon of a cowgirl based in its windows before below.
These are all shabby obstacles that challenge the Bible belt convention and the aesthetics of the Country Club buttoned.
During any other week of the year, Augusta is a non -glamorous urban shell enclosing the polished pearl which is its famous golf course. With a population of around 200,000 inhabitants, the city does not have billionaire residents, Michelin star restaurants or five -star hotels. However, for a week in April, he turned into a playground for the rich and the famous.
Augusta’s regional airport congestion of more than 1,000 private planes while they descend into the city.
In the world of golf, Augusta is Nirvana thanks to its perfectly maintained oasis
At its center, Broad Street present at Statue of Soul Legend James Brown
A few weeks before the Masters, the main street in downtown Augusta was deserted
The panels along Broad Street announce Vegas Showgirls and Strip Tases
The heart of the southern city is in a state of empty shop windows and buildings of buildings
Harry Styles, Niall Horan and Peyton Manning are among the famous faces to have adorned the stands in Augusta National. Meanwhile, Bill Murray is known to get on the microphone and sing the Blues at Soul Bar on Broad Street, the barmaid of Stillwater Taproom on the road reveals.
But Augusta residents have no grudge against their temporary neighbors and the brass band they bring to town. They kiss her. Those who do not leave, leave.
“No one really cares about it. It is not as if golf fans were known for their noisy nature. They do not fight in stands like the NFL, says Jennifer, an Augustan native.
Rental houses are a lucrative business in Augusta during the masters’ season. From only a week, the owners harvest enough to reimburse their mortgages by offering their house to millionaires, customers and even players as a place to rest their heads.
Half of the population leaves the city and even the school holidays are organized around the tournament to respond to families on the run. Everything is in place to prepare Augusta “Masters ready”.
“It’s a boom for Augusta. It’s nothing more than a good thing. Companies thrive as fans spread 20 to 30 miles around the Thomson area in Aiken. Bars, hotels, restaurants are full for the week, ”adds Jennifer.
The Masters Week is one of the largest economic engines for Augusta for decades. Last year, Forbes said that he had contributed to around $ 120 million a year.
It is an injection of wealth which desperately needed by a city which was classified as the fifth worst of the country for economic well-being in 2023, according to the local newspaper The Augusta Chronicle, with the poverty of children, food insecurity and unemployment rates all listed as problems distressing the city.
A panel displaying the Amen corner is illustrated during a training session at the masters 2025
The only idea that the city houses one of the most prestigious golf courses in the world is the green and white flags bearing the Masters logo that floated above the sports bars
A wall painting of the legend of the hometown adds a touch of color to the ghost town of the high street
But this year, Augusta needs masters more than ever.
The two worlds, while the polar opposites, were united by a tragedy only six months ago. Last September, the catastrophic hurricane Helene swept away the southeast of the United States, leaving unfathomable damage in its wake.
Hélène cost the United States to the United States, according to the National Hurricane Center, made him one of the deadliest hurricanes that the United States has witnessed Katrina in 2005.
Augusta was beaten by gusts of wind which reached 100 MPH, which led to the death of more than 30 people in the city and surrounding counties – of which 11 were killed by the fall of trees.
And even its luxury force could not protect Augusta national because the emblematic course was the victim of Helene’s anger, leaving the club notoriously private in disarray.
The wood was extended along Magnolia Lane, other trees were scattered along the route with some which even reached the usually immaculate fairways. Two of the slaughtered pines caused significant damage to the 16th typically dangerous after entering green.
Images of drones following Hélène have exposed the apocalyptic scenes and many feared what the journey to Magnolia Lane would reveal.
But, speaking in January, the president of the National Golf Club of Augusta, Fred Ridley, said: “Regarding the golf course, he is in spectacular state.”
It was a damping a few months a few months to fear that destruction can only the masters stop for the first time since the Covid-19 pandemic, and before that, the Second World War. However, the testimonies of players, including McILroy and the former winner Patrick Reed, confirmed the same verdict. Augusta, as we know and love, is always intact.
Niall Horan (left) and Harry Styles (right) were identified during the major championship last year
The city of Augusta was left devastated by Hurricane Helene who swept in September
The 16th emblematic hole by Augusta has suffered the most devastation of the winds of 100 mph
But the miraculous transformation of the golf course was not welcomed with the same shock by its inhabitants.
“It’s the Golf CIA,” said Mike about the Golf Club exclusivity. “They do what they want. If they want helicopters, they will. They spend $ 100 million as we pay bar checks – and they go out every night!
Augusta spends money. With membership of its ultra-exclusive ranks to “a few thousand” dollars a year, it can afford it. But Augusta’s privilege is not lost for the club.
In early October, Augusta National announced, in partnership with the Community Foundation for the Central Savannah River Area (CSRA), a joint donation of $ 5 million to the Hurricane Helene Community Crisis Fund, supporting local rescue efforts.
However, the scars – both physical and mental – remain. Abandoned houses, blue tarpaulins, uprooted trees and burns of the August rubble and its surrounding areas.
“Six months later, and nothing is normal,” says Mike. “My roof is still not fixed. There are not enough people to do the work. It’s just not fast enough.
Georgia’s gift to golf is the Masters and, in return, the Masters helped put Augusta on the map – just for a week a year.
But when the CBS pans on Augusta National this week, he will capture the picturesque scenes of Flogelhorn Azalea Blossoms, the brilliant water of Rae’s Creek and the imposing canopy of the pines. What viewers will not see are the Augusta defeated, but proud, beyond its borders which cannot be tamed by the opulence of its greatest asset.
