Augusta National chairman 'confident' Masters will be held

Augusta National chairman Fred Ridley said Thursday that he believes the Masters will be held as scheduled despite the golf course sustaining "a lot of damage" from Hurricane Helene.

The Masters is scheduled for 10-13 April, 2025 in Augusta, Georgia.

"I'm confident that the Masters will be held, it will be held on the dates that it's scheduled to be held," Ridley said Thursday during a news conference at the Asia-Pacific Amateur Championship in Japan.

The Category 4 hurricane made landfall last week, causing damage across Florida, Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee and Virginia.

Augusta National and the Community Foundation for the Central Savannah River Area announced a joint $5 million donation to the Hurricane Helene Community Crisis Fund.

"We've had literally dozens of people working at the club and what I've really been the most proud of is while everyone certainly is focused on getting us back up and running, our employees have been so focused on the community at large," Ridley said Thursday.

"As far as the golf course, it really was affected just as the rest of the community was. There was a lot of damage, and we have a lot of people working hard to get us back up and running. We don't really know exactly what that's going to mean, but I can tell you ... if it's humanly possible, we will be back in business sooner rather than later."