Hurricane Matthew, which blew through the southeastern U.S. over the Columbus Day weekend, caused work stoppage at the renovation of the TPC Sawgrass course where The Players Championship is held.
The Stadium Course at TPC Sawgrass had been undergoing a renovation of the greens as well as adding improvements to spectator areas, of late, but Hurricane Matthew which passed through the area had other ideas.
The PGA Tour has provided time lapse video taken at several locations around the property, from the maintenance buildings to the island 17th green.
One video is approximately a minute in length and shows the flooding at 17 and some downed trees and washed out bunkers.
The other video is close to 15 minutes in length and the locations of the cameras change about every two minutes and 45 seconds. The time lapse goes through approximately a three-day cycle including the two days of the hurricane and the day after it.
Shown are, in order: Agronomy, practice range, 12th green, clubhouse, clubhouse roadway and debris pile.
Watching the video from the distant camera locations does not reveal the extent of the damage. However, the fact that the cameras remained intact and secure through the storm says something about the video devices themselves.
According to the agronomy department at Sawgrass, the stats on the damage are as follows:
Total trees down: 372.
Stadium Course: 203 trees.
Dye’s Valley: 78 trees.
Practice Area/Clubhouse: 46 trees.
While those sound like big numbers, the casual fan would probably not notice the difference because the property has always been heavy with vegetation. The PGA Tour said that the only tree affecting sight lines and play was a large live oak on the second hole which completely toppled. Will that make the hole easier? We will have to wait until next spring to find out.
According to the Tour, the winds on site reached 66 mph sustained. There was 14 inches of rainfall, and that caused the walkway to the island 17th to be submerged as well as about half of the island itself. However, the water quickly receded, and no permanent damage to the grass or the new greens is anticipated.
TPC Sawgrass, located in Ponte Vedra Beach, is on a barrier island, just 25 miles north of St. Augustine, Florida. St. Augustine sustained flooding in the downtown area. Some homes along the ocean south of Ponte Vedra and in St. Augustine received wind and wave damage.
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