Trees fall and narrowly miss spectators at Masters amid high winds at golf event as fans tell of their terrifying escape
8 April 2023, 10:47
Several trees were blown over by high winds and narrowly missed spectators at the golf Masters on Friday.
Listen to this article
Loading audio...
The three trees fell slowly at the event in Augusta, Georgia, allowing spectators to run out of the way to safety.
Tournament organisers confirmed that there were no injuries.
Shocking TV footage showed one tree falling on the left side of the 17th fairway, with several spectators running away terrified.
In a statement, the Masters said: “Augusta National Golf Club can confirm that no injuries were reported from three trees that were blown over to the left of the No. 17 tee due to wind.
"The safety and well-being of everyone attending the Masters Tournament will always be the top priority of the Club, which will continue to closely monitor weather today and through the Tournament.
well THIS was terrifying pic.twitter.com/qfIm2w4zKW
— Timothy Burke (@bubbaprog) April 7, 2023
"The Second Round has been officially suspended for the rest of the day. Play will resume Saturday morning at 8:00 a.m. EDT. Ticket gates will open t 7:00 a.m. EDT as scheduled.”
Eyewitness Megan Hill told the Augusta Chronicle: "I was sitting, looking, waiting for the next group to come up to the tee and it fell maybe eight to 10 chairs to our left.
"I stood up and screamed and thought, 'Is it going to fall on me?' It fell to the left of us and it was so scary. If the wind had been blowing a slightly different direction, we might have got hit."
Another spectator, Deshey Thomas, added: "Pinecones were hitting us in the back, we turned around and looked up and heard a huge cracking noise and the tree basically crushed 10 chairs that were sitting there.
"Luckily we got everyone out of there. We were blessed."
