Luke List announces 'Birdies for Augusta' at Sanderson Farms Championship

Luke List, the defending champion at this week’s Sanderson Farms Championship, said he and Henrik Norlander will each donate $500 per birdie this week to the American Red Cross as their hometown of Augusta, Georgia, recovers from Hurricane Helene.

The storm brought 100-plus mph winds and torrential flooding to the Southeast, with rivers overflowing their banks and devastating Western North Carolina, especially. In Augusta, Georgia, some 225,000 people were without power, according to The Augusta Chronicle, after Helene barreled through Friday morning.

“It's pretty devastating really to not only see it but experience it, a place you call home,” said List, who won a five-man playoff at the Sanderson Farms last year. “It's really sad. It was a long weekend. We got out of town a little bit early just to keep the family safe, and there's still no power and water in a lot of areas.”

List and Norlander were having dinner together at the Sanderson in Jackson, Mississippi, when they decided to launch "Birdies for Augusta" this week.

“Hopefully we can get some more support locally and then from all over,” List said. “I encourage anyone to donate to the Red Cross because the areas definitely need it.”

There have been at least 143 fatalities across six states, with several people still missing following the hurricane. The storm made landfall as a Category 4 hurricane with winds of up to 140 mph, bringing storm surge and record rainfall, causing rivers to overflow.

The cost of the cleanup is projected to be in the tens of billions of dollars.

"Our Augusta community has suffered catastrophic and historic impact from Hurricane Helene," Augusta National Chairman Fred Ridley said. "We currently are assessing the effects at Augusta National Golf Club.

"In the meantime, our focus and efforts are foremost with our staff, neighbors and business owners in Augusta. Our thoughts and prayers are with them as well as everyone throughout Georgia and the Southeast who have been affected."

List said just getting out of his neighborhood took some doing.

“My neighbors and I cut five massive trees just so we could get out of the street,” he said. “That's humbling in its own right, just tugging trees. My neighbor had a Jeep, and we were pulling big logs from the trees off the road and just doing the best we could to band together and getting a tree off a neighbor's yard, and that's everybody.

“Everyone is dealing with that in their own right,” he added. “In a sense it was great to see everybody come together, but in a sense, it almost felt like that's what you have to do in that moment. We're very fortunate to have been able to get out when we did.”