The China Mail - Woods teams with Augusta National on course design, school project

With the 89th edition of the Masters set to tee off at Augusta National on Thursday, Ridley announced that the club's renovation of Augusta Municipal Golf Course -- known locally as The Patch -- would include a nine-hole par-three course designed by Woods and his course architecture firm TGR Design.

The club will also partner with Woods's charitable foundation to create a TGR Learning Lab school in Augusta, which will be the fourth such facility launched by Woods aimed at providing access to science, technology, engineering, arts and mathematics education for students in under-resourced communities.

Woods opened the first Learning Lab in Anaheim, California, in 2006 and the second school opened in Philadelphia this year.

Another is slated to open in Los Angeles in 2026 and the Augusta facility is expected to open in 2028.

Ridley said the partnership evolved after a discussion with Woods about The Patch project during a round of golf.

"I don't know if it was a lightbulb moment, but I happened to be playing golf with Tiger about a year ago, a couple weeks before the Masters, and I thought I would mention The Patch Project, which I think we were formally announcing that week at the tournament," Ridley said.

"It was clear when I shared the concept that it sort of piqued his interest, and that was sort of the beginning of a conversation, a dialogue that took place between our organizations, and after that a few meetings took place, and the idea just sort of grew from what we were doing to how Tiger and TGR could be involved.

"He then sort of moved into discussing the big idea of the TGR Learning Lab, which to me is just very exciting."

Ridley said the short course that Woods will design will be called The Loop at The Patch in a nod to "caddies who have used the course as a gathering spot for decades."

- Injury setback -

While Augusta National has a become a byword for exclusivity, Ridley said the club is determined that the renovated municipal course, including The Loop, will remain affordable and accessible to local golfers.

Woods's role in that project and in bringing the Learning Lab to Augusta is a way of "deepening Tiger's legacy in Augusta and with the Masters," Ridley said.

Woods himself did not attend the announcement as originally intended. The 15-time major champion revealed in March that he had undergone surgery to repair a ruptured left Achilles tendon.

The injury derailed the 49-year-old superstar's latest bid to return from injury. He hasn't teed it up in a tournament since the Open Championship last July and had back surgery in September.

He had planned to play in the Genesis Invitational in February, but withdrew in the wake of his mother's death.

Woods has nevertheless remained a presence in the game. He hosted his World Challenge in December, played alongside his son, Charlie, in the PNC family tournament that month and has seen TGL, the simulator league he launched with Rory McIlroy, get off the ground this year.

V.Fan--ThChM