Ice Storm Fells Augusta National's 'Eisenhower Tree'

One of golf's most famous trees has been felled by an ice storm—nearly 60 years after then-President Dwight Eisenhower tried and failed to have it removed from Augusta National Golf Club. The tree, a loblolly pine believed to have been up to 125 years old, was located 210 yards to the left of the 17th fairway, ESPN reports. Players had to try to hit the ball over the 65-foot tree to keep it in the fairway or try to shape their shots right-to-left, the AP notes.

Eisenhower, an Augusta National member, is said to have hit the tree so often on his tee shots that he petitioned to have it removed during a 1956 meeting. He was overruled and the tree was nicknamed after him. The club's chairman says the storm cost the tree so many limbs that arborists were unable to save it, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports. "The loss of the Eisenhower Tree is difficult news to accept," he said in a statement. "We have begun deliberations of the best way to address the future of the 17th hole and to pay tribute to this iconic symbol of our history—rest assured, we will do both appropriately." (More Augusta National Golf Club stories.)