BILOXI, Miss. and NEW ORLEANS, Louis. -- Longtime PGA Professional Kenny Hughes grew up near Biloxi, Miss. He has endured his share of hurricanes, including Camille in August of 1969, during which Hughes' parents lost everything.

"Their home, their livelihood, their possessions and all but the shirts off their backs were gone," recalls Hughes.

But never has Hughes seen the destruction, devastation and death that Hurricane Katrina wrought on Aug. 29 after the Category 4 Storm hammered the Gulf Coast, including golf facilities throughout Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama.

"It's the worst I've ever seen, no doubt about it," says Hughes, PGA general manager of Shell Landing Golf Club in Gautier, Miss., who evacuated to Florida and was still waiting for electricity and other utilities to be restored at Shell Landing 12 days after Katrina cut a swath of destruction through the Gulf Coast.

"You wouldn't believe the enormity of the destruction if you didn't see it yourself. I'm just thankful my family and all of my PGA Professionals and employees at the club got out in time and are safe. Some of them lost their homes and worldly possessions, but no one lost their lives, thank God."

While Shell Landing lost its entire fleet of golf cars and much of its maintenance equipment stored in an underground garage to the hurricane, it escaped with moderate damage and devastation compared to many golf facilities in the New Orleans area that were under water for nearly two weeks and lost thousands of trees and other infrastructure to Hurricane Katrina.

"My family and I lost everything except for the few things we brought with us when we evacuated," was the succinct report from PGA member Chad Leibe, who said West New Orleans was so ravaged by floodwater that he feared many golf clubs would take years to rebuild, if they rebuild at all.

Don Gautreaux, a PGA teaching professional in New Orleans, evacuated to Orlando, Fla., where he was busy searching for employment so he could take care of three young children. "Waiting for Bayou Oaks to dry out is not an option; it was devastated," says Gautreaux. "We got out with our lives, but not much else. The golf courses at Bayou Oaks are under so much water that I doubt any of the grass will survive. It may take years to reopen."

In the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, golf was not foremost in the minds of the 380 members of the Gulf States PGA Section. Life itself and concern for family, friends, fellow PGA members and employees was the top priority. Then, more than a week after Katrina flooded 80 percent of New Orleans and swept through the Gulf Coast with catastrophic wind and rain, Hughes and his PGA comrades were left to pick up the pieces and contemplate the future.

"We will rebuild and we will get through this," assures Hughes, "but right now, we're trying to make sure our brothers and sisters in The PGA who lost their homes and possessions are taken care of."

PGA Professionals Wade Hamilton and Jerry Covich of Shell Landing were not as fortunate as Hughes, whose home sustained no structural damage but was stripped of most of its landscaping by Katrina's 140 mph winds. Hamilton lost his home and possessions to the hurricane, and Covich's home was flooded severely. Both evacuated in time to escape with their lives. Covich will live in the Shell Landing clubhouse temporarily.

PGA President Roger Warren, acting general manager and PGA director of golf at Kiawah Island Resort in South Carolina, was awestruck by Katrina's devastation, noting that: "This natural disaster is one of the most destructive we have seen as a nation and will have a long-lasting impact on PGA Professionals and the golf industry in that region. We have mobilized all of our Association resources to assist PGA members who are in need, and we encourage PGA members to contribute to the PGA Disaster Relief Fund to help our fellow PGA Professionals affected by this natural disaster." (See boxed item for details on how The PGA is assisting Hurricane Katrina victims.)

By Sept. 10, Robert O. Brown, executive director of the Gulf States PGA Section, had contacted the majority of PGA members impacted by Katrina and reported no loss of lives. "Most of our PGA members were blessed in that they heard the call to evacuate and did so," said Brown, who evacuated his family to Tupelo, Miss. "We have many, many section members who are displaced and out of work, but thankfully all are safe. We are working with The PGA to do everything possible to take care of those who lost homes or possessions." Brown has received more than 150 e-mails from PGA members offering to help.

"At times like this, I am so thankful that I am a member of The PGA and the Gulf States Section," PGA Head Professional Oliver G. Thomson of Lakewood Golf Club in New Orleans wrote on the special forum set up by The PGA for hurricane victims on www.PGALinks.com. "Katrina truly devastated the great city of New Orleans, the city of Slidell, and so many golf facilities in Southern Louisiana and Mississippi. Since arriving in Jackson, Miss., we have been swamped with offers of generosity from PGA members and people in the golf industry. We are working on starting from scratch here in Jackson."

James Leitz, PGA head professional at Pinewood Country Club in Slidell, La., described his course as "looking like a war zone" after Katrina vented its wrath. But like all PGA members in Southern Louisiana and Mississippi, Leitz and his family evacuated and are safe. They returned to Slidell to find hundreds of trees toppled on the course, significant water damage, and the prospect of not having power, running water and other necessities for at least a month.

"I am not sure the club can recover financially from this," says Leitz, who has been at Pinewood for 23 years. "I'm not sure people are going to want to take lessons or play golf after such devastation and economic loss."

Three courses at Bayou Oaks in New Orleans' City Park and two courses at Eastover in Eastern New Orleans remained under water 12 days after floodwaters from the hurricane caused the failure of several levees.

English Turn Golf & Country Club and Audubon Golf Club apparently fared better, according to course officials. Each property suffered extensive wind damage but did not flood.

"We have more than 1,000 trees down, maybe 2,000," said Bayou Oaks PGA General Manager Gordon Digby. "If we have to rebuild all three courses, which is entirely possible, it could be upwards of $25 million in golf-related damages alone. We couldn't have had a worse scenario with the hurricane hitting and then the levees breaking." Ron Hickman, PGA Professional at Hattiesburg, Miss., summarized what numerous Gulf States PGA members were feeling 10 days after Katrina swept through southern Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama.

"We have our health and all of our family members are fine," noted Hickman. "But it's pretty amazing what sustained winds in excess of 115 miles per hour can do to your home and golf facility."