It’s impossible not to be moved by photographs and video of the catastrophic damage suffered when Hurricane Dorian descended upon the Bahamas last month. Home after home after home reduced to rubble. Trees snapped in two like they were a child’s pick-up sticks. Cars, even shipping containers bigger than semi-trucks, upended, coated in sand and mud. Most importantly, so many lives lost and so many others that will never be the same. For Rafael Campos, the devastation hits very close to home. Campos picked up his first win at The Bahamas Great Abaco Classic at The Abaco Club last January. He’s also a Puerto Rican, and before Dorian there was Maria, another vicious Category 5 storm, that hit his homeland two years ago, killing nearly 3,000 and leveling entire neighborhoods, as well. So, Campos has a unique perspective and followed the frequently changing weather reports carefully. He actually spoke with Brian Shaver, the director of golf at The Abaco Club, when the hurricane was battering the island. They have known each other since Campos’ junior golf days, and he has spent a good deal of time in the Bahamas over the last few years. “They said, hey, everything underneath them was completely destroyed,â€� Campos recalls. “So, it is really sad to know what they had to go through, and I know that lives got lost because of Mother Nature.â€� Shaver actually rode out the storm at the resort, where Darren Clarke and Thomas Aiken have homes, along with several other employees and posted videos of the winds whipping across the island on his Facebook page. When the hurricane – which battered Great Abaco with winds in excess of 185 miles an hour for nearly two days – finally exited, worst fears were realized. Campos acted quickly and pledged $100 for every birdie he made in his first start as a PGA TOUR member at A Military Tribute at The Greenbrier to the relief effort. Several of his friends followed suit and a total of $6,400 was raised. There have been several other fundraisers initiated by TOUR players to help the relief effort, as well. Justin Thomas, who has often vacationed in the Bahamas, is pledging $1,000 for each birdie he makes in the four tournaments he plays this fall. “It truly is my happy place,â€� Thomas says. “When I need to go clear my mind and I need to go get away from everything in the world, that’s where I would go.â€� Tiger Woods, who hosts the Hero World Challenge at Albany on the Bahamian island of New Providence, has partnered with entertainer Justin Timberlake, among others, to create the ONE Bahamas Fund. The group has made a challenge gift of $6 million and will match dollar-for-dollar the next $6 million raised. “It’s horrifying to see the videos and hear the stories about the effects of Hurricane Dorian,” Woods said in a statement. “The need in The Bahamas is very real.” And Justin Leonard, who is a member at Bakers Bay on the island of Great Guana Cay, Brad Faxon and PGA of America CEO Seth Waugh have organized the Bahamas Strong Pro-Am. The tournament will be played Oct. 8 at Old Marsh Golf Club in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida. Campos is well-aware that at one point, Dorian appeared headed for Puerto Rico, which had taken that disastrous direct hit from Maria two years earlier. Soon, though, the Bahamas were in the storm’s crosshairs and the storm appeared to stall over the islands with gusts reaching 220 mph. “I can’t imagine what they went through because we (in Puerto Rico) had it for 12 hours,â€� Campos said. “They had it for 20 some, 30 hours, you know, in those constant, in that constant weather.â€� When Maria hit Puerto Rico in September of 2017, Campos was in the midst of what is now known as the Korn Ferry Tour finals. He had access to a private plane – commercial flights were canceled — and wanted to come to see how he could help in the days afterwards. But his mother advised him to stay away. “My mom was like, don’t even think about coming here,â€� he recalls. “There’s absolutely nothing to look for here. You won’t be able to practice. You won’t be able to do anything. It’s actually a burden if people come in.â€� So, Campos went to the Dominican Republic for three months and finally returned home in December of 2017. While his penthouse apartment weathered the storm with little damage and his folks, who live at the bottom of a hill, escaped the flooding, he still saw damage everywhere he looked. “It’s really sad,â€� he recalls. “It took us a year, a little bit more than a year to kind of get back at normal, you know. And I honestly cannot imagine what Abaco will, how long Abaco will take because it’s a tougher thing. So, yes, absolutely horrendous. They need help. They really do. “And we have to find a way to get supplies over there. The essentials, you know, water. I mean just anything would help.â€�
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