Augusta National Golf Club; The way the players see it

Mike Dudurich

Posted 2009-04-09

Reverence is the word of the week during the Masters at Augusta National Golf Club. There’s reverence for the history of the tournament, reverence for players – past and present – who have made the first major of the year what it is today, reverence for the place itself, one of the great settings for golf in the world.

But in describing each individual hole, there’s no place for reverence. Well, at least not in this space.

This is a golf course that has evolved over the years from a place where the greens terrified the field to a 7,400-yard beast where birdies are plentiful and a U.S. Open-like mentality has taken over.

With that as a backdrop, let’s take a walking tour of this perfectly-manicured demanding layout at Augusta National.

When players step inside the ropes at the first, put a tee in the ground and look up the fairway, they don’t get a warm and fuzzy feeling. A line of trees closely guard the left side of the fairway and a bunker that is 8 feet deep in the middle lies on the corner of the dogleg on the right side. Even with conditions being perfect, the idea of cutting that dogleg and carrying that bunker is problematic at best. From the regular championship markers, a drive of 316 yards is needed to clear that bunker. The green is one of the toughest on the course, with undulations that go beyond severe.

A break comes at No. 2, a par 5 that measures 575 yards, but plays less than that, averaging 4.820 last year. A well-struck drive with a touch off a draw leaves the players a playable second, either a bomb to attempt reaching in two or a relatively easy layup to perfect pitch yardages. Lots of jangled nerves will be calmed here.

Don’t be misled by the yardage (350) yards on the third. Players will use irons or hybrids off the tee for position and then must be ultra-precise with their short irons to yet another roller-coaster green. Testament to the toughness of the green is last year’s average score: 4.029. The fourth hole is one of those that’s become a beast. Measuring 240 yards on the card, it’s much more par 3 than just about anybody cares for. Players hit from an elevated tee, over a valley to an elevated green that is fiercely guarded by a nasty bunker in front.

The fifth hole is the farthest spot from the clubhouse. It’s a mean, old par 4, measuring 455 yards and, because a sloping fairway and a pair of deep bunkers on the left, players play up the right side. The green slopes from back to front, multiplying the pleasure for those who don’t get the ball in the right spot on the green. The good news about the par 3 sixth is that the green on the 180-yard hole is big. The bad news is that it’s so steeply banked back to front that, in another place, it would be perfect for snow-tubing. The elevated tee makes the tee shot a visual delight.

The seventh is one of my favorites at Augusta. It used to be a medium-length par 4, but has been bulked up to 450 yards. Tree-lined and narrow – it must feel like looking down the length of a tunnel from the tee – if the drive can find its way to the left-center of that fairway, all that’s left is an uphill second to a severely-undulated green, again guarded by three bunkers in front.

The eighth is a birdie hole, a 570-yard uphill par five that doglegs left near the end. It is as close to a ho-hum hole in the Masters as there is.

No. 9 will get the players’ attention in a hurry. A downhill tee shot needs to be threaded through more of those Georgia pines and stuck well enough to find a flat spot at the bottom of the hill. Then an uphill shot that might be the most difficult on the course. Severely undulated, back-to-front, the green sometimes borders on impossible. The ultimate hit and hope. Making the turn means heading toward Amen Corner and the thrill of a lifetime. The 10th hole has the most severe drop in elevation and bends from right to left, so if you want to watch players hit sweeping hooks, that’s the tee shot to watch. The green is another exercise in frustration. If that wasn’t enough, welcome to the 505-yard, par 4 11th. Yeah, it plays downhill, but if players are able to keep the ball in the sloping fairway, then they have to find a way to get the ball on the putting surface while avoiding the pond on the left of the green. Quite an introduction to Amen Corner.

You’ve seen the 12th hole thousands of times on TV. Medium-iron tee shot over water to a narrow green with a bunker in front and azaleas and landscaping behind. Bad shots don’t survive here. The 13th can be a birdie hole at 510 yards. “Can be” because it requires a hard draw that stays out of the creek on the left and equally crisp approach shot that finds the putting surface and not that same creek that meanders across in front of the green. A narrowed landing area, thanks to additional trees and rough, has made this hole much tougher. The 14th is the only hole on the course without a bunker , but taking a spot behind the green and watching the boys try to navigate the putting surface is about as much fun as you can get.

Fifteen is the other birdie hole on the back. A 530-yard par 5 that rewards a good tee shot with a chance to go at a green sandwiched by a pair of ponds and a right side bunker. Lots of excitement here. The 16th is famous for a variety of things, great shots, disappointing shots and, oh yeah, the tradition of players trying to skip the ball across the pond and onto the green during practice rounds. It’s a tough 170 yards of par three.

The Eisenhower Tree is the landmark on the 17th hole, a straight-away, 440-yard par 4. Once again, with the pressure on coming down the stretch on Sunday, the putter will determine the score on this hole. Another nasty Augusta green. Every tough shot, difficult angle and sweat-inducing putt the players have had to execute to this point will come back into the play on the 465-yard, uphill 18th. First they need to thread the needle through a seemingly ever-narrowing chute of trees. A soft fade would really be nice, helping to avoid the pair of bunkers on the left side of the dogleg and setting a mid-iron second shot.

Getting the ball on the green and finding the nerve control to make a big putt could lead to that famous Green Jacket presentation. There’s little else to say about this great cathedral of golf, other than: Enjoy the Masters.

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