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Hole by Hole description of Augusta National
1st
(Tea Olive), 435yds, par 4: Pushing the tee back 25 yards brings the fairway bunker
on the right more into play. Big though it already was, that bunker is now 15
yards longer. No need to alter the plateau green - it is one of the most treacherous
on the entire course. 2nd
(Pink Dogwood), 575yds, par 5: Lengthened a few years ago, fairway woods or long
irons are now needed for the second shot and the two bunkers short of the slender
green consequently see a lot more action. Short is better than long, though, because
the green tilts from back to front. Nick Faldo once holed a 100-foot eagle putt
here. 3rd (Flowering
Peach), 350yds, par 4: The approach is the testing shot here. It is to a pear-shaped
green where anything short can spin down a steep bank. Plays hardest when the
flag is placed in the narrow neck on the front left. 4th
(Flowering Crab Apple), 205yds, par 3: Longest of the par threes. Par is always
a good score even when the tee is moved forward for a pin position just over the
front bunkers. The tiered green always claims its fair share of victims. 5th
(Magnolia), 435yds, par 4: Jack Nicklaus holed his approach here twice in three
days in 1995, and Colin Montgomerie also had an eagle two years ago - but the
sloping green can be vicious if you are even slightly awry with your second shot. 6th
(Juniper), 180yds, par 3: Jose Maria Olazabal lost by one in 1991 after taking
seven here in the second round. There is a huge tier in the green, and only the
most precise shot can hope to get close to the flag when it is on the ledge back
right. 7th (Pampas),
410yds, par 4: Suddenly far more testing. The tee has gone back 45 yards, and
most players will switch from irons to woods. Hitting it straight down the avenue
of trees is imperative so you can control the approach to a narrow green sloping
from back to front and surrounded by five bunkers. 8th
(Yellow Jasmine), 570yds, par 5: Twenty yards longer and, playing uphill, should
therefore be unreachable to all but a few. The fairway bunker on the right has
been reshaped and nearly doubled in size. The safe second shot is out right. 9th
(Carolina Cherry), 460yds, par 4: With the tee back 30 yards expect this to play
much harder, with approaches being played off a downslope. The green tilts from
back to front again, and it is possible to roll right off the green 50 yards or
more down the slope in front. 10th
(Camellia), 495yds, par 4: Still classified as a par four despite another 10 yards
having been added. The moving of the tee five yards left is more interesting,
making it more of a dogleg and more important to move the ball right to left to
get the maximum run downhill. 11th
(White Dogwood), 490yds, par 4: The start of Amen Corner, where Nick Faldo won
his two play-offs and Larry Mize chipped in to beat Greg Norman in 1987. The tee
has gone back 35 yards and five yards right. Still a par four and, with water
short and left, might well be the hardest hole of all. 12th
(Golden Bell), 155yds, par 3: The best-known par three in golf. It is the shortest
of the four short holes, but the wind swirls and club selection is all-important.
Woods had a triple bogey in the first round in 2000 and bogeys in the first two
rounds last year, but that doesn't even compare to Tom Weiskopf's 13 in 1980. 13th
(Azalea), 510yds, par 5: Moving the tee back 35 yards will result in much longer
second shots at this sharp dogleg left which players hope to birdie or eagle but
can equally wreck a scorecard. Rae's Creek runs down the left and then in front
of the green. 14th
(Chinese Fir), 440yds, par 4: No bunkers, but joint course record-holder Nick
Price still managed to take eight here in 1993. Even with the tee back 35 yards
the green remains the big headache, and the temptation to attack the flag often
has to be resisted. 15th
(Firethorn), 500yds, par 5: Mounds on the right were taken out a few years ago
and instead a group of tall trees are positioned to penalise any pushed drive.
Most players will still go for the green in two, but there is water in front.
Gene Sarazen's albatross in the second Masters was known as "the shot heard
around the world". 16th
(Redbud), 170yds, par 3: The tee shot is over water, but merely finding dry land
is not sufficient. The green slants significantly from right to left, making a
pin on the right the toughest. Semi-circular putts are a common occurrence. 17th
(Nandina), 425yds, par 4: Former President Eisenhower, a club member, hit the
huge pine tree down the left so often he wanted it removed. Instead it was named
after him. Because the hole runs alongside the 15th, there are trees on the right
now as well. Sandy Lyle and Darren Clarke are among 14 to take a seven here. 18th
(Holly), 465yds, par 4: The biggest change. A new tee 60 yards back doubles the
difficulty of the drive. The bunkers on the left are 10bigger than when Sandy
Lyle hit his seven-iron from sand to win in 1988, and the green has been expanded
to create a new pin placing back right. If Woods wins with a birdie this time
he will have earned his money. |