A new concession and bathroom hub between the 8th and . . In 2017, Augusta National purchased that swath of land from the neighboring Augusta Country Club the land actually was part of a hole on the neighboring course, and Augusta Country Club was forced to reroute its layout to accommodate the land sale. This year, it was the 3rd easiest, behind only the par-5s on the front nine, Nos. . https://golfweek.usatoday.com/2022/11/22/augusta-national-masters-13th-hole-changes-complete/, Mexico, Caribbean, Atlantic islands, Central America, Top 50 Classic Courses in Great Britain & Ireland, Top 50 Modern Courses in Great Britain & Ireland, James Hahn is mad as hell about the changes coming to the PGA Tour and he isn't afraid to tell you why, 2023 Arnold Palmer Invitational: Three of the world's top 20 among the players to miss the cut, Best golf balls for 2023 for every budget and playing style, Best irons for 2023 for every handicap and playing style, Friday at Bay Hill: Jordan Spieth's putter wakes up, Jon Rahm takes a step back among notes from Day 2 at Arnold Palmer Invitational, Putters used by PGA Tour players ranked in the top 10 in strokes gained putting, 2023 Arnold Palmer Invitational: Kamaiu Johnson DQ'd for scoring violation, Your California Privacy Rights/Privacy Policy. For the membership, however, the old sixteenth might have held more charm (and obviously more MacKenzie flavor), particularly as there was room to lengthen at least its left-side tee considerably. A fairly strong argument can be made that for all classes of players, the exchange of the old no-mans-land fairway bunker for the greenside hazard was a good one. GOLF.com and GOLF Magazine are published by EB GOLF MEDIA LLC, a division of 8AM GOLF. But Augusta, after all, is not your local neighborhood golf course; indeed, it is not even your standard, run-of-the-mill, Major championship venue. Beyond this, the lone obvious alteration was Jack Nicklauss 1982 division/expansion of a large, left-side fairway bunker into four smaller ones (thus creating an aesthetic anomaly on a course otherwise devoid of such clusters) and adding some adjacent mounds. Thus while Augusta may not be able or wish to restore most holes to their original configurations, and its altered putting surfaces must retain their modern contouring as a nod to contemporary green speeds, wouldnt it be nice if the club re-established at least some of its original flavor by restoring the bunkers to MacKenzies original, unique shaping? Instead, at the suggestion of Gene Sarazen, a right-side hazard was added, theoretically narrowing the primary driving area but also leaving the shorter left-side route more open for attack. Admittedly, that hole does not play as it was intended to play by [Bobby] Jones and [course designer Alister] MacKenzie. 14 Chinese FirPar 41933: 425 yards2009: 440 yards. 13. But even this Golden Age work of art is not altogether intact, for its back-left corner was extended a bit in 1987, its front edge has been brought noticeably forward, and multiple flanking mounds have been soften or removed over the decades. Thanks to the flyover folks at Eureka Earth, we have new photos of the 13th, taken earlier this week, that show dirt being moved in the fairway and the shaping of a potential new tee box much farther back. The now-famous and ultra-speedy bent grass on the greens wasn't . Offhand, you might think the 18 greens on course plus a couple practice greens. It looks to be hidden in the woods between the 5th, 6th and 7th holes. (Note Magnolia Lane on the far right about a third of the way down). The cabins locations would change the Par 3s first four holes, according to the plans. Augusta National Golf Club has seen plenty of changes over the decades. Such changes would succeed in re-establishing both the clear advantage gained from placing ones tee shot down the right side and the hazard that can make accessing this area of fairway a dicey but exciting proposition. Augusta National announced plans for the seven-room cabin before the 1953 Masters. Thru F. Click to favorite undefined. A demanding two-shotter then, a demanding two-shotter now. 7PampasPar 41933: 340 yards2009: 445 yards. Learn more about troubleshooting WordPress. Tiger Woods, who has played a practice round at . Also, a mound sitting just off the right edge of the putting surface was replaced by a bunker at the apparent suggestion of Ben Hogan in 1957. Dont look for official word from the club until next spring. There has been a critical error on this website. Augusta National Golf Club is the most famous golf course in the world and hardly needs an introduction. While the two 1987 Fazio-designed holes may escape, the original holes . Both Bobby Jones, 13-time Major champion and the greatest amateur golfer of all-time, and Dr. Alister MacKenzie, frequently considered the greatest course designer in history, believed in creating strategic holes whose challenge was as much mental as physical, with multiple angles of play generally allowing golfers of all abilities a chance to effectively navigate their way along. But regardless of such glaring stylistic differences, the substance of the hole remains among the least-altered at Augusta, particularly the putting surface which, save for some adjacent mounding added during the 1950s and 60s, has been little bothered. Speaking of trees, there appear to be two new pines way behind the current 13th tee box. T3. Engineering documents filed with the city of Augusta's Planning and Development Department outline several expected changes at one of the world's iconic professional golf venues, including the construction of two new guest cabins. Hole No.9 Restore Dr. MacKenzies original single-bunker, boomerang green, a remarkably striking feature offering all manner of exciting pin placements and whose right-side false front could still, with perhaps a bit of minor massaging, provide the same roll-down- the-hill dangers incumbent to present first-tier pins. To put it in perspective, Rory McIlroy hit 3-wood off the tee Sunday of the 2022 Masters and had only 203 yards into the green. . Of course, this hazard also served at least cosmetically to enhance the right third of the fairways optimum status, which in turn placed a greater emphasis on the large right-side fairway bunker, an invasive hazard which has existed since 1933, but which has been moved and/or expanded multiple times since World War II. When Augusta National opened for play in 1933, four of the holes were completely devoid of sand and 14 of Augusta's expansive fairway corridors were without bunkers. PO Box 2566, Southern Pines, NC 28388. The resort has been dubbed by some to be a 17-Mile Drive for the southern hemisphere. These pictures are pretty breathtaking. Then probably. Is there a major difference? 17 NandinaPar 41933: 400 yards2009: 440 yards. Wexler, Daniel The Evolution of Augusta National: What Would The Good Doctor Say? From above, its clear the fairway has been dug up, with a pipe trench extending through the middle of it toward the 14th tee. While Roberts' plan faced initial pushback from membership, the course opened in the fall of '58 to rave reviews. Second, while the original (and its legion of replicas) features a putting surface which falls away from front-right to back-left, MacKenzies sketch suggests that the sixth fell more sideways, into a left/front-left quadrant. Eureka Earth, your source for all things Augusta National during the year, posted an updated look at the 13th tee box Tuesday morning, and construction seems to be complete. That pond surely will be refilled, but it begs a fun question: Who got to keep all the balls they found in there? 1930 Four years before completion. And watch this video about them below. Beyond the architectural particulars inherent to individual holes, there are several broader conclusions which might reasonably be drawn when comparing Augusta National then and now. At a glance, this might be decried as removing a strategic option but an equally valid argument might be made that in this era of unchecked equipment, injecting some measure of accountability in this particular location was important in retaining the holes fundamental balance of play. The fact that players are hitting middle to short irons into that hole is not really how it was designed~ Chairman Ridley, April 2022#TheMasters #Masters2023, ( 18JUN2022 David Dobbins/EurekaEarth) pic.twitter.com/SfLns8AxSU, Eureka Earth (@EurekaEarthPlus) June 21, 2022. Todays hole is an entirely different beast from the Eden redux of yesteryear, playing far longer, to a green of different shape and contour. 2023 www.augustachronicle.com. MacKenzie cited the seventh at Englands Stoke Poges Golf Club as its inspiration (a rather more obscure choice than earlier St. Andrews and North Berwick influences) and seemed generally to have liked the hole. One certainly sympathizes with Masters officials whove grown weary of watching longer hitters reach the fifteenth green with short-iron seconds, so the holes recent lengthening to 530 yards certainly makes sense. Further, though not apparent in the sketch, it is widely reported that this green originally had a prominent mound very near its center a hillock steep enough that golfers would be hard-pressed to maintain control of their ball if forced to putt over it. Cabins 1 and 2 appear to sit behind the fourth and third tees, respectively. Wed, Aug 31 2022. 2. Its hard to tell from the photos, but there could be a new tee box on No. Once upon a time, the plain that encompasses parts of the second, third, seventh, fifteenth and seventeenth fairways was largely a wide open stretch, dotted only with the occasional pine tree. However, Augusta National's other club founder, Bobby Jones, did not reciprocate the excitement shared by Roberts and MacKenzieJones felt the then-cash-strapped club had other projects on the priority listputting the kibosh on the plans. There is no reason to take driver out of the bag, especially with the trees and pine straw out in the distance. Would the hole play slightly easier? Aerial photos give us clues, 2023 Arnold Palmer Invitational tee times: Round 4 groupings for Sunday, A major-like test, World No. Its fairly common to see winterized golf courses use a different type of grass or a green-dyed fertilizer on fairways and greens, creating major visual contrasts. The par-4 seventeenth was originally built as the last of Augustas bunkerless holes, its shallow, swale-fronted putting surface leading Dr. MacKenzie to opine that It will be necessary to attack the green from the right and it will be essential to play a run-up shot if par figures are desired. Somewhere early on, however, this strategy was rejected by the club when it chose to add three bunkers, the two which presently front the putting surface and a third long since removed well short and left, the net result being that no modern run-up shot is played intentionally. Now guys cant go left. Though, at a glance, things may not look too different today relative to the early years, the hole has seen its fair share of changes. Judging by the length between the outlined new tee box and the existing one, the back tee could play 40-50 yards longer in the 2023 Masters in April. Their original was a bunkerless drive-and-pitch modeled after the 18th at St. Andrews, running straight away and culminating in a shallow, three-tiered green with a prominent front-right finger, and a Valley of Sin-like depression guarding the front-left.