Augusta Turns 73

Augusta National opened seventy-three years ago today. And the Masters is just 83 days away.

To the left is a postcard that announced the opening (available through Golf Links To The Past for $850). 

Below are a couple of early images picked up recently from the old American Golfer magazine.  The first is Bobby Jones during his first Masters appearance en route to a 76. He is putting on the (then boomerang) ninth green, with the first fairway in the background. Note the beautiful fairway bunker lines.

The second image is of today's 18th, showing the old cross bunker whose outline remains visible today. Thanks to Tommy in the GS.com art department for touching these up.

 

 

Augusta National : Torrey Pines

I bet when Hootie Johnson and Tom Fazio started tinkering with Augusta National they never thought they'd be lumped in with Torrey Pines...and actually have someone be complimenting them at the same time:

"Now, I like these changes," [Charles] Howell said. "The reason I do is because if you look at other golf courses we play, like Torrey Pines, golf courses that are 74- or 75-hundred yards are becoming fairly customary and normal. I don't think you want to play a major championship on a golf course that is not in keeping with other courses we play on tour in terms of length."

"Any time you take a golf course and completely overhaul it, you're going to get some mixed feelings," Howell said of the evolution of his opinions. "But now I think it's fine. I really do. There isn't one thing I saw at Augusta National that I haven't seen done everywhere else."

But aren't we drawn to Augusta/The Masters because they didn't do things like everywhere else? Sorry, I interrupted again. Looks like Scott Michaux--author of the story where Howell's comments appeared--was thinking the same thing:

Purists will argue that Augusta National isn't everywhere else and should be above trying to keep up with the Joneses or Woodses or whoever. Being held to a different standard is part of the unique fascination with Augusta's evolution.

"It's a change for Augusta National," Howell said, "but if you forget how the golf course used to be, it's fine. If this is your first year coming and playing the Masters, you won't think any big deal of it. The problem is that everybody has watched the Masters since they were old enough to watch TV and everybody knows that golf course better than they know any other golf course in the world."

Michaux also writes:

And the eye-popping new measurement for the par-4 No. 11 (505 yards) only begins to tell how much harder that hole has become.

"The shortest 11 can play is 505," Howell said, saying the yardage marker is situated at the extreme front of the tee box instead of the customary center. "I walked it to the back and it was 513, which puts it longer than No. 13."

Now that's more like the old time-Clifford Roberts run Augusta we all love and know.

The biggest impact of all the recent changes might be forcing many of the older champions to give up playing in the Masters much sooner than expected. The latest changes almost guarantee that Jack Nicklaus will not change his mind and return to play one more Masters on the 20th anniversary of his epic 1986 victory.

Other past champions like Tom Watson and Ben Crenshaw might be forced to retire far sooner than their predecessors or risk embarrassing themselves on a course now built for younger players.

"I think it will keep a lot of guys from coming back," Howell said, lamenting the potential loss of a unique aspect of the tournament which allowed him to play in his first Masters with Gary Player.

Now that's less like the old time-Clifford Roberts run Augusta we all love and know.

"Hitting It Straight Will Be Key"

That was the jump header in Sunday's LA Times. The Thomas Bonk story in question offered an extensive look at Augusta National's recent changes.  It's a nice summary of the new look course, with some of the recent comments from Tiger and Couples. And thankfully, it lacks the excessive glorification we've read recently.

If nothing else, the club has helped Augusta's moribund non-Masters tourism industry by having all of these writers down for a looksy (ah, but do they get to bring their clubs?!). 

On this "hitting it straight" thing. I'm thinking that within a decade, maybe they'll paint a straight line down the center of what's left of the fairways, and deduct a stroke for those who toe the line, and maybe add strokes for those who dare to non-conform by playing to sides of fairways to gain approach better approach angles, etc...

Nice metaphoric quality to this, don't you think?

And Yet Another Augusta Story

Glenn, my invitation must have gotten lost in the mail!

Oh well, looks like Bob Harig is on the preferred list at Augusta and he returns a favorable albeit lukewarm verdict on the course changes. It's lacking the gushing superlatives we've read elsewhere (and thankfully, there's no mention of restoring the rhythm).

Augusta Photos

GolfDigest.com has posted a photo sequence of the key holes changed at Augusta National. Naturally, the 7th looks silly (big architectural insight of the day: when standing in the middle of the fairway and your view of  the greenside bunkers is choked out by trees, it's time to call in the Oakmont tree-removal squad).

But the new 15th tee looks good at least (now about those pines down the right...).

More interesting are Ron Whitten's photo descriptions. I've read a similar tone in the past from various publications, mostly from the club. I think it's a troubling tone if you respect the vision of Bobby Jones and Alister MacKenzie.

For example, on the changes to the 7th green:

The green has been redesigned to create a possible right-rear pin position; the right-rear portion has been lowered one foot, so that players will no longer be able to fly it past front-right flag locations and let the slope spin the ball back to the hole.  

Design flaw repaired! Players hitting balls to spots and letting them feed down? Just so wrong. Wait, that same thing allowed for Tiger's 2005 chip-in on 16, which was what, maybe one of the ten greatest moments in sports television history? Top 5 Masters moments? Unforgettable. Goose bump stuff when you see it now shotmaking? No, those kinds of feeding slopes must go!

In fact, the more I think about it, the more that such feeding slopes are the essence of Augusta and exciting tournament golf. (You know, the crowd cheering a slowly rolling ball down the slope.)  

This accompanied the photos of No. 11:

Several clusters of dogwoods are to be planted in the left-hand rough to eliminate the possibility of bailing out to the left and having a relatively easy second shot from the "rough" or pine straw.

See, those Jones and MacKenzie guys didn't close all the gaps. They opened the door for someone to bail out and have a "relatively easy second shot from rough or pine straw." (Because of course it's so easy to hit a ball out of a flyer lie or off of pine straw, over water, with 15 million people watching...oh, and the Masters possibly on the line!).

You see, today's master designers and course setup gurus plant scrawny Christmas trees to plug these design leaks. They close all the gaps. That's why they're masters.

PS: while doing some research the other day, I came across a photo of the old No. 10, pre-Perry Maxwell's 1937 redesign. I think it had to be one of the all-time coolest, wackiest strategic holes ever built (which would explain why it had to be changed into today's pretty-but-boring two-shotter, it was probably too eccentric). But that's a post for another day (and when we get a scan of the old pic). 

Another Augusta Story

Isn't it great the club is hosting so many golf writers?  After all, what else would I have to rant about? (Though I don't know if it even hit 66 degrees today...there is that).

Ron Green Jr. pens a slightly less press-release like column that Hootie will love.

For the third time in six years, Augusta National has undergone a dramatic renovation, continuing the perpetual pursuit of maintaining the rhythm and demands created by designers Bobby Jones and Alister Mackenzie.

What's with the rhythm references? When did Augusta National become Soul Train?

In 1932, Jones said this about Augusta National: "The perfect design should place a premium upon sound judgment as well as accurate striking, by rewarding the correct placing of each shot. Mere length is its own reward, but length without control ought to be punished."

Jones understood the game, its players and their equipment would evolve through the years, even if he didn't envision club heads the size of grapefruits and tee shots that routinely fly more than 300 yards.

Right. After all, how could he have envisioned that so many grown men would be so scared of upsetting someone's shopping rights, that they would jack around with his dream course just so that they wouldn't have to change a few rules to ensure that skill would reign supreme over hi-tech club fitting.

The changes have assured that the tough holes will remain difficult and erased any lingering perception that driving accuracy isn't critical at Augusta National. Long hitters still have a great advantage at Augusta National, but only if they can control their length.

Because Lord knows, that lingering perception served the tournament so poorly through the years, serving up all those lousy finishes and undeserving winners.

In all seriousness, let's go back to the Jones quote cited by Green. It's got to be part of the club talking points.

"The perfect design should place a premium upon sound judgment as well as accurate striking, by rewarding the correct placing of each shot. Mere length is its own reward, but length without control ought to be punished."

Look, I went to Pepperdine where thought is frowned upon and yet I can figure this out, so America's golf writers should be able to understand it too.

Rewarding the correct placing of each shot. This starts with fairway width in the Jones/MacKenzie strategic approach to course design. In trying to emulate the principles of the Old Course, they hoped players who adapted to the day's conditions and hole location would be significantly rewarded for thinking about and correctly placing their tee shot. The optimum angle would be the reward awaiting this wonderful combination and brains and accurately. 

Bad placement, meant you couldn't attack a hole location or you had a more difficult approach shot.

But for this democratic principle to work, it had to start with width that set up options. Length with control would be rewarded. Length without control would be punished, assuming the ground was at all firm.

As outlined in this and other articles, the pinching of landing areas at 300-340 yards or the plugging of forest gaps appears designed to control the length of today's players. In other words, to force them to lay back. Big difference between that rather authoritarian mindset, versus the Jones-MacKenzie democratic/free market approach of allowing for length off the tee. (MacKenzie even advocated that holes widen out for longer tee shots.)

Narrowness designed to discourage the long drive eliminates the need for "sound judgment" and "correct placement" based on the day's hole location or conditions. It means there is only one way to play round after round.

Meaning that Augusta National is in grave danger of becoming precisely what Jones despised about golf in America:

Employing a comparison with our own best courses in America I have found that most of our courses, especially those inland, may be played correctly the same way round after round. The holes really are laid out scientifically; visibility is stressed; you can see what you have to do virtually all the time; and when once you learn how to do it, you can go right ahead, the next day, and the next day, and the day after that.

Jones, Roberts and MacKenzie No Doubt Would Approve!

Not sure about you, but I'm detecting some trends here. This is the fourth article by someone who has seen the changes at Augusta National, and by golly, the similarities are striking. Potential talking points here? Links to the previous three are here, here and here. You be the judge.

Actually, this unbylined piece takes the analysis in new directions compared to the previous stories, serving up some real headscratchers. Thanks to reader Pete for the heads up.

Augusta National officials, who declined to be quoted, deferring to the “Big Three” or chairman Hootie Johnson, say the changes will restore the course’s “rhythm and shot values” as designed by Jones and Mackenzie.

The fourth hole is longer now (though hardly the longest par-3; Oakmont will have a 285-yard par-3 for the 2007 U.S. Open), but carving the new tee out of the woods created an expanded area for spectators. The real benefit? Making Tour players have to decide which of their four wedges to ditch from their bags in order to carry a 2-iron or 3-iron for the tee shot.

It would be interesting to know the unbylined writer concocted that one or if that came from the club. It's so pathetic on so many levels, I don't know where to begin. Oh let's begin. First, the 2-iron is just about gone from most Tour bags, replaced by the hybrid. Even Tiger shelved his. Second, how many people really carry four wedges, and even if they do, is it really the place a tournament committee to change holes in order to create 14-club decision predicaments?

The most dramatic change is at the 450-yard par-4 seventh, where 90 yards have been added since 2002. An old maintenance building was removed for the new tee, 40 yards back. Fans now can stand behind the tee and see the length of the funnel-like fairway, which “can be classified as narrow,” Roberts wrote in splendid understatement.

Yes, splendid. Wasn't Cliff Roberts the one who turned No. 8 into that hideous flying saucer green that had to be rebuilt by Byron Nelson and Joe Lee? Same guy, right?

Players can bomb a drive into the narrowest part of the fairway and risk being in the right-hand trees, or lay back to 175 yards, where the fairway is flat and wider, and hit a longer approach to an elevated green, guarded by five bunkers. Changes to the green created new pin positions in the back left and back right, bringing those bunkers into play.

Yes, just as Jones and MacKenzie envisioned it.

By reworking the 11th hole, Fazio brought the leftside pond back into play on approaches. Players in the past “bailed out” right, then played approaches into the length of the green. That likely won’t happen now.

And what genius it takes to eliminate options. Here I was thinking it took genius to create options and now I realize my thinking was all wrong.

I don't know about you, but with the Masters on the line, I'd much rather hit over the pond from the leftside with short grass beyond for the over-struck shot, than try to hit into the length of the green from a hanging lie.

The bottom line? Augusta National took steps to stay current, and appears to have succeeded. Players today are better than in 1934, and so is the golf course. Jones, Roberts and Mackenzie no doubt would approve.

Or, no doubt Jones and MacKenzie are spinning in their graves.

 

Tiger On Augusta Lengthening, Vol ?

Not the last time he'll be asked this between now and April:

Q. They've changed Augusta again. Does that take care of you? Have you talked about that at all, had any reaction to the lengthening of the golf course?

TIGER WOODS: They're lengthening the golf course every other year it seems like. I can understand why they lengthen it. Also, then again, they want us to hit the same clubs that we used to hit to the holes. Then if that's the case, make the greens as slow as they used to be. The greens are running 12 and 13. They never ran 12 or 13 back in the '60s, '70s, '80s. It just wasn't that way. But hey, we've all got to play it, that's the thing.

Since 2002 when they made the big change, we have yet to see it dry for a tournament. We played the practice rounds this year with it lightning and then all of a sudden it dumped rain again. It'll be interesting to see if we can break par if it stays dry the entire week.

Q. Do you think that's what they want? Are they in the business of protecting par now?

TIGER WOODS: I don't think so, no. They're actually interested in making not just the greens a challenge at Augusta but overall play. Now you have to position your drive, drive it out there with some length, and they brought that back into the game.

Position? Ugh...I can just imagine Hootie reading that and congratulating himself for making guys drive into a 20-25-yard wide area, selected by he and Tom Fazio.
 

Couples of Hard Holes

From Doug Ferguson's AP notes column:

Former Masters champion Fred Couples played Augusta National in late October and offered what should be a familiar scouting report on the par-3 fourth, which now plays about 240 yards.

"It's hard," Couples said. "It's very hard."

The club altered six holes during the summer, although the two likely to get the most attention are No. 4 and No. 7, both of which were lengthened by 40 yards. The seventh hole had been a 3-wood and a sand wedge. Couples hit a driver and a 7-iron during his latest trip.

"But No. 4, I just felt like under the wrong circumstances, it's just going to be awfully hard," said Couples, who hit a 2-iron. "But everyone's got to do it. Stronger players can maybe hit a 3-iron up high and stop it. But with the utility clubs, those go just as high and soft. There will be a bit of club changing."

Jones on "So-Called" One Shotters

While going through some of the quotes left out of Lines of Charm (note that shamless plug as the Christmas shopping season gets underway), I found this beauty from Bobby Jones:

I never have been convinced that a so-called one-shot hole of 240 or 250 yards is a forthright golfing problem.

Now, you may recall Mr. Jones's name and writings have recently been invoked (and will be many more times between now and April) to justify the lengthening of Augusta National's fourth hole to 240 yards.  Just thought I'd share this so that some of you out there can understand why us architecture junkies want to scream when we read that Jones would approve of the new-look course.

Ferguson On Augusta Changes

Did I miss a media day? Now AP's Doug Ferguson weighs in from Augusta (these guys must know a lot of members!) and reports on the "attempt to restore the rhythm and shot value the way Bobby Jones and Alister MacKenzie designed it."

Rhythm?

Ferguson employed the Bobby Jones quote describing what the greatest of them all expected players to hit into No. 4 from then until eternity.

Jones gave Sports Illustrated a hole-by-hole description in 1959 and said of the par-3 fourth, ''The shot is usually a strong iron, or even a 4- or 3-wood.''

Here's what Jones wrote:

This hole can be varied a great deal, depending on the use of the back tee or the rear portion of the forward tee. From the back tee the shot is usually a strong iron or even a four or three wood.

In other words, he expected both tees to be used to create the day-to-day variety that he loved in St. Andrews (and wrote about extensively). Hopefully the committee will do the same this year.

Regarding the first hole, Ferguson writes: 

The tee box has been moved back about 20 yards to make the hole play 455 yards, although change at Augusta National is not all about length.

The eye-opener is that cavernous bunker down the right side, where a finger of turf now dips into the sand and creates the appearance of a double bunker. Balls rarely will be in the middle of the sand, allowing for a routine escape; now there will be steep lips in the way.

Here's what Jones wrote about No. 1:

This hole can be played straight away from tee to green, although the fairway does expand on the right as it approaches the green. Ordinarily, the fairway bunker on the right presents no problem for the tournament player. With a heavy wind against, however, as often happens, a half-hit tee shot may catch this bunker.

He went on to write mostly about the strategy of the green complex, which thankfully retains its brilliance today (until Tom Fazio convinces Hootie he can reproduce it 10 yards back and 30 to the right.

But no mention from Jones of teeing off from Butler Cabin if necessary to get the bunker in play. And nothing about adding bunker tongues to discourage those heroic recovery shots. In fact, in the chapter on Augusta he noted:

...the elimination of purely punitive hazards provides an opportunity for the player to retrieve his situation by an exceptional second shot. A course which is constructed with these principles in view must be interesting, because it will offer problems which a man may attempt, according to his ability.

Those democratic golf values are so last century Bobby!

Ferguson lets Dow Finsterwald sum up what the changes are really about.

Augusta National is longer and harder than ever. Players hit the ball longer and better than ever.

''Their ability is so marvelous,'' [Dow] Finsterwald said. ''It's not that they're so much longer, they're straighter. And there are more good putters than there were. So I don't think the test has changed. But players have risen to the changes. But the scores stay pretty much in the ballpark, don't they?''

Another Look at Augusta

The Atlanta Journal Constitution's Steve Hummer gets a glimpse of the new look Augusta National (easy registration req.).

The evolution of this course mirrors the evolution of the game. The pulsing conflict between course design and the design of club, ball and from-the-heels swing is being played out continually on these grounds.

Amazingly, Hummer cites the same exact Jones quotes that appeared in the breathless Scott Michaux piece that appeared Sunday. (What a coincidence!) 

Note this image accompanying the story by photographer Rob Brown. It shows the trees planted on the par-4 11th. If you ever wonder why some view the tree planting so negatively (besides the obvious departure from the Jones-MacKenzie philosophy), just look at this image.

One of the greatest, most awe inspiring moments for anyone who knows anything about Augusta is the stroll down 11 fairway (or for spectators, 11 rough). Not only do you take in the view of the par-4 green, but also that much anticipated glimpse of the famous par-3 12th (so you can start thinking about it).

The open area between 11, 12 and 13 is unique and adds to their drama. Now the golfer must be down the left side of 11 or wait until after his approach has been hit to take in a full view of the 12th.

The grand, open nature added a large scale feel that only increases the intimidation factor (for some). But finding itself more enclosed, the scale has less impact.

Stunning, Spectacular

I know it's the hometown paper and the publisher is an Augusta National member, but is this really necessary:

Given one word to describe the most recent changes to the host course of the Masters - stunning.

Stunning in magnitude of its scope. Stunning in magnificence of the execution. Stunning in impact for players and patrons alike.

That's Scott Michaux in the Augusta Chronicle, writing about the latest "distance augmentation" at Augusta National. He rolls out the dreaded "Bobby Jones would approve" lines even as he points out this interesting stat: from 1934 to 1998 the course had been lengthened 230 yards, 520 yards in the last 7 years. (There wasn't roll until '99!)

All of the alterations emphasizing accuracy and retroactive shot values - whether greeted warmly by Masters participants or not - fit into the original philosophy of course founder Bobby Jones.

If there is one change that has players scratching their heads more than any other, it's the par-3 4th. Stretched to 240 yards to its rear limit, what was already one of the toughest par 3s in golf could be brutal. But it jibes with Jones' original intent, as he stated in a 1959 Sports Illustrated story, for the hole to be played "with a strong iron or even a four- or three-wood."

I guess they didn't take into account that iron lofts have changed (vanished) since then, or that when Jones wrote about what clubs were used, he almost assuredly was not hoping to dictate what players should use even after a major technology fueled distance explosion.  

No. 11 - the toughest scoring hole two of the past three years - underwent its third significant alteration since 2002 in its quest to restore the relevance of the greenside pond. In addition to stretching the length to 505 yards, more trees were added to the young grove that hugs the right side to force the golfers to play left and deal with the pond using longer clubs on their approach. Attacking a rear left pin will not be for the faint of heart.

Was force in the Jones golfing dictionary? Everything he preached had to do with the spirit of St. Andrews. Democratic golf. Options. Choose your own path. No coercion from outside sources.

That translated to width and architecture that did not force players to a certain spot, as they are doing at No. 11 (and everywhere it seems...oh to be a pine nursery owner in eastern Georgia!).

Now No. 7 grabs your attention and demands even finer accuracy with a few more pines added to both sides. The green - which should be attacked with fewer sand wedges and more 7- and 8-irons - was tweaked as well, to allow new hole locations on both the back right and left to bring the two rear bunkers more in play.

It is curious that in the case of No. 7, the club is ignoring Jones' writings where he says "length is not a premium here." And they've added more trees there too? Oh Lord.

While the 17th tee was pushed back 15 yards. within close proximity to the back right bunker of the 16th green, the impact on the hole is mostly aesthetic. Clearing some towering pines and trimming another on the left side has accentuated the beauty and impact of the 65-foot tall Eisenhower tree, which stands out more prominently 210 yards from the tee. While the famous loblolly pine can still be carried, additional pines on the left and a narrower fairway await in the landing area.

17 narrower? Is that possible?

How the supersized 7,445-yard course will treat participants in the season's first major remains to be seen. Dire predictions in recent years have proven unfounded, and the massive driving stats at this week's Tour Championship for Tiger Woods make you wonder if Augusta National hasn't gone far enough.

Final judgment will require depth of experience. But on the surface, the initial reviews are nothing but spectacular.

Okay take a deep breath Scott, your credential is safe. No worries mate.

The new tee on 15 is a long overdue improvement, unfortunately it did not come with the removal of trees down the right side.
 

Augusta, ShotLink Notes

Two interesting notes from PGA.com: 

MASTERS PREVIEW: Ben Crane is assured of playing in his first Masters (through the PGA Tour money list), and he wasted no time getting his first look at Augusta National.

A week after the club had its fall opening, Crane spent four days at Augusta and played five rounds.

"I hadn't played in a few weeks and wasn't expecting anything,'' he said. "I shot 4-under, made eagle on No. 13. I thought, 'This is no problem.' And I never came close to that the rest of the week.''

For those curious about the latest batch of changes, stretching the course to 7,445 yards, Crane confirmed suspicions that the par-3 fourth hole will be a beast. It has a new tee box some 35 yards longer, making it play about 240 yards. He hit 2-iron one day, and 3-wood the other four times he played.

SHOTLINK: Officials at the Chrysler Championship thought Dennis Paulson had made history as the first player to reach the 605-yard fifth hole in two. According to the Shotlink system, which uses lasers to track every shot by every player, Paulson's second shot went 287 yards and onto the green.

Statistics showed he took two putts for a birdie.

Alas, Shotlink is operated by humans, and humans do err.

"I was through the green,'' Paulson said, noting that his 3-wood went just beyond the fringe into the first cut. Told that Shotlink had him taking two putts, he rolled his eyes and said, "Great. As if my putting stats weren't bad enough.''

It wasn't the first time Paulson has been subjected to a Shotlink mix-up. At the Reno-Tahoe Open, he said the system operators had him mistaken for playing partner Paul Goydos throughout the round.

"One hole, they had Goydos 70 yards past me,'' he said. "My driving distance average went down that week.''