Weir: Jones Would Be Like !?!?!

Ken Fidlin in the Toronto Sun talks to Mike Weir about the new look Augusta National. As we've seen with other players, the recent criticism by Nicklaus and Palmer seems to have made the observations much more to the point. And again, the club's move away from his design vision while citing Jones quotes to justify the changes seems to have opened the floodgates...

Once again the tall foreheads who run Augusta National have chosen to mess with God's golf course. For more than half a century, it was considered unique and beautiful and very nearly perfect in every way. Now those bright lights in green jackets have taken to tearing the place apart just about every year. Just because they can.

It used to be bad form for players to make anything but complimentary comments about the place but now these latest changes are getting trashed from all sides

"I'm sure if Bobby Jones was still around," Weir said, "it would be, like 'What are you guys doing?'"

Weir played Augusta on Sunday and Monday and is somewhat dismayed. They've added more yardage to bring the length up to 7,300 yards but in the process, they've started to tinker with the personality of the golf course.

"I don't know what they're doing," he said. "I don't mind them lengthening the course. That's fine.

"The thing that kind of disturbs me is they're getting away from the character of the golf course. Now they're bringing in all these trees. Besides lengthening No. 11, they pinched the trees in even tighter on the right side. It's like a tree-lined golf course now. Totally different from 10 to 15 years ago. It's not even the same place.