Two Golf Course Questions, Augusta Edition**
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The 15th hole trees in 2003As a faraway observer who studies Augusta National on television, I'd like to think I've gotten pretty good at noticing subtle changes in the course. Writing about the setup and conditioning appears to be off-limits to the on-site scribes who either don't care or just don't bother because they aren't allowed inside the ropes. Therefore we get very little coverage about what is the most talked about topic heading into the tournament: the golf course.
So I'm throwing out two observations based on Thursday and part of Friday's online coverage. Curious what you all are seeing.
- Augusta National just doesn't seem to drain like it used to. While the fairway mowing toward the tee can only account for some of the seeming total lack of roll, it seems like it's been a very long time since the course was truly firm and fast. Perhaps I'm reading too much into how much more the sand-capped 10th fairway was running compared to others (after all it is a ski slope)? Even with less ground speed, players seem to be hitting it back to the spots they driving to prior to the lengthening.
- Trees have come out on No. 15. I've asked people who are both on property and longtime watchers on television and it seems as if a row of pines or at least a couple of trees planted by Hootie and Fazio have come out on No. 15, widening the landing area. Mickelson hit a drive yesterday there with a reaction that screamed, that's in the trees, but it worked out fine. The second shot views of the Woodland, Vegas and Quiros group appeared to be coming in from a bit more of a right side angle than in years past. Again, this could just be an odd camera angle.
Naturally, the first observation would be a shame, the second great news. But these are only guesses based on the telecast.
**Here's an answer to one question we've been batting around about the golf course...all of the grass this year. Jim McCabe reports:
“There seems to be more grass in the shaded areas,” David Toms said. “A lot of times the golf course is a little thin because there’s so much shade. But there seems to be a lot more grass on the fairways in a lot of spots, so I would say it’s lush.”
Ogilvy was among those who pointed to grassier-than-normal fringe areas. That made it particularly difficult if you were just off the greens, because you were hitting through some sticky stuff onto quick greens.
