Course Changes Files, 8th and 16th Green Edition
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David Westin reports on player comments after a few days around Augusta National, including noticeably lusher fairways similar to last year, and tweaks to the 8th and 16th greens that at the very least, might give the final par-3 more than one interesting hole location. Maybe.
On the 16th hole, Mickelson said there is a bigger plateau on the top right side.
He said he believes the extension of the greens on Nos. 8 and 16 will make them play slightly easier.
“After looking at them, I think that some of the more challenging pin placements on those greens were softened a little bit and made to be not quite as difficult,” he said. “I’m not saying it’s good, bad, indifferent.”
For handicapping purposes the lusher fairways don't mean a reward for any particular player, but simply improve the chances of a better finish like last year. A few more balls may stay up on banks, a few less tight fairway lies might force a lay-up and in general, the extra turf should reward a little more risk-taking. Always a good thing here.
