What Would You Change About Augusta National?
by Ryan Ballengee on Apr 1, 2009 10:58 AM EDT
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PrintGolf World's Dave Shedloski posed that question to players in anticipation of the Masters. The kind of candor that he got in his piece was revealing about the state of the course and, frankly, the state of the Masters.
The suggestions range wildly, but I'll offer up some of the quotes I found to be more interesting - and perhaps inspire some conversaton.
Hunter Mahan: "You can't undo what another guy has done. You want to be respectful of what someone like Hootie (Johnson) has done for the tournament. But my goal would be to make sure I bring back the excitement to the back nine again on Sunday. That's what the Masters represents is one of the most exciting tournaments in the world. You don't want to see a battle for pars. The way Phil (Mickelson) won in 2004, shooting all those birdies on the back nine, that's what you want to see every year."
Steve Flesch: "Set up the golf course on Sunday exactly how it was when Jack (Nicklaus) shot 30 on the back nine in the final round in 1986, and never change it again. That was the most memorable comeback in history, and who wouldn't want to see more of that? That is what the Masters has lost is the ability for a player to make a back-nine charge on Sunday.
Noticing a trend? A couple of players - Mike Weir and Kenny Perry - said that they wanted the back nine par 5s to be more accessible. Some said that they would just want to cut out the rough, but keep the length.
A number of players said they would change nothing, including Anthony Kim and Sergio Garcia.
For me, I think I would scale back #4 and #7 in terms of distance. I would have variable tees on 13 to allow for aggression. I might even do the same on 18 for a Sunday that could promote a lengthy player to try to cut the corner. And, last, I would get rid of those trees on 11 on the right hand side. That's been a disaster in ruining the character of the hole.
That said, what would you change about Augusta?
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too long for who ? Most of these guys regularly hit, or can hit, 300 yards off the tee – followed by a 200 yard shot, which is at MOST a 4 iron for these guys. Most of these guys are hitting no more than a 5 into that green. The added length to these holes is starting at the green and working back. They got tired of guys hitting driver – 7/8 iron into par 5’s – which is what they were doing with the 1986 length in the late 90’s.
When the course was laid out, people were hitting driver and a lofted wood or long iron into 11. They just returning the hole to the club it was supposed to have hit in. After that, you get the people who say that if you’re going to return to hitting a long iron into a green, you have to return the green to the speed they were playing back then, too. Greens didn’t run at 14 or more in those days.
"this ball will fit in that fairway"
Tell Hunter and Steve...
…SURE ! We’ll put it back that way…when you put away the Pro-V1’s, the 460 cc drivers with graphite shafts, lose the high tech fairway woods, set the loft and length of your irons to what they were playing 25 years ago, and play with the V-grooves they had back then.
"this ball will fit in that fairway"
I think you could get away with having it about 30 or 40 yards shorter. For me, though, the trees take away the risk-reward of the pond.
by Ryan Ballengee on Apr 1, 2009 12:08 PM EDT up reply actions
very true – you COULD do that – but the hole will not be the club challenge it was intended to be by Jones.
It comes down to this – you can’t say that you want the course to play like it did 25 years ago, but (a) not adjust for modern equipment, or (b) pick and choose a couple of spots to pick on. A 5-iron into 11 isn’t unreasonable. Take away 30-40 yards (which is something they CAN do with the longer tee box) and you’re putting anything from a wedge to a 7 iron in play.
guys were making a mockery of the par 5’s – hitting wedges to 8 irons as second shots.
you can’t say you want the 1986 layout back and expect it to play the way it did back then with modern players and equipment.
"this ball will fit in that fairway"
I feel what the guys are saying...
…but I just don’t care. Equipment has changed a lot of things. Are some of the changes in recent history a bit much? Yeah, maybe. But two things make it somewhat of a non-issue for me: 1) everyone is playing the same course and 2) assuming there are no weather delays or extended playoffs, someone is going to win the thing on Sunday.
With the way things have changed in the game, short hitters have the choice of either adding distance or falling by the wayside, at least until someone decides to peel back the equipment and even then, the short hitters will be proportionally shorter anyway.
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