THE THIRTEENTH AT AUGUSTA (COURTESY OF LARRY LAMBRECHT)

I consider myself very fortunate to have played Augusta National twice. The first time a month prior to Tiger Woods first win in 1997, and more recently, about three weeks ago in mid-March. Like most fans of the tournament, I’ve tracked the changes to the course. Augusta National, being the one constant in major championship golf, has been anything but constant since it opened in 1933. For the first sixty years, the changes weren’t that dramatic: the nines were flipped, bunkers have come and gone, the 16th green was moved to a new location. And as the course maintenance standards evolved–the switch from Bermuda greens to bent, the lush conditioning of the turf, the heavy accents of flowering flora, the sharpening of the bunker edges–the course always maintained a certain charm of the original Mackenzie aesthetic, both in its look and in the principal of how it was supposed to play. Or at least that’s how it looked to me on television. To me, the run of international champions from the late 70s into the early 90s was a vindication of Dr. Mackenzie’s use of width and options. As parkland as the course is, holes like 2, 5, 8, 11, 14 and 17 seem to have links-like run-up options and contours that the Good Doctor borrowed from St. Andrews (holes 5 and 14 in particular). Even Larry Mize’s miracle hole-out was a daring pitch and run. I’d imagine Charles Howell, a fellow native Augustan, if faced with that same shot today, would fly it much closer to the hole and expect the ball to release a yard or two.

TIGER ON THE TWELFTH (COURTESY OF pocketwiley)

I’m grateful that in March of 1997, I was able to see the “old” Augusta National. The one I spent watching on television during my youth, from 1986 onward. There wasn’t any rough or “second cut” as its called and there was tremendous width to the fairways and playing corridors. The members tees weren’t very far from the back tees and most importantly, birdies could be grabbed throughout the course. It rewarded both aggression and carefulness, and players could shoot anywhere between 75 and 64. The greens were certainly a defense and players strategically planned their attack on par-four holes like 1, 3, 7, 9, 11 and 14 by working back from the pin locations. It was marvelous strategy, the very strategy Tiger Woods hammered with 320 yard drives. I can only imagine how enraged the old-guard of members felt when Tiger used 9-iron into 15. He did embarrass the course, to a certain extent, yet it was the most thrilling runaway victory I’ve ever seen–more so than his romp at Pebble in 2000. I can’t imagine what would have happened in the coming years if the course was not modified. I can’t blame the club for doing something the USGA should have prevented from happening in the first place. Equipment changed the game and its real benefits seem to apply to an elite category of super-charged tour pros who harness the technology in ways the rest of us cannot.

CRENSHAW LAYING UP (COURTESY OF gte333f)

In the years following Tiger’s first win, the club’s board of governors have regrettably let their course become the Zeitgeist for championship standards. Following their example, lengthening became mandatory amongst the existing and aspirant major venues. At Augusta specifically, they made holes 1, 7 and 18 into brutes. They narrowed the driving options on hole 11 and 15 into tree-lined shoots. Tees were pushed so far back the club had to purchase property from its neighbors and the separation between the tournament tees and the members tees are often more than 100 yards.

These things are all well-documented. The irony is the member tees have remained in the same place. They play a 6,200 yard course that is fun and interesting, though narrower than it once was. The greens still have all their pitch and the bunkers still have some artful shapes, if only inspired by Mackenzie, as opposed to actually placed by him. Interestingly, the “Mackenzie” bunker on 10, which was once in front of the green, has the most artistry of any out there, and that’s the one that has been least touched by the revision committees.

Changes or not, I wish the course and the tournament well. I have tremendous reverence for the tournament and its history, but I will always be nostalgic for those years in the mid-80s to early 90s, beginning with Nicklaus’ improbable win to the years when Mize, Lyle, Norman, Ballesteros, Langer, Olazabal, Floyd, Faldo, Hoch and Couples provided such marvelous drama. To me, that was the era of persimmon, thin blades, balata and master-class shotmaking. Not that Tiger and some of the elite don’t play a similar game today, but it was less super-human. The ball spun more so players could work the ball aggressively, often out of necessity. Their swings weren’t flawless, and the sweet spot on drives was much more exacting. As a consequence, players crashed-and-burned more under pressure. It seems like no one ever misses a drive today. Above all else, they executed shots with more style, with more grace and more imagination. The course was such that it demanded as much. I can’t say that’s the case anymore.

WHERE"S THE SHOUTING AT AMEN CORNER? (COURTESY OF LARRY LAMBRECHT)

AUGUSTA NATIONAL’S SIXTH

 The par-3 6th hole at Augusta National, where the topographic interest of the property is easily evident, on a dress-down day.  Apart from the glorious rebirth each April, it is hard not to see this storied Masters Tournament venue as the aging star, unable or unwilling to succumb to the charms of advancing years and find contentment with its original design.  Without fail, new injections of strategy and surgical tweaks are applied annually to the ground such that all features remain in proper proportion with respect to the evolving concept of course perfection.  This property is indeed beautiful, and it certainly makes for a spectacularly entertaining golf tournament–but it seems that the inherent romanticism of the place has been sacrificed to keep it so.

This is the first of a regular installment on Punchbowl Golf, where Chris Hunt will share his pictures and thoughts from his studies of the world’s great courses. For more about Chris Hunt, please see the ABOUT US page.- W.S.