Aerial Photos of Augusta National in 1941, 1963, 1970, 1977

[Scott_Burroughs]

Bob Crosby gave the Georgia website that contains archived state aerials.  So, I looked and found Augusta National in 1941.

Note two trees in the fairway on #15 where there are currently several (where Mickelson drove behind in the final round) and there used to be a tree farther back in the right side of the fairway.

Also, a very large bunker was in the middle of #14 fairway.

Note that #11's tees are to the right of #10 green (from #10 fairway, it's to the right), not where they currently are to the left of the green.

Note the position of #18's fairway bunker, nowhere near the current fairway bunkers.

Also note #2's green is nothing like the current very wide/very shallow version.



Here's #16 (dead center, abutting the trees, #15 green is to the ESE, #6 green due north with good-sized bunker fronting) before RTJ, Sr. got his hands on it and moved the entire hole:

[Scott_Burroughs]

Now here's an aerial of ANGC in 1963:

#16 has been moved, with the pond added.

#11 has the new tees to the left of the #10 green.

#2 has the wide shallow green, with extra fronting bunker.

#15 still has a coupld of fairway trees, noticeably larger, but fairway tree closer to tee is gone.

#14 fairway bunker is now obstructed by trees and seemingly not in play.



One thing not in this pic, is a pond fronting #15 green, unless it was drained and work was being done (enlarging it?):

[Scott_Burroughs]

Now here's the course in 1970, obviously in the off-season when the course is closed.

Now the pond is back in front of #15 green.  

Also, you can see the fairway bunkers on #18 have been added.

I was wrong about #10's fairway bunker, I just thought it was farther out in the fairway from the green.

[Scott_Burroughs]

Here's 1977 in winter, but not close up enough to see much, and apparently taken after a light snowfall.

[Bill_McBride]

The 1941 aerial also has the bunker in the middle of 11th fairway.  Two great central hazards lost to time.

Scott, no pond in front of #15?  I thought Sarazen's 4 wood carried the pond and went into the hole!

[Scott_Burroughs]

Whoops.  The first photo shows a smaller pond in front of #15, but the 1963 one doesn't seem to have it, unless they drained it for some reason.

[BCrosby]

Scott -

Great stuff. I don't know where to begin.

Note the tee for 11 in '41 is still on the opposite side of 10 green. Note the pre RTJ green at 11. Note the Mack bunker in 14 fairway. Yes, there was originally just a stream fronting 15 green. The lake was by RTJ.

I could go on.

Were there any '38 aerials? That would be key because those aerials would pre-date the Maxwell changes in '39.

Bob

[Scott_Burroughs]

Bob,

The only older aerial is this far-out one of Richmond County in
1937, where you can make out the course a hair east of the
middle, with Augusta CC just below it:

[Scott_Burroughs]

The direct link to the Georgia aerials can be found here:

link

ANGC is in Richmond county.

[BCrosby]

Scott -

I can't zoom into the '37 photos. Are you able to get closer than the aerial you posted?

If we can't, it may be worth a visit down the street to the archives.

Bob

[Scott_Burroughs]

Bob,

That was the point of "only older aerial".  You can't zoom in, as that's all they have.   Vastly different zoom levels are simply physically different sets of pictures of the same point, not just one picture with the magnification zoom turned on high.

[BCrosby]

Scott -

Understood.

But shouldn't I be able to go to the original print in the archive, magnify the part I need and print that? Shouldn't the resolution, even from 20,000 feet, be high enough?

Or is that whole deal extremely cumbersome/expensive?

Bob

P.S. How soon we forget. It's amazing how hard accessing information is if it isn't digitalized.

[Craig Disher]

My hat is off to the UGA. The photos available on Galileo were taken directly from NARA, organized, and turned over to the public on-line. This is how NARA should be preserving their materials and making them available. Instead, many of the older photos are on decaying rolls of nitrate film, indexed by hand, and available only after a cumbersome process of filling out forms and waiting.

Apparently, Galileo didn't obtain the original 1937 photos and only has the mosaic index showing all the exposures linked together. The photos (negatives, actually) should be available at NARA. I'd be surprised if they are available in Georgia - if they had them, I think they would have posted them like the 1941, etc. photos.

[Tommy_Naccarato]

Great stuff showing the shadow of a former champion I would have loved to have seen. Somebody show these to Carlyle and tell him this is what Augusta National is supposed to look like.

This is the ANGC I love.

Bob, Being scanned and then put on the net, the images are going to lose a lot of resolution, and it would probably be the best thing to do like Craig does and actually take a digital photo of the image

[Carlyle Rood]

My hat is off to the U of GA. The photos available on Galileo were taken directly from NARA, organized, and turned over to the public on-line.

We prefer "UGA."  Since everyone on this board is so fond of rankings, the University of Georgia is generally regarded as one of the top ten research libraries in the country.

Carlyle

[Tommy_Naccarato]

Scott, I don't have time to do it, but you should get the pictures of St. Simons Island from the website and post it.

[Carlyle Rood]

Great stuff showing the shadow of a former champion I would have loved to have seen. Somebody show these to Carlyle and tell him this is what Augusta National is supposed to look like.

This is the ANGC I love.

Tommy, you're just plain silly.  

[Craig Disher]

Carlyle,
If you want uggah, uggah it is.

[Tommy_Naccarato]

Yes, this is true, but its all with reason.

[Chris_Clouser]

Bob,

You would likely have to get aerials from prior to the summer of 37 if you wanted it pre-Maxwell.  He worked there in the summer of 37 and the summer of 38.  I'm trying to go through the aerials and see if I can spot anything that I don't have documented already.  

Chris

[BCrosby]

Thanks Chris. I did not know Maxwell was at ANGC as early as '37.

Most of the early aerials seem to be taken in the winter. I am hoping that the '37 aerials are from the winter of '37. We'll see.

Bob

[Chris_Clouser]

Depending on when the 37 aerials were taken, they could very well be almost identical to the 41 article.  The only exception would have been tree growth as it doesn't appear from my sources that anyone touched the course after Maxwell until late into the 1940s.  Now the club may have done some subtle work that you won't see from the aerials, but no major work was done.  

Let me know once you get the 37 aerial and see if the original design is still there.  The 10th hole would be a good indicator as that was one of the first changes he made.  Look for the 10th green.  If it is in the current location then you've got an aerial that is in the midst of Maxwell's changes.  If not there, it is pre-Maxwell.  I would love to see it either way if possible.

Chris

[Scott_Burroughs]

Just bringing up and old thread as a few guys in the other
thread were talking abuot old aerials of Augusta.  Although
this isn't 1932, it's still an interesting look at the course
through the years.

[Dan Moore]

Here is an aerial from 1930 before the course was built.  Scanned from Augusta National Golf Club by Stan Byrdy.

[Jeff_Lewis]

Scott,

Thanks so much for posting those.  The loss of central hazards is the surest sign of architectural decline. I would love to see a closer up view of 11 from the 40's.

Width and central hazards are almost always present on great courses. It is so sad that the keepers of Jones' and Mackenzie's flame do not understand that simple notion.

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