What Would a Ten Handicap Shoot at Augusta Today?

[Doug Wright]

The Sunday setup and greens at the same speed, I am currently a +3.
Don't play or practice much, but still can fly it around 270, hit my irons well, don't make a ton of putts but lag well.
If I showed up at Augusta today, my par would be somewhere around 78.
Good day chipping, maybe sniff par.
Bad day chipping/pitching, 83/84.  Greens that fast with such tight lies around them, going to have a lot 8-10 footers

Lay up on 15, even to the correct spot, and I would be defensive with the downhill tight lie.
And not being tournament sharp, those "going to sleep" moments are going to produce a frightening number somewhere

Pat, as someone who has played the game for a living your comments carry the most weight with me. I was thinking as a 6 with a decent short game I could break 100; now not so sure. Your par 78 would make par for me around 90. 100 is just a couple bad holes away from that...

[Doug Wright]

The Sunday setup and greens at the same speed, I am currently a +3.
Don't play or practice much, but still can fly it around 270, hit my irons well, don't make a ton of putts but lag well.
If I showed up at Augusta today, my par would be somewhere around 78.
Good day chipping, maybe sniff par.
Bad day chipping/pitching, 83/84.  Greens that fast with such tight lies around them, going to have a lot 8-10 footers

Lay up on 15, even to the correct spot, and I would be defensive with the downhill tight lie.
And not being tournament sharp, those "going to sleep" moments are going to produce a frightening number somewhere

Pat, as someone who has played the game for a living your comments carry the most weight with me. I was thinking as a 6 with a decent short game I could break 100; now not so sure. Your par 78 would make par for me around 90. 100 is just a couple bad holes away from that...

PS These Guys Are Good.

[cary lichtenstein]

I'm a 5 handicap and shot 81/83 the 2 times I played Augusta from 6500 yards. The par 5's would play about the same, ditto the par 3's except for #4. Where the extra 1000 yards gets you are the par4's. They are all par 5's, not reachable in 2 except for 3 and 7. Since I would be missing all those greens, I'd have sand wedges into them. I think I could average 2 putts on them.

That puts my score at about 90 assuming I don't make more than 2 or 3 doubles. Would I bet on that score, not on your life

[Jim Nugent]

Cary, did you play under Masters conditions?  i.e. greens running 13 or more, fairways cut tight?   

[Sean Leary]

Cary, did you play under Masters conditions?  i.e. greens running 13 or more, fairways cut tight?   

Do you think they cut the greens or fairways? MAybe they did but  I would doubt it.

[Jason Topp]

One semi comparable experience I have had is playing Hazeltine National a year before the last PGA when they tried to create a setup identical to that used in the tournament.  We played the course from about 7100 yards which was about 400 yards shorter than the listed yardage for the tournament (although they did play some up tees in the tournament).  We played for more money than I am used to playing for so it was not by any means a carefree round.

The experience was torture from tee to green but I am not sure the experience is that analogous to Augusta.  The torture was primarily due to the rough.  It literally hurt my wrists to hit anything more than a wedge.

The length was also unpleasant on the par fours.  It gets very tiring to hit a hybrid or 3 wood after a good drive.  It also is no fun hitting a five iron for the 3rd shot after a well hit but wayward tee shot.  My experience was similar to Cary's experience.  The par 3's and 5's did not play all that differently than they do from shorter tees.  I can't reach many par 5's in 2 anyway.

The greens purportedly stimped at around 13 but did not bother me as much as I expected.  I think I actually putted pretty well.  Of course Hazeltine's greens cannot compare in the slightest to Augusta's greens in terms of slope and contour.

I was an 8 at the time, played poorly and shot in the high 90's.  My scratch partner shot 78.  Our opponents were 2 and 6 handicaps and shot somewhere in between. 

[Adrian_Stiff]

I don`t think there is a 10 handicap on the planet who would break 100 on the Masters set up. Forget about the member tees. The thread asks the question from 7400 yards.

100 is a lot of strokes. I am not much of a golfer now (13) but I did play 18 holes the other day in 85 (not at ANGC). I hit it terrible, had lots of 3 putts, the one thing I kept thinking was golf was amazing game in that you can hit a lot of bad shots and still make a bogey and thats what I pretty much did, couple of bad shots up to the green, rubbish pitch two putts. I am sure if I played ANGC i could get it round in -100. We play an annual tournament of the back tees, 7600 and scores do rocket but I am sure any 10 handicapper would beat 100 if he played a reasonable.

[Tim Martin]

remember, my player is not trying any shot, just advanced the ball (driver hybrid) leave you with 50 yards or less in, dont chip for the flag, chip for 20 feet below the hole and two putt.


adrian, you said a 10 handicap would it 5 greens... not a single chance in the world, might get 2 par-5s if lucky, can't reach the par 4's in 2 strokes (too long except 3... but that's way too hard of a target to give it)... maybe hit the 6th and 16th green if lucky...

3 greens in regulation would be an accomplishement


augusta is a hit it, find it, hit it again course... so if you are smart, anything is possible and play YOUR game.

Phil-Just hit it 20 feet below the hole and 2 putt? How about 3 or 4 putt or maybe worse. The 10 capper will be able to hit all his approach shots 20 feet below the hole? Produce this guy for me and I`ll get rich playing 5 and 2 with him as my partner.

[Carl Nichols]

Here's a somewhat relevant question, since we're assuming that the 10 handicap is playing ANGC for the first time -- how many strokes do the pros save as a result of having played the course so many times?  It seems like they have a lot more local knowledge than at, say, Oakmont, which they only play 5-6 times every ten years.  And the 10 has none of that knowledge.

[Wade Whitehead]

Pat Burke hit the nail on the head.

A 10 wouldn't break 100 due to two or three massive numbers.  I'd take the over any day.

WW

[Adrian_Stiff]

Look its obviousy tough. But 100 is +28..TWENTY EIGHT OVER PAR. I will take the more 10 handicappers will get round in less than 28 over par, thats 9 bogies and 9 doubles for a 99.

One of things about golf is you can hit a few bad shots and still make a bogey. Id take a massive bet that Id break 100 and Im 13 hcp now.

[Tom_Doak]

I have actually played Augusta the day after The Masters, in 1983, in the press day, first off the tee with George Peper.  They don't mow the greens the morning after the event, so they aren't tournament-quick.  I think I was an 8 handicap then.  And of course, I played the course in 1983, when it wasn't 7400 yards and there wasn't any rough.

If I remember correctly, I shot in the mid-90's that day.  I didn't play well, but my only real mess was on #15 as Pat Burke suggested ... sitting 100 yards short of the green in two off the downhill lie, and proceeded to make 9 on the hole after two balls in the water.  (It still stings.)

Day after The Masters, I think if 100 ten-handicappers started, one of them would break 90, and maybe 20% would break 100 [depends on how freaked out they are by severe greens].  But if you subjected them to the same conditions as on Thursday-Sunday, they are all 5-10 shots worse.

I remember seeing John Harris the day after he competed as an amateur in the early 90's, as Mid-Amateur champion.  He said he had played the course a couple of times before, and I said there's a big difference between November and Masters week, isn't there?  And he replied that there was a big difference between Wednesday and Thursday.

[George Pazin]

I remember seeing John Harris the day after he competed as an amateur in the early 90's, as Mid-Amateur champion.  He said he had played the course a couple of times before, and I said there's a big difference between November and Masters week, isn't there?  And he replied that there was a big difference between Wednesday and Thursday.

That's why I don't really care for the new GD US Open Challenge thing. I think it is very misleading.

[Mark Chaplin]

I give it a reasonable knock off 12 at around 260yds, I recall only one par 4 is under 430 yds, that means best case scenario is a 170yd 5 iron approach and one most holes a wood. I doubt I could reach 11 and 18 in two. Quick greens make it difficult to get close to the hole especially when chipping. Playing at Merion I hit a great 3 wood, 9 iron to the first which rolled off the back edge, I hit what I thought was a perfect chip and ended up 15 feet past the hole, result bogey and no poor shots.

The Masters pins and length make me doubt I'd break a ton, playing sensible a 10 handicapper will hit 3 or 4 poor shots in a round and at ANGC they are likely to be heavily punished.

[jeffwarne]

Look its obviousy tough. But 100 is +28..TWENTY EIGHT OVER PAR. I will take the more 10 handicappers will get round in less than 28 over par, thats 9 bogies and 9 doubles for a 99.

One of things about golf is you can hit a few bad shots and still make a bogey. Id take a massive bet that Id break 100 and Im 13 hcp now.

Being a UK 13 it's more probable, but for you to make a MASSIVE bet, I'm assuming you've never seen ANGC live during The Masters.
15 above your handicap could easily be lost on the greens

[Kenny Baer]

A USGA 10 index from the tournament tees would most likely be about a 15. They should shoot that score 1 out of 5 rds with there maximum score on one hole being a 7. They would probably be around 100 on average. Augusta has nasty greens but length is what kills a 10 handicap. They could not reach 1/2 the par 4's in regulation.  If they played well they could easily do it.  If they played averge it would probably be close to 100.  Augusta is hard but not unfair. The pros can still shoot there handicaps when they play well.  When they don't they can't. Courses that cross the line are the ones that no matter how well you play you still can't shoot around your handicap.

[Kenny Baer]

I remember seeing John Harris the day after he competed as an amateur in the early 90's, as Mid-Amateur champion.  He said he had played the course a couple of times before, and I said there's a big difference between November and Masters week, isn't there?  And he replied that there was a big difference between Wednesday and Thursday.

That's why I don't really care for the new GD US Open Challenge thing. I think it is very misleading.

I disagree with that; ANGC in November is probably not quite in tourney conditions but Augusta in March, April, and May is. Same with the US Open challenge. They have the greens rolling just as fast as in the tournament. It is not like they normally keep the greens at 9 and then they turn into 15.  I am a memer at a course that had a pro tourney for 25 years, sometimes it would play harder than when they had it for the tourney, more depends on whether rather than maintenance. 

[Sean_A]

I give it a reasonable knock off 12 at around 260yds, I recall only one par 4 is under 430 yds, that means best case scenario is a 170yd 5 iron approach and one most holes a wood. I doubt I could reach 11 and 18 in two. Quick greens make it difficult to get close to the hole especially when chipping. Playing at Merion I hit a great 3 wood, 9 iron to the first which rolled off the back edge, I hit what I thought was a perfect chip and ended up 15 feet past the hole, result bogey and no poor shots.

The Masters pins and length make me doubt I'd break a ton, playing sensible a 10 handicapper will hit 3 or 4 poor shots in a round and at ANGC they are likely to be heavily punished.

Chappers

12!  You no pride bastido.  Get out there with a card in yer hands and play some decent golf.  No wonder yer mates look sideways when you speak of handicaps - tee hee.

Ciao