Another Masters, another year in which the famed par 3 12th hole played as the easiest of Augusta National's par 3s.
Statistics from this year's tournament:
-- The 12th played to an average of 3.0605, easier than the other three (#4 -- 3.2190; #6 -- 3.1746; #16 -- 3.1115).
-- The 12th played as the 13th most difficult hole during the Masters this year. In other words, if you divide up Augusta National's holes equally into three types -- hardest, medium, and easiest -- the 12th was among the easiest subset of holes this year.
-- On the final day, when the 12th pin was at its traditional (and allegedly fearsome) Sunday hole position, the hole played to an average of 2.9677 -- the only par 3 to play under par on Sunday, and one of seven holes to play under pay yesterday.
-- Of the par 3s that averaged under par for a given day's play (the 16th averaged under par on Friday, and the 6th and 12th averaged under par on Saturday, as well as the 12th on Sunday), the 12th hole was the only one to do so twice during the four days of play.
(Note: this is at least the 3rd year I know of in which the 12th has played as the Masters' easiest par 3. I began closely looking at Masters course statistics several years ago, and noted it played as the easiest par 3 in 2008, as well as last year. Course stats here:
http://www.masters.com/en_US/scores/stats/cstats.htmlA few more statistics from this year's tournament:
-- The 12th yielded 59 birdies during the tournament, compared to 49 bogies, 13 double bogeys, and 1 other. Compare that to the 4th (22 birdies, 80 bogeys, and 5 doubles/others); the 6th (38 birdies, 83 bogeys, 5 doubles); and the 16th (41 birdies, 55 bogeys, 12 doubles/others).
To me, the 12th's ratio of birdies to bogeys/others -- 59 birdies to 63 bogeys/others -- and its higher yield of birdies than the other par 3s strikes me as a terrific example of very good risk/reward hole. To me, a solid risk/reward hole ought to carry relatively equal amounts of each -- solid, well-executed play should be rewarded with a good score, but poorly executed/thought-out play should be punished with a bad score.
Yet the 12th has traditionally been described as Augusta's most fearsome par 3, and one of the -- if not
the most -- challenging tee shots on the course. Nicklaus always called the 12th tee shot the one he feared the most at Augusta, and note Tom Doak's remarks about the 12th in this thread about Augusta's routing and "pacing:"
http://www.golfclubatlas.com/forum/index.php/topic,47931.0.htmlShould we re-categorize the 12th?