[David Amarnek]

Ran across this interesting website detailing the major changes of ANGC.  You can zoom in to see the details more clearly.
It's the only golf course listed.
There is also a complex chart on the Cycles of Greatness on the PGA tour as well as MLB ballpark evolutions.

http://www.historyshots.com/augusta/index.cfm

[Tyler Kearns]

David,

Perhaps of more interest to those on the site is the "Evolution of Golf Course Architecture" print on offer from the same website;

http://www.historyshots.com/golfarchitecture/index.cfm

TK

[Pete_Pittock]

What single change would you make to return a hole to a previous iteration?

Mine would be restoring the shape of the 9th green, eliminating the left twin bunker.

[Ronald Montesano]

Flip the nines.

[Greg Taylor]

Dare I suggest that taking all those changes into account, the reaction to the recent changes to the OC look like a storm in a tea cup....







"I'll get my coat."

[Greg Taylor]

If anybody needs something to hang on the walls surely you can't do any better, (wife permitting - obviously).

[Jeb Bearer]

What single change would you make to return a hole to a previous iteration?

So many options! Restore the ground game options on 1, 2, and 7, restore the 9th green and provide for the option of playing down 1 fairway for certain hole locations, widen 11, 15, 17, 18, return Rae's creek to it's original natural appearance on 11 and 12. What else am I forgetting?

[Pete_Pittock]

What single change would you make to return a hole to a previous iteration?

So many options! Restore the ground game options on 1, 2, and 7, restore the 9th green and provide for the option of playing down 1 fairway for certain hole locations, widen 11, 15, 17, 18, return Rae's creek to it's original natural appearance on 11 and 12. What else am I forgetting?

the word single 

[Jeb Bearer]

If I had to pick just one... I don't know it's so hard. 7 is probably the most changed from it's original. I would remove the fronting bunkers at least and allow the golfer to play a bump and run in. Of course, that also means they would have to stop overwatering the fairways and let them brown up a little.

[Greg Taylor]

My World Atlas of Golf is a few years old now, and it shows trees where the current tee is on the 7th now.

Understand all of the comments but the authorities there would never change the course to allow bump/runs Texas wedge type golf... Neither would they let the fairways be anything other than "that" emerald green.

I like the way the course has evolved - surely all would agree it's been for the better...

[Jeb Bearer]

My World Atlas of Golf is a few years old now, and it shows trees where the current tee is on the 7th now.

Understand all of the comments but the authorities there would never change the course to allow bump/runs Texas wedge type golf... Neither would they let the fairways be anything other than "that" emerald green.

I like the way the course has evolved - surely all would agree it's been for the better...

Hmmm... I'm no expert, but it would seem that today's course has less options in terms of both width and shotmaking than Mackenzie's original.

[Greg Taylor]

My World Atlas of Golf is a few years old now, and it shows trees where the current tee is on the 7th now.

Understand all of the comments but the authorities there would never change the course to allow bump/runs Texas wedge type golf... Neither would they let the fairways be anything other than "that" emerald green.

I like the way the course has evolved - surely all would agree it's been for the better...

Hmmm... I'm no expert, but it would seem that today's course has less options in terms of both width and shotmaking than Mackenzie's original.

Yes, and that's the way they want it. It's "made for TV" golf - that is the prime reason for any of the changes. Mackenzie's original may have more options but the overlords want do or die golf, esp the back nine. It isn't a members course in the way you or I know.

Anyway nothing wrong with penal golf - in moderation obviously!

[Ken Fry]

The two holes that stand out are #7 and #11.

There's nothing wrong with a drive and pitch hole and 7 has played that role since the course opened.  Keep the green where it's at with the Maxwell bunkers fronting, but bring the yardage back down.  Looking down that fairway from the tee now just doesn't fit with the rest of the course.

If you're going to have back to back 500 yard par 4's, at least remove Sherwood Forrest to the right of 11 fairway.  Like #7, it just doesn't fit with the rest of the course and also detracts from the patrons viewing.  Bad for playability and bad for the patrons?  I'm surprised more hasn't been done to correct the work on the right side of #11.

Ken

[Connor Dougherty]

I thought that Golf Digest did one of the best studies on this in recent memory, detailing all of the known changes to Augusta in this story: http://www.golfdigest.com/golf-courses/georgia/augusta-changes

I do think they dropped the ball a bit though not mentioning that 13 was a par 4 originally. IMO, it's something that the course could really benefit from learning. Bubba Watson had a 9-iron into that green when he hit his drives well. Tiger Woods in the last Masters hit his drive poorly near the creek, and still tried to go for the green (unsuccessfully). More notably, Phil found himself in the trees, hitting off pine straw going for the green. It's clear that these guys feel like going for the green on almost all occasions. For this reason, it may make it much more interesting if it's a par 4 and guys are laying up in front of the creek.

The next Tiger Woods game is claiming to have the 1934 version of ANGC. I really hope they get it right. Since they have the licensing agreement with Augusta National they may be able to access information that we cannot.

[Sven Nilsen]

Going to drop this here for anyone looking to delve in further:

http://www.golfclubatlas.com/forum/index.php/topic,51383.0.html

[Sean_A]

I think my one change would to be to restore the original bunker scheme as near as possible.  I am fascinated by how the course would play because so many bunkers seemed unusually placed.

Ciao

[Jon Wiggett]

Yes, and that's the way they want it. It's "made for TV" golf - that is the prime reason for any of the changes. Mackenzie's original may have more options but the overlords want do or die golf, esp the back nine. It isn't a members course in the way you or I know.

Anyway nothing wrong with penal golf - in moderation obviously!

But Greg, surely one of the great things about the Masters is the huge swings in fortune that occur on the back 9. It has always been possible to pick up 5 or 6 shots to par from the 13th in. By making the course more penal and especially narrow it also makes the play more monotone and boring. I think the masters is morphing more and more into the US Open.

Just imagine if Bubba's ball had been unplayable on 10. What an anticlimax. Iron off the tee followed by short iron into the green, what a bore. No risk, no great recovery, just plod along golf.

Get rid of the trees and semi rough.

Jon

[Lynn_Shackelford]

Single change?

Eliminate the "second cut."

[Adam Clayman]

Eliminate the "second cut."

+1

[Matthew Rose]

Play #7 at ~380 yards and remove the chute. Invite players to play to one side of the fairway or the other to get a favorable angle into that green, depending on hole location.

[Jeb Bearer]

Single change?

Eliminate the "second cut."

I've never seen the course, but going by what I see on TV every year there's not a whole lot of second cut before you get into the pine straw. I think the biggest single change over the whole course would be taking down the trees that have been planted over the years, on holes like 7, 9, 11, 17, and 18 to bring back playing angles.

[Matthew Petersen]

I'd like to widen either 7 or 11.

I don't much mind the length of 7, for The Masters. Those guys still manage to hit short irons into that green, and I don't believe the member tee has been effected--though it's certainly a different hole with the trees.

But, to me, 11 is the worse crime. The charm of that very long, very difficult hole was previously that the wide fairway did allow multiple ways to play off the tee. Now it's just a very long hole with only one way to go off the tee. And that's true for the member as well as the tournament competitor. Take out the trees down the right and some of them down the left, and widen that fairway back out!

... oh and if I got a third wish? I always thought the trees they added jutting out into the 15th fairway were ridiculous.

[Jason Thurman]

It'd be cool to see the centerline nature of some of the bunkers reestablished They'd probably need to be moved further down the fairway to challenge players hitting the ball today, but it's feasible it could add some interest without softening it from a tournament standpoint.

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