With just a few exceptions, the fairways are plenty wide at Augusta. #7 is narrow but reasonable, #11 has a very forced look with the trees as is #15. On both, the trees protrude out into the right side of the fairway and play with your brain, especially if you hit it right to left as I do.

I always thought the 9th hole at Butler National was too tight a driving hole as all of a sudden, after a wide open course, you are faced with a different chalenge, but I think I like the more natural look of Butler to the forced look at Augusta.

Trees are gorse on steroids.

Patrick,

I'm pretty sure the tree Tiger attempted to slice his second shot on 15 around was part of the big tree planting between 15 and 17 a few years back.  I could be wrong.

I don't know about the broken club tree on 11.

Tiger sure lost a lot of tee shots right this week.  He was uncharacteristically wild, and even hit 3 wood on some holes I didn't expect, like 2 and 8.

Forrest, you don't really mean that do you?  

Of course I mean it!  He is both off his game, and he doesn't have the restraint to hit the ball less far. Golf is a game of how near...not how far.

Forrest, flighting a ball at TOC and missing the bunkers is completely different from flighting to avoid groves of trees up the sides or overhanging hole corridores.  Trees can be hit from 1 inch to 100 ft from the ground, and can bound your ball in any direction.  

You can play near, short, or far over the bunker, and you either miss it or are in it.  (some plead to be in it)  You hit trees on any elevation or trajectory, and you have chaos, probably more trees to pick and punch through.  

A bunker looms less ominous, and is a more predictable and negotiable hazard.  One can play out of it or to avoid them all together in a much more strategic way.  You can pretty much count the number of stroke penalty of a given bunker.  You can't be too certain what you will get, once you enter the trees.  

Assuming you don't go into gorse, and instead fly an errant shot at TOC to another FW or rough area, you have an unimpeded (vertically speaking) escape back towards line of play.  A shot amongst trees may force omni directional, goofy golf.  

You can play wild or dink diliberately around bunkers at TOC, and stay out of the bunkers.  If you play errant, or short of certain doglegs and such at a forrest like ANGC, and you can't avoid the consequences that are far worse than landing in a bunker at TOC, no matter which FW or rough area you are in at TOC.   Restraint don't work as well in forested golf courses as it does on links with only bunkers, IMO.  

Patrick,

I'm pretty sure the tree Tiger attempted to slice his second shot on 15 around was part of the big tree planting between 15 and 17 a few years back.  I could be wrong.

You're correct, but, had the tree not been there, wouldn't he still have tried to hit a cut into that green, a green that runs from high right to low left ?

I don't know about the broken club tree on 11.

Tiger sure lost a lot of tee shots right this week.  He was uncharacteristically wild, and even hit 3 wood on some holes I didn't expect, like 2 and 8.

It seemed as if he was very wild, but, like Phil at Winged Foot, made amazing recoveries.

But, as Trevino said, "dogs that chase cars and Pros that chip for pars, aren't long for this world", but, he hung in there, just missing two makeables at # 14 and # 16 that could have changed the outcome.

John,

This week, Tiger made some of the most remarkable pars that I've ever seen.

I forget whether it was the first or second round, but, a mere mortal would have shot 85 from where he was most of the day.

Today, the pars he made on 11 and 15 were remarkable.

Doug Siebert,

I was intriqued by Tiger's choice of a 3-wood off the tee at # 8.

Perhaps some will claim that because Tiger played a 3-wood off the tee at # 8, that that's the preferred method of play, or the ideal strategy when playing # 8, especially into the wind.

He also hit 3-wood at # 10 and I believe at # 13 and # 14.

I thought he was suffering from a cold or wasn't feeling well since he kept blowing his nose and spitting.

It seemed that accuracy off the tee with his driver and the ability to hit a draw with it just wasn't there this week.

Pat,

I think Tiger drove into some old and new trees.  He hit it into the new trees on 11 twice and made par both times.  He made bogie from the right trees on 18 on Thursday - those trees have been there forever.  The trees on 15 are less than 10 years old.

Hootie said they wanted to bring accuracy into play and they succeeded. Tiger and Goosen suffered because of poor driving, although either could have won if a few more putts had fallen.

Johnson was first in driving accuracy and was 11 under on the par 5's without hitting any in 2.

Thank you, Bob!

Pat, 15 did call for a cut, but surely a high cut not the low one he was forced to hit, yes?

What do people think of this: everyone talks about the trees and rough as though they were separate things, but once you plant the trees, don't you HAVE to add rough?

Second, another way trees reduce thinking is they define the corridor of play for the players and frame the hole. They're like 400 yard long framing bunkers in that regard.

Mark

I know I'm in the distinct minority here, but with the massive green complexes, and mild rough, I think Augusta is a better and more interesting course with the trees they planted. And although the winner didn't go for any par 5's in two ... didn't he play them well under par?

Bob:

You would prefer that a shorter hitter who would strain to reach the greens of the par fives in two would just have no chance of winning the tournament, no matter how well he plays?  While Tiger, way off his game and driving it all over the lot, still wins?

Proliferation of trees is still a terrible idea for the average golfer.

This is the whole point of this thread.  In championship golf, trees serve as an equalizer.  Augusta is primarily a championship venue.

Geoff Shackleford had a great line in his blog wondering what Tiger is going to say to his design mentor about the trees he planted on 15.

I would also submit that not all trees are criminal; well-placed ones keep things (read: angles and options) interesting and possibly more leveling between B&G and short hitters.  

I really enjoy HarbourTown for just that reason, while most of my friends can't stand the place.  Talk about night-and-day between two courses over two weeks.