[Matt_Ward]

I just read the Masters preview issue in Digest and saw the picture of the "new" 11th hole and the addition of lumber in the drive zone on the right side. How absolutely ugly and completely inappropriate.

I don't mind the additional length and the idea of a shifting of the tee to the right which now calls for more of fade than a swinging hook.

Nonetheless, just another reason why the "new" AGNC is ever more moving away from what it was originally intended.

By the way -- what was sooooooooooooooo wrong with the old Augusta -- pre-Tiger '97?

[Mike_Cirba]

Matt;

I think they aren't doing enough.  

To go along with them philosophically, why not just plant wall to wall Pines and narrow them fairways down to within 5 or 10 yards wide.    

I think that will accurately identify the guy who's hitting em straight that week!  

[Andy Hughes]

Matt,
I saw that picture and cringed as well. Sorry, it pains me to agree with you  
ANGC may be a very different course in a few more years. When does it drop out of the GD Top Ten?
Andy

[Mike_Cirba]

ANGC may be a very different course in a few more years. When does it drop out of the GD Top Ten?
Andy

Unfortunately, it will probably move UP in the Golf Digest rating, due to the preeminence they place on "Resistance to Scoring" in their rating criteria.

[Gary_Smith]

Looks like the Augusta bashing is starting about 3 weeks early this year.  

I was so glad to see the current GD mention in their Masters preview section that the 2002 and 2003 changes should be seen under hard and fast conditions before the jury comes back with the verdict.

[Thomas_Brown]

By the way -- what was sooooooooooooooo wrong with the old Augusta -- pre-Tiger '97?

Nothing if they're teeing up a Tour Balata circa 1993.

[Matt_Ward]

Tom B:

At the end of the day the Masters (pre Tiger-proofing '97) / Augusta National was a much more fun and robust event. The course allowed for major ebb and flows and you had the possibilty of different players scoring a low round if they took the urge to do so. Now the added length -- second cut -- additional lumber -- is turning what always was a fun and dynamic event into one where prodding play is moe the rule rather than the exception.

Tom -- the folks at Augusta are hung up on score -- I don't care about that -- I want to see the excitement that made the Masters / Augusta National so uniquely special. That's msising now IMHO.

Augusta has been modified towards a USGA Open approach -- save for the 5-6 inch rough. The 11th hole is just another perfect example of how a hole of great character has been changed to force players to play it just one way. What a pity!

I mean just because a very few number of players were able to hit 9-iron or wedge doesn't mean the hole was giving birdies away in the past. Witness how "easy" the hole played for Ray Floyd when he dunked his approach in the '90 event against Faldo.

What the blazes are people thinking of adding a literal FOREST to the 11th hole??? It is truly funny that a course of such a pedigree is now being turned more and more into a sideshow of monumental proportions.

How Augusta continues to be assessed so high by raters deals more with its past than its future. Mackenzie and Jones must be turning in their graves to see the fundamental essence of the course be turned so completely on its head within the last few years. Why -- oh why?

[Tom Bagley]

I, too, was dismayed by the description of the new trees on 11.  In addition to the other comments that have been made relative to the narrowing of the golf course, the additional trees are also robbing the place of the great vistas that once existed.  When I was there two years ago (after the major renovations), I could not believe how "cramped" the place seemed (at least compared to how it was previously).  

I stood 20 feet from Jack Nicklaus on the final day in '75 when he hit a one iron to the 15th green, setting up a two-putt birdie.  That area (between 15 and 17) is now off-limits to spectators (I'm sorry, "patrons"), and instead is home only to more pines.  The additional pines on both sides of 7, the right sides of 10 and 13, and the left side of 18 are terrible for the spectators as well.  

The additional length is needed, and the re-positioning of tees and removal of mounds is fine, but the new trees and the "second-cut" should go.

[Gary_Smith]

And all this from a course that produced arguably the greatest championship leaderboard in majors history after 3 rounds in '02. It was not the course's fault when everybody went into dead faint and let Tiger waltz on Sunday.

Last year wasn't too bad, either. Weir is a little more accomplished than Curtis and Micheel, is he not?

Give the changes a chance, especially under drier conditions.  The ball flies straighter and farther than it used to. There needs to be some adjustments made in terms of width and distance. Don't worry, the eagles will be back, just in a more honest form.

P.S.

Redanman,

When you are watching the Masters "toonamint" this year, just pretend the course is in France and Hootie is Valery Giscard D'thing   or Charles de Gaulle, and you'll have a swell afternoon.  

p.s., p.s. I keep hearing the same old crap that Bobby Jones would be "turning over in his grave" with the changes. How the hell do any of us know what the man would be thinking about his course and tournament of today?

Jones was a smart, realistic guy. If he were around today, he might well be in understanding of the position the tournament committee is in, and the changes made.

My last edit. Sorry if I come across a little too bitchy about ANGC, but I just love the Masters. I promise to lay low, be quiet and a good boy when the real bashing starts during tournament week.

I hope everybody here will get the chance to go see the Masters and the course in person one day. They know how to do it right, except for that sudden-death playoff thing.





 

[DPL11]

Matt,

I couldn't agree more.

That was so hard to say.  

After attending in 96,99,00,&01, I saw the changes made during those years and what it once was.

The options that the golf course yeilded were endless. Much of the excitement that ANGC offered has been ruined, and it will take its toll on tournament strategy forever.


Doug

[Thomas_Brown]

I went in 1991.  I don't like the 2nd cut of rough either.

I'm not in favor of adding more trees on the right, though I'm unsure they'll really even be in play.

What club did Faldo hit in 1990?
I think it was a 3i or 4i.
1990 is closer to 1970 in relative distance that it is 2004.

What were Hogan's famous comments about that 2nd shot?

Why did Mize miss right in 1987?
Mize wouldn't have done that from 150 yards out.

Bring on the Master's tournament ball or keep adding length!
w/ Pro V1x Mickelson's 8000 yard course isn't far away.

Nobody will believe Matt Ward is advocating a shorter golf course and de-emphasis of the tee ball.  

[Robert Kimball]

What club did Faldo hit in 1990?
I think it was a 3i or 4i.
1990 is closer to 1970 in relative distance that it is 2004.

Bring on the Master's tournament ball or keep adding length!
w/ Pro V1x Mickelson's 8000 yard course isn't far away.

Also, remember Faldo's agonizing decision between 2-iron and 5-wood on 13 in '96.

I think the big problem that the Tournament officials see is Tiger hitting 9-irons (or was it wedge?) to 15, Phil hitting wedge to 11, 9-irons into 18, etc, etc. . .

Do we really want to see Tiger on Sunday with a wedge in his hand on 15? I don't think so. What to do, other than add another 500 yards to the course?  I would really love to see the guys step it up and make them use a uniform ball -- it's the only tournament that could possibly get away with it.  

I'll be there on Monday practice round and will try to get some good pix to start off Masters week.  

[Matt_Ward]

Tom B:

Sometimes Ward will surprise you!

The spirit of Augusta has been bastardized by those who are so fixated on score. The essence of the course worked for sooooooooo many years. I don't mind adding a bit of length on a few of the holes -- but the claustrophobic trees on the 7th and the nonsense done to the 11th is just way over the top.

Augusta was exciting in the pre-Tiger days because the range of numbers was so fascinating simply because players who sought to "protect" the lead could be caught through stellar play. The compression of golf scores through the new changes simply means the spirit of Augusta is now focusing more on limiting the marvelous elasticity that for so long was the hallmark of that great layout.

Like I said before -- how Augusta merits such a high placement in ratings / reviews totally escapes me. Yes, the Masters is a major, but it's soul has been thrown out the window because people who run the show there are so enamored with final four round totals. What was true at the Masters has been forever changed to reflect an entirely different reasoning that flies in the face of what the course was originally intended to be.

[Evan Fleisher]

Matt,

Well put.  I understand (somewhat) the need to keep up with technology...but if you FUNDAMENTALLY change the way a golf course was intended to be played, have you made it any better?  I'm not so sure...

[Robert Kimball]

This is a quote from Hootie from the Masters web site:

"The addition of trees at No. 11 continues our long-standing emphasis of accuracy off the tee," Johnson said.

Am I missing something here? The Masters used to be the one Major where you could spray it and still be OK -- Just ask Seve  

[Patrick_Mucci]

Has anybody actually been on-site and seen the trees ?

Has anybody played the golf course and experienced the impact of the trees ?

[Evan Fleisher]

Was there 4 years ago without the trees and am attending this year...I'll be sure and make a special effort to get over there to see what it now looks like and watch a few tee shots to see the actual impact they may make.

[John_Cullum]

Have they relocated all of the tees or just the Masters tees? (on 11)

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