Unsung Augusta holes

[George Pazin]

Besides the usual suspects - Amen corner, 15, 16 - what are some of your favorite holes at ANGC?

I liked 17 more before the recent stretching and added trees - seemed like a birdie hole that many bogeyed. Now it just seems like a ball buster.

I really like the bunkerless 14th. Seems like a breather between 13 & 15, but the green also seems to claim its share of victims.

How about the early par 3s? They just look so difficult.

[RE Blanks]

 #3 - 345 par four.  Play short of the fairway bunkers on the left and then a great little approach into a sloping green.  

 #5 - 450 par four.  Uphill tee shot with fairway bunkers left to guard the angle of the slight dogleg.  The approach is a mid iron into probably my favorite green on the course.  This is probably the most undualting green on the course.  

Too bad the front nine does't get the coverage of the back.  

[Mike_Cirba]

George,

I'm just back from Augusta this week...my first time.

I'm planning to write something up this week (when I can breathe) but rest assured that 1, 3, 4, and 6 are all quite noteworthy.

[RE Blanks]

Mike, I guess you were not impressed with 5.  Did you get a close up look at the green?  For some reason this is one of the more memorable holes on the hole course for me.

[Bill Gayne]

The shot for the pros into the ninth green from a slightly downhill or bottom of the hill lie to an up hill green. If they come up slightly short or overspin the ball it rolls a long way back down the hill.

For me the toughest fairway shot in golf is the downhill liie to a green above my head.

[Mike_Cirba]

Mike, I guess you were not impressed with 5.  Did you get a close up look at the green?  For some reason this is one of the more memorable holes on the hole course for me.

RE;

The 5th green is one of the best on the golf course, and almost overly demanding given the length of the hole.  

I'm not a fan of the look and intrusion of the bunkers on the left, however.  

[George Pazin]

For me the toughest fairway shot is the next one.

Was it #3 that Tiger screwed up trying to drive a couple years ago? That looked like a tremendous green.

7 also seemed more interesting when it was shorter.

[Mike_Cirba]

Was it #3 that Tiger screwed up trying to drive a couple years ago? That looked like a tremendous green.

7 also seemed more interesting when it was shorter.

Yes, and yes.

[RE Blanks]

Mike , I agree somewhat regarding th bunkers on the left.  They would make more sense if the hole was in the 410 range, then some of the players could elect to drive over them and have a shorter iron into the demanding green.  Now it is a 315+ carry (uphill) to clear the bunkers.  No one even tries.

[Mike_Cirba]

Mike , I agree somewhat regarding th bunkers on the left.  They would make more sense if the hole was in the 410 range, then some of the players could elect to drive over them and have a shorter iron into the demanding green.  Now it is a 315+ carry (uphill) to clear the bunkers.  No one even tries.

RE;

You're absolutely correct, and there are a number of other places on the course where the same now holds true.

If I keep participating on this thread, there will be no point to starting my own soon.  

Good points!

Mike

[George Pazin]

The cynic in me wonders if the lack of buzz surrounding the course itself, as there were no changes in the off season, will result in more changes next year.

[RE Blanks]

I'll shut up now.  Shame that the playability of the golf course has been compromised in order to make the course 7000+ yards.  I hate adding length just to add numbers on the card.  Having said all of that, it is still one of my favorite spots to watch the tournament.

[Mike_Cirba]

I'll shut up now.  Shame that the playability of the golf course has been compromised in order to make the course 7000+ yards.  I hate adding length just to add numbers on the card.  Having said all of that, it is still one of my favorite spots to watch the tournament.

RE;

I think you raised some great points and it seems that it would be a blast to play from the 6,300 yard members tees.

One of the things I found really interesting is that there are only two sets of tees at ANGC, one at 7290 and the member tees at around 6,300.

The weird thing is that I think they've changed some holes in ways that I'm not sure they intended, even for the pros.

[Doug Braunsdorf]

Mike, I guess you were not impressed with 5.  Did you get a close up look at the green?  For some reason this is one of the more memorable holes on the hole course for me.

RE;

The 5th green is one of the best on the golf course, and almost overly demanding given the length of the hole.  

I'm not a fan of the look and intrusion of the bunkers on the left, however.  

Mike-

  What's the elevation change from 5 tee up to the crest of 5 fairway, in the vicinity of the bunkers?  It looked to be 30 feet or so--maybe more--from Berckmans Road

Thank you-

DRB

[Jason Mandel]

I know 16 isnt "unsung" but according to Masters.org billy casper just took a 14 there!!!

Does anyone have any idea what the heck happened?

Jason

[Keith Williams]

Don't call it a comeback because he never left... oh wait, yeah he did, but anyway David Duval is leading the Masters!

He has birdied 2 and 6.  Now the premature but inevitable question is, if DD won the 2005 Masters, would it be more or less stunning than Jack in 1986?

[Mike_Cirba]

Doug,

30 or 40 feet sounds about right.  It gets steep in the area of the fairway bunkers, then flattens out for perhaps the final 100 yards into the green.

[tonyt]

On #7, is there now a little too much tree trouble along the second half of the fairway? The upper branches on opposite sides of the fairway look a lot closer together on TV than anyone would seemingly intend them to be.

[Patrick_Mucci]

REBlanks,

Mike , I agree somewhat regarding th bunkers on the left.  They would make more sense if the hole was in the 410 range, then some of the players could elect to drive over them and have a shorter iron into the demanding green.  Now it is a 315+ carry (uphill) to clear the bunkers.  No one even tries.

That's the reason they were put there, so golfers couldn't cut the dogleg without a heroic effort.[/color]

Mike Cirba,

You didn't find # 9 challenging ?
Off the tee ?
On the approach ?
On the recovery ?
Putting ?[/color]


Jason Mandel,

He missed his putt for 13.[/color]

[James Bennett]

Patrick Mucci

I assume Billy Casper hit a good shot for his 14th as well

[Dan Kelly]

Now the premature but inevitable question is, if DD won the 2005 Masters, would it be more or less stunning than Jack in 1986?

I don't believe I'm exaggerating when I say: Infinitely more stunning.

[Gary_Smith]

Casper shot 106.  

[Kyle Harris]

I am going with 14... so wonderful in simplicity and killer in punishment.

Heard it referred to as a breather between 13 and 15... how do you have a breather hole that plays harder than the two holes it is between?  

Also like the first hole, year in and year out it plays as one of the (if not the) most difficult hole on the golf course.

[RE Blanks]

Pat,   I wouldn't call a 315 yard carry up a 40 foot hill over bunkers heroic.  I would call that impossible.  That is why none of the players even attempt the shot.  If you move the tees forward even 20 yards you now bring in the heroic option.  

[Matthew Mollica]

RE Blanks,

I'm with you; I know pro players hit it a darn long way, but I looked at that 5th hole, and thought - how can anyone ever birdie it?

Huge drive needed, and a darn accurate approach, and then putt on perhaps the most demanding green on the course?

My favs on the course are #3, 5, 9, 11, 12 and 14.

It was sort of funny, but sort of sad watching Jack hit a hybrid into 9. Sort of reminded me of Cliff hitting a fairway wood in there all those years ago, from the flat landing area he specifically asked for.

What a daunting shot that is. Facing bunkers from that angle, to a green sloping away from you, from a downhill, sidehill lie, and you've got to hit it a mile. The recovery from beyond the green is no bargain either.

I'd still like a go at it  

Matthew