BCrosby, that was a well thought post.
I think people don't know that Augusta has ALWAYS put a premium on accuracy off the tee. I think it does so in a way that's more subtle than a golf course set up for say, the US Open.
A US Open set up says, "Hit it in our 25 yard wide fairway and go from there. If you should happen to get a little off course on a par 4, just chop it out of the rough somewhere, maybe 100 yards from the green, and play the hole like a par 5. If you make a four, its a birdie-net par.
Now getting back to Augusta. I've heard touring pros, people from the Masters Tournament Committee, commentators and so on, saying things like "Now Augusta puts a premium on driving accuracy...it's the complete test."
These comments are simply a manifestation of a skewed perspective of what real accuracy is. I just read on, Masters.org, Nick Faldo's description of Firethorn, Augusta's 15th, and he talked about how one year, he laid up in the second cut to decrease his chances of being able to spin the ball back off the green.
In contrast to a US Open set-up, Augusta says this...
"Look, here's a fairway thats 50+ yards wide...you can hit it anywhere you want...we don't care where, but when you get up to your ball, and realize there's absolutely no way to go for the pin or even put the ball in a spot that gives you an easy up and in, don't complain. We give you all the options in the world when it comes to playing this hole, but it's up to you to choose the best line and cope with risk/reward trade-offs given your own natural imperfection."
Augusta perhaps tests the mind in ways that it spurs on creativity. That is what is so great.
So getting to the underlying point. I think most of us agree that Augusta has changed. My remarks about the uniqueness that is Augusta were true maybe 10 years ago. Are they true now? Perhaps.
What is certain is that players are driving the ball longer now than they were 10 years ago. I read Tiger's teleconference transcript on Masters.org and he is well aware of the sacrifice he has to make when it comes to the increased dispersion in outcomes with a driver (i.e. trees on the right, rough on the right, fairway, rough on the left, trees on the left) and the decreased dispersions in outcomes with a wedge, or 9 iron or so (i.e. 10 feet right of the pin, dead on, or 10 feet left).
Apparently the Augusta Tournament committee feels that this change is threatening the difficulty of the tournament. They know they want great competition, but they don't want this thing to become another tour event wth a winner at 23 under on Sunday afternoon. I agree that it hurts the image that the Masters, as a major, is trying to convey.
To them, players aren't forced to play to a certain side of the fairway if all they have is a wedge into the green. It might be different if they had to hit 6 iron. So how do you accomplish the task of getting players to back off? I don't know if a long term solution is increasing the length of the hole because the longer you make the hole, the more players will want the distance to make the hole easier over time. ...and they somehow will find it.
If you think about a fairway as being a "playing channel," Augusta seems to believe that by reducing the width of the playing channel, and increasing the severity of punishment if a player is to find himself outside of the playing channel deemed by the tournament committee, they will find the recipe for success...which is a difficult hole.
An example is on 11. 15 years ago, a great tee shot on 11 was down the right side eliminating the need to go over the lake on your 2nd shot. What is there now? Trees.
(Oh goodness, this post is becoming a theses or something.)
Anyway, last and final point. All I know is that I love golf that is exciting, but also gruelling, but requiresome of intellect. Maybe the tournamet committee is on the ball, who knows. Is it possible that they went overboard like on the narrowness of 7 and the length of 4? Probably.
Excluding these holes, what other options do they have? This is not rhetorical, and this is not in defense of ANGC. What is the real solver of their problem? Is it the comp. ball? How do you allow for deviations with this ball to suit each players individual styles? Do you think that increasing the fairway width would decrease scores that much? I personally think not.
I want to hear what this body of knowledge thinks.