Visual Intimidation & Augusta National Golf Club

[Mike Hendren]

Having spent five days at practice rounds circa 1990, the thing that really stands out in my mind's eye today is how difficult many of the shots appeared from outside the ropes.  

Notably,
-the drive at 2
-the pitch at 3
-the tee shot at 4
-the second at 5
-the (NLE) short pitch at 7
-the uphill/blind 2nd at 8
-the tee shot into oblivion at 9
-the uphill 2nd at 9 from a hanging lie
-the 2nd at 10
-the tee shot at 12
-the tee shot at 13
-the 2nd or 3rd at 15
-the drive and severely uphill approach at 18

My handicap at the time was 5+/- and I questioned whether I could play these shots with any hope of success, even in the total absence of pressure.

MacKenzie's design, though compromised, is ingenious to this day.  

Mike  

[Gary Daughters]

I have been astonished to see players pick the ball from the hanging lie at #9 and hit it 180 yards to that green.  I have no clue how they do it.

[Andy Doyle]

Bunker shots from behind 12 and right of 16.

AD

[Patrick_Mucci]

Mike,

When I played ANGC the front nine had never been shown on TV, hence several shots were unexpected, and some shots on the back nine took me by surprise as well.

The 2nd at # 2.
The 2nd at # 3
The  tee shot to # 6
The second shot at # 9
The tee shot at # 11
The 2nd shot at # 11
The lie in the fairway at # 13
The approach to # 15
The tee shot at # 18.

The tee shots at # 11 and # 18 were amongs the most uncomfortable tee shots that I've ever set up for.

The green at # 2, 3, 5, 6, 7, 9, 13, 14, 15 and the fact that most greens had slopes I hadn't perceived, vis a vis TV.

I was also shocked by the elevation change and many of the lies in the fairway.

TV flattens or hides many features that jump out at you when you see the course in person.

MacKenzie's routing remains brilliant despite Mike Cirba's failure to understand it.

Unfortunately, many, if not most, develop their impression of the golf course from TV, when it's quite different in person.

It remains a wonderful golf course in spite of all of the changes, which is a tribute to the genius of its routing and hole designs.

[Matt_Cohn]

Is this why so many guys shoot 89-74 (Coody), 82-72 (O'Meara), 82-70 (Micheel), etc.? Are they all just intimidated in Round 1? Does Augusta just get in their heads?

[Patrick_Mucci]

Is this why so many guys shoot 89-74 (Coody), 82-72 (O'Meara), 82-70 (Micheel), etc.?

Are they all just intimidated in Round 1? Does Augusta just get in their heads?

It's because they're old.

Coody will be 69 this July.

Try playing 7,400 yards with sloped and contoured greens during the Masters and see what you shoot  [/color]

[Chris Kane]

Micheel is old Patrick? Quite depressing to hear I only have sixteen more years till I'm "old" too!

Matt, I think its just a really difficult golf course.  Play poorly and you're on the bogey-train all day.

[Matt_Cohn]

Patrick - I hear what you're saying, and I doubt I'd break 80 my first time around. But if it was just because they were old, Coody would shoot 89-89, and O'Meara would shoot 80-80, or 75-75. But they wouldn't improve 10-15 shots from one day to the next. Something else must be going on. If they're just old, they ought to shoot worse the second day! (Right?)

The question (maybe I was unclear) was why so many guys shoot terrible scores in the first round and follow that up with a good round the next day.

I just counted:

12 rounds in the 80's in Round 1
6 rounds in the 80's in Round 2

...even though it was pretty much unanimous that the course played harder in Round #2. That's what makes me think the course got in people's heads before the tournament started.

Another stat:

Nobody shot more than seven shots worse in Round #2 compared to Round #1 (Singh, 67-74). Two guys were six shots higher (Oberrholser, 69-75, and Toms, 72-78).

By contrast, nine players improved six shots or more. The largest improvement: 15 shots, then 13, 12, and 10.

Again, Round #2 was harder, yet lots of guys showed massive improvements, with few players shooting a lot higher than they did in Round #1. Is this a typical pattern in tournaments/majors? And isn't it just evidence of the course and tournament getting in certain players' heads before Round #1?

[Patrick_Mucci]

Matt,

I have a friend who played in the Masters as an amateur.

He said that everything went great during the run-up to the tournament.

His game was great, he was driving it well, his irons were crisp, his chipping and putting sharp.

He was ready.

There was only one problem.

When they announced his name on the first tee and he teed up his ball ....... he couldn't let go of it.   He froze.

He was immediately reminded of where he was.
And all of his confidence evaporated.

Now Venturi, a great amateur from California birdied the first four holes, and but for an unusual pairing on the last round, might have won the tournament that year.

Familiarity, getting over the jitters, and having nothing left to lose probably account for improved second round scoring.

[Bill Gayne]

The drive on 11.

The wedge into 15 on a third shot. It's downhill and looks terrifying.

Any putt. I saw a player mark from inside a foot on 18.

#7.

[Jim Johnson]

Some "intimidating" pics...

The new look from the 7th tee...



"Intimidation" from the 11th tee...


The "intimidating" tee shot of #12...


"Intimidation" on the approach to the 15th green...



JJ

[Bill Gayne]

JJ,

Great pics, thanks for posting. We were estimating that it would take a drive of about 260 to reach the fairway on 11 and it had to be dead straight.