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Sven Nilsen

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With the 9th, we're leaving the section of the course that did not see television cameras for the bulk of the history of the Masters.  I recall a weather delay back in the late 90's resulting in coverage of some of the holes on the front, but don't remember exactly when they went to cameras on all 18.

9th Hole - Carolina Cherry - Par 4




1934 - 420 yards - During construction Roberts had an engineer flatten a portion of the fairway to contain his drives.  The non-personal architectural nature of this decision has yet to be explained.  The original green was a MacKenzie horseshoe shaped specialty with a large, natural shape bunker guarding the front.  The openness of the course allowed players to drive down the neighboring 1st fairway on the left to achieve a better angle to the green.

1938 - 430 yards - Roberts asked Maxell to totally redesign and debunker the green to eliminate any reward for playing down the 1st.  Gone was the boomerang shape, and five new bunkers filled the left hillside, creating a distinct advantage for a drive placed on the right side.  Roberts disliked the new green's "pancake appearance" telling Maxwell it looked "like something you'd expect to see on a public links."

1939 - 430 yards - Roberts requested that Maxwell add back a portion of a tongue that had existed on the front right on MacKenzie's original version of the green, thinking it should be visible from the fairway and should permit run-up shots.  In the 1939 Masters, Jones' chip from behind the green rolled off the front.  That summer he had the tongue flattened a bit.

1956 - 420 yards - Perhaps because the cluster of bunkers kept getting less fearsome (on was removed in 1939, another by 1951), some competitors continued to play down the first fairway.  A string of trees was planted just off the front-left edge of the tee to stop this practice.

1974 - 440 yards - A horseshoe-shaped berm was added behind the green in 1972 to serve as a viewing platform that could hold 2,000 patrons.  As players were driving to the bottom of the hill, the tee was moved back about 15 yards (although one writer insisted the number was closer to 40 yards).  The result was a return to players fitting approaches from hanging lies on the fairway downslope.

2011 - 460 yards - As green speeds increased, the putting surface was repeatedly reduced in slope.  Portions were rebuilt in 1986, 1991 and 2007, each time to create new, puttable pin placements.  Despite all of the changes, the green remains as the steepest on the course.  In 2001, the tee was repositioned another 30 yards back, and more mature pines were planted on the right to complicate recoveries from the pine straw.

Dan's take:

"Dr. MacKenzie described the par-4 ninth as being “of the Cape type” which, loosely translated, describes a hole with green jutting prominently in one direction, its often-elevated edges closely guarded by hazards.  The description is an interesting one because while the initial ninth green did extend leftward above a large bunker, the putting surface itself was a classic MacKenzie boomerang, its two nearly symmetrical “wings” wrapped around the single, artistically shaped sand hazard.  Given the famously uphill nature of the approach, this was a most distinctive green complex indeed, yet the club once again assigned Perry Maxwell the late-1930’s task of rebuilding it, resulting in the angled, three-tiered putting surface in play today.  Maxwell’s initial version, by the way, featured four left greenside bunkers, but the two that have survived would likely be the only ones relevant to modern Masters participants.

An additional aspect of playing number nine has always been the downhill tee shot, for at the hole’s original 420-yard length, only longer hitters were capable of consistently driving more than 300 yards to the flat ground at the bottom, thus avoiding having to play so intimidating an approach – over a huge false front, no less – from a downhill lie.  The hole was lengthened to 440 yards in 1973 and 460 in the new millennium, meaning that even though the bottom is more frequently driven today, the 340 yards necessary to reach it means that a missed tee ball can still result in a very dicey second.

Also noteworthy was the 2002 addition of trees and rough down the right side of the landing area, an attempt at minimizing the longer hitter’s ability to simply bomb it down the preferred side without a care in the world.  At a glance, this might be decried as removing a strategic option – but an equally valid argument might be made that in this era of unchecked equipment, injecting some measure of accountability in this particular location was important in retaining the hole’s fundamental balance of play.

Better Then or Now?

This is largely a question of taste.  The present three-level green, with its enormous back-to-front fall, requires the deftest of touches on both approaches and chips, and inevitably provides those tragic moments when a second shot, apparently well-struck, spins back just a yard too far…then agonizingly trickles some thirty yards back off the putting surface.  MacKenzie’s original green, on the other hand, still featured the false front along its front-right edge (by most accounts, it was even more pronounced than at present), but also offered numerous exciting pin positions all around the boomerang.  On balance, such was surely the more unique, invigorating configuration – but the present one hardly lacks for drama either."

I'm struck by the misguided efforts to prevent players from hitting to the first fairway.  The safety concerns are evident, but did they need to completely change the green to accomplish this?  It seems that the tree-planting that took place down the line just to the left of the tee would have sufficed, with a little patience taken to let the trees mature into a suitable obstacle.  One wonders if the addition of hazards in the landing zone on the first (from the 9th tee) would have precluded that line of play, without changing the nature of the first hole.  

At this point, I wanted to note the overall difference between the tournament tees (stretching to around 7,500 yards) and the member's tee (6,345 yards).  On the front side alone, approximately 330 yards has been added, with only two holes (the 3rd and the 6th) playing at around the same length originally contemplated by MacKenzie and Jones.  A 30 yard per hole increase actually seems small if the intent was to account for the changes in technology.  But combine the added length with the narrowing of the fairways and the addition of the "second cut," and the emphasis on distance and accuracy off of the tee becomes a premium.   I make no judgments on these alterations, other than to say it would have been interesting to see a better balance between these types of modifications and those that stressed the addition of strategic choices as a method to defend par.  The overall theme seems to this reader to have been a move to a more penal style, with little opportunity for the player to be rewarded by a strategic choice.  With the width being taken out, the player that can take advantage of the front nine is the longer player who finds the fairway, not the player that makes the best choice/execution to set up the ideal line to the day's pin.

« Last Edit: April 04, 2012, 03:24:08 PM by Sven Nilsen »
"As much as we have learned about the history of golf architecture in the last ten plus years, I'm convinced we have only scratched the surface."  A GCA Poster

"There's the golf hole; play it any way you please." Donald Ross

Jay Flemma

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A question on eight - I read that Phil said this about 8 - “The green on eight in the front was widened. The hill on the left was softened. So little things that I felt like the back-right pin on eight was made much more accessible. It’s much flatter, a lot more room there. You can be a little bit more aggressive now into that pin. So, it was interesting.”

It played 4.75 last year, which seems about right.  Will these changes make it even easier? Perhaps too easy?
Mackenzie, MacRayBanks, Maxwell, Doak, Dye, Strantz. @JayGolfUSA, GNN Radio Host of Jay's Plays www.cybergolf.com/writerscorner

Sven Nilsen

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A question on eight - I read that Phil said this about 8 - “The green on eight in the front was widened. The hill on the left was softened. So little things that I felt like the back-right pin on eight was made much more accessible. It’s much flatter, a lot more room there. You can be a little bit more aggressive now into that pin. So, it was interesting.”

It played 4.75 last year, which seems about right.  Will these changes make it even easier? Perhaps too easy?

Jay:

I think it will play about the same for the old pins, and easier for the new back-right pin, perhaps lowering the scoring average slightly over the four rounds.  This assumes that the back right pin is actually more accessible and that its not just more accessible for Phil.

The par 5's on the front are not big number holes, while 13 and 15 certainly are.  I think that's part of the Masters mystique, in that the big risk reward moments take place on the back nine.  How many guys have fallen out of contention dumping one in the water on one of those two holes.  How many have climbed into contention or added to their lead with an eagle (see Nicklaus in 1986).
"As much as we have learned about the history of golf architecture in the last ten plus years, I'm convinced we have only scratched the surface."  A GCA Poster

"There's the golf hole; play it any way you please." Donald Ross

Chris Buie

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You can see the changes in the 9th green over the years. Which one do you think is best?

The fairway has been greatly narrowed. Is there anybody who thinks that makes it a better course for the members?


Sven Nilsen

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Chris:

I'm going to go with the original.  But it's probably a green that required width in the fairway to work.  

Interesting to see the angle of the photo for the first picture, which has the first fairway as its backdrop.  A couple of things to note:

1.  For those driving over to the first, the angle to a left pin takes the bunker just about out of play.  The advantage is pretty clear in the pictures.

2.  As with all older photos from Augusta, I'm amazed by the changes in the openness of the course.  Not that Augusta is the windiest place in the world, but I wonder how increased ground level breezes would influence the modern tour players.  There's often talk about how the wind impacts shots that get above the trees, but rarely is it a massive factor.
« Last Edit: March 26, 2012, 01:16:54 PM by Sven Nilsen »
"As much as we have learned about the history of golf architecture in the last ten plus years, I'm convinced we have only scratched the surface."  A GCA Poster

"There's the golf hole; play it any way you please." Donald Ross

Sven Nilsen

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Nine holes in to this history, and the one aspect of the origination of ANGC that stands out the most is how the MacKenzie/Jones collaboration seems to have been the best combination of architect/golfer to have ever undertaken a design project.  The early photographs of the two of them on the course give us a clue as to their working relationship.  MacKenzie as the idea man, Jones as the tester.  This obviously simplifies the relationship, but who better to hit a few "test" shots to practically investigate the merits of a design idea than the best golfer of his era.

The following article from The Augusta Chronicle Masters site goes into a bit more depth regarding the pairing:

http://www.augusta.com/node/99

As Jones was quoted saying, their ideas were "synonymous."  They both shared an appreciation for the playing characteristics of the Scottish classics (whether innate or learned) and attempted to translate that mantra onto the former nursery.  What is missing in the historical record (or at least not yet discovered by this reader) is a memorial of their dialogue.  Perhaps the process was so natural that few words were needed.  From the sounds of things, the two rarely disagreed on design concepts, and when they did the level of respect they had for each other most likely carried the day. 

The pro/archie combo has been duplicated many times over, and perhaps preceded the work at Augusta with different actors.  It seems that often one side of the equation takes the spotlight.  Coore & Crenshaw are an exception to this thought, and perhaps mirror the Alister and Bobby relationship as well as any other duo of this type, both in what they bring to the table and the respectful working relationship that exists between the two. 

What gets lost in the discussions of Azalea's, second cuts of rough and pimento cheese sandwiches is that this course was the result of one of the greatest pairings of golf minds.  It must have been an absolute joy for the golfer turned design "hobbyist" that was Jones to have had the opportunity to walk the ground with MacKenzie, as it would have been a treasured time for the aging architect to share the design process with a player that understood his philosophies.

As coverage of the tournament begins next week, it will be easy to focus on the individual achievements that have taken place on this hallowed ground.  This year, I'll be thinking of golf as a team sport instead.
"As much as we have learned about the history of golf architecture in the last ten plus years, I'm convinced we have only scratched the surface."  A GCA Poster

"There's the golf hole; play it any way you please." Donald Ross

Sven Nilsen

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Making the turn...

Tenth Hole - Camellia - Par 4




1934 - 430 yards - MacKenzie positioned the green in a natural saddle to the right of a dome, on which he dug an ornamental bunker.  The hole dropped more than 100 feet, and some players could drive the green.  All rainwater drained into the saddle, resulting in Horton Smith having to chip through standing water on the green when he won in 1936.

1938 - 465 yards - Jones reluctantly agreed to abandon MacKenzie's green site for a new green designed by Maxwell atop a hill beyond and to the left of the old one.  After the '38 Masters, Roberts wrote Maxwell that "Ten is now a grand golf hole....I know Bob is particularly pleased."  Jones liked that players could still reach the green with an iron on the second shot if they took advantage of slopes off the tee.

1974 - 485 yards - George and Tom Fazio were retained to enlarge the spectator areas around the 9th and 18th greens, resulting in the 10th tee being shifted back and to the left and elevated and dirt being scooped from tee to fairway to aid visibility.  The result was 20 yards in added length and a sharper dogleg.

2011 - 495 yards - Tom Fazio rebuilt the green in 1999 to gain a few more corner hole locations, and in 2001 moved the tee back another 10 yards and 5 to the left.  The former greenside bunker created by MacKenzie remains today despite the alterations.  At 59 yards long it is the most stylized bunker on the course.  Supposedly out of play, Tom Weiskopf found it with a drive of 370 yards.

From Dan:

"Originally conceived as the layout’s opening hole, the par-4 10th opened for play as a highly strategic downhill test played to a green situated some 45-50 yards shy of the present putting surface, just to the right of the sprawling (if largely vestigal) MacKenzie bunker that famously fills the fairway today.  The beauty of this configuration was that it significantly rewarded the player capable of hitting a controlled tee shot to the higher right side of the fairway, for their ensuing approach was a simple, unimpeded short iron into the heart of the crescent-shaped green.  The golfer whose ball bounded indiscriminately down to the fairway’s leftward reaches, on the other hand, then faced, in MacKenzie’s words, “a difficult second shot over a large spectacular bunker, with small chance of getting near the pin” – for the green would indeed have become a very shallow, sand-fronted target from that angle.

Perhaps because it was soon being judged as a mid-round hole instead of kinder, gentler opener (indeed, MacKenzie initially described it as “a comparatively easy downhill hole”), the tenth was deemed not to be challenging enough soon after opening, prompting Perry Maxwell to build the present, longer green in 1937.  Well into the postwar era, the right-front was guarded by a pair of bunkers, but the present hazard was enlarged in 1968, while the smaller “pothole” bunker located just to its right disappeared.

Other changes have been limited primarily to the teeing ground, which has been moved and elevated on multiple occasions, enhancing both the hole’s length and the angle of its dogleg.

Better Then or Now?

Once again, the operative question is: for whom? The present bigger, tougher tenth is clearly better suited to tournament competition than the hole’s initial incarnation – by a wide margin.  Indeed, the longer approach – which must carry the fronting hillside, yet stop below the hole, and not be missed right (sand) or left (another steep hillside) – might be considered inspirational simply in its challenge.  But the original version was considerably more strategic and, for anyone above a single-digit handicap, surely more fun.  So do we judge by four days in April, or the rest of the club’s golfing year?"

Gone is MacKenzie's presentation of an "opportunity" in that there no longer seems to be a premium on finding the high side of the fairway.  Today's player is hoping to bang it as far down the hill as possible to shorten the approach, with little premium placed on picking a side of the fairway.  

It is ironic that the one bunker that retains the MacKenzie touch is a bunker that was originally designed to be ornamental.  A better memorial for the man's genius would have been a bunker that significantly influenced the play of the hole, not the bunker that most looked like his handiwork.





« Last Edit: April 04, 2012, 03:26:54 PM by Sven Nilsen »
"As much as we have learned about the history of golf architecture in the last ten plus years, I'm convinced we have only scratched the surface."  A GCA Poster

"There's the golf hole; play it any way you please." Donald Ross

John Kirk

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Sven,

Seems the original intent has been lost.  Par is more difficult for those who fail to catch the slope and roll down to the left side, leaving a the shorter approach.

I enjoy watching the pros trying to hit the precise mid- to long-iron approach.

The two moments I remember best are two missed short putts during a playoff.  And a long putt.  Didn't Ben Crensaw sink a long (70 footer or so) one on his way to his second Masters victory? 

Great stuff.  This thread deserves more input from people who know the course well.

Chris Buie

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Mr. Wexler is right, of course. The current version of 10 is preferable for four days of the year but the old one was far better for members. That is largely the story of ANGC, is it not? The question I would be asking is how to reinstate some of the superior elements MacKenzie had while maintaining major championship playability.
What do you suppose the stroke average is for members on this hole today?

Sven Nilsen

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Heading into Amen Corner...

Hole 11 - White Dogwood - Par 4




1934 - 415 yards - Although designed by MacKenzie without a bunker, Jones added a short-lived one in 1935 in the center of the fairway, over a crest 240 yards out.  Sarazen disapproved of the bunker saying he couldn't see it from the tee, adding "maybe because I'm too short."

1952 - 445 yards - Before the '51 Masters, the creek was dammed to form a pond.  Another dam raised Rae's Creek, and the putting surface was reshaped to create pin placements near the water.  Roberts, Jones and Byron Nelson all claimed credit for the idea.  For 1952, a new elevated tee was added in the pines left of the 10th green, straightening and lengthening the 11th and providing room for spectators.

1954 - 445 yards - Two bunkers were built into mounds behind the green to provide a bit more challenge for back-hole locations.  In 1965, the green was rebuilt to elevate it two feet.  After a 1990 flood washed away the putting surface, it was reconstructed to previous contours before the '91 Masters using laser technology and a top map on file at the club.

1999 - 455 yards - The green was rebuilt yet again to raise the putting surface and surrounds another two feet (including the location of Larry Mize's famed chip from 1987).  The pond was raised a foot and the two bunkers were replaced by one on the right.  The green was extend to bring hole locations within 20 yards of Rae's Creek.  The tee was shifted after the loss of a large pine 180 yards in front.

2002 - 490 yards - The tee was moved back 35 yards and five yards to the right.  The fairway was regraded to eliminate kicks toward the green.  Fazio noted that the added length was due to the hole playing short despite the changes made three years earlier:  "Why play safe when you're hitting 9-iron or sand wedge for your second shot?  We've made it a middle-iron again."

2004 - 490 yards - To tighten the drive, 36 pine trees were transplanted to the right of the landing area.  "It continues our long-standing emphasis on accuracy off the tee," said Hootie Johnson.  Palmer was critical of the new pines, focusing on the removal of a prime spectator vantage point.

2011 - 505 yards - With the tee moved back again, the 11th became the first par 4 to measure more than 500 yards.  In reaction to Palmer's criticism, several pines on the right were removed allowing for enhanced patron viewing.  Grass beneath the remaining pines was replaced with pine straw, and more dogwoods were added left of the fairway, to punish errant drives.

From Dan's piece:

"One of the more comprehensively altered holes at Augusta, the long par-4 eleventh debuted as a mid-length two-shotter played from a tee situated just behind the original tenth green (i.e. short and right of the hole’s present putting surface) to a green occupying essentially the same spot as at present.  This made the hole a fairly pronounced dogleg right whose primary challenge lay in placing one’s drive in the center-right section of the fairway, for anything drifting too far left brought a corner of Rae’s creek – which lay several yards left of the putting surface – considerably more into play.  Early drawings indicate the presence of a centerline mound within the driving zone, presumably to help “distribute” drives leftward or rightward, but this hazard was replaced by an invisible, St. Andrews-inspired bunker prior to the first playing of The Masters.  The resulting test was quirky and apparently fun, leading MacKenzie to observe: “This should always be a most fascinating hole.  I don’t know another quite like it.”

Unfortunately, “always” proved to be less than 20 years, for in 1950, the hole was substantially reconfigured, with a new tee constructed to the left of the tenth green, turning the eleventh into a nearly straight 445-yarder that began with a semi-blind drive to a cresting, wooded fairway.  The turn in Rae’s creek was widened into a pond and brought flush to the green’s left apron, while the back-left section of putting surface was extended behind this new and intimidating hazard.  Further, two rear bunkers were added to the green complex in 1953, though only one of the pair survives today.

The resulting hole created a fascinating strategic question for better players: was the preferred angle of approach from the far right side of the fairway, where the most direct line into the front of the green could be found?  Or perhaps from the far left, where the pond might be turned into something of an easier-to-measure frontal hazard?

Sadly, this intricate and fascinating strategy was rendered moot in 2002 when, at the club’s request, Tom Fazio narrowed the fairway considerably by planting both trees and rough.  While this method of so-called “Tiger Proofing” was also implemented on a number of other holes, its impact on number eleven was particularly noticeable.  This, combined with a recent lengthening to an absurd 505 yards, has turned a truly captivating tournament hole into a brainless, one-dimensional exercise in compulsory golf.

Better Then or Now?

How about somewhere in between?  Though the eleventh circa 1935 was an inventive sort of hole, it would unquestionably have required modification in the modern era, both in terms of length and bringing the greenside water hazard more prominently into play.  Conversely, the present hole – though palpably difficult – stands virtually antithetical to the very concepts upon which Jones and MacKenzie based the entire Augusta project.  Remove the rough and trees, however, and once again allow the players to actually do a bit of thinking, and we just might have something…"

One wonders if the idea of "Amen Corner" influenced recent changes, in that there was an inherent need to challenge the players that is greater on this three hole stretch then elsewhere on the course.  With length being less of a factor for the modern player, the club looked to a narrowed fairway and the removal of the ground game option around the green to "toughen" the 11th.

« Last Edit: April 04, 2012, 03:29:09 PM by Sven Nilsen »
"As much as we have learned about the history of golf architecture in the last ten plus years, I'm convinced we have only scratched the surface."  A GCA Poster

"There's the golf hole; play it any way you please." Donald Ross

Sven Nilsen

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Hole 12 - Golden Bell - Par 3




1934 - 150 yards - The tee was positioned beneath a frame of three pines, which soon died.  The wide, flat green was built by cutting earth from the far bank of Rae's Creek and depositing it on a ledge.  The original bunkering consisted of a long, skinny one in front and a tiny one atop a hill behind.

1939 - 155 yards - Roberts directed Maxwell to enlarge the green on the right by digging out dirt from the bank behind the green with the possibility of exposing rock.  Roberts wrote "I think it will add to the thrill of the hole, as a very strong shot will strike the rock and bounce most anywhere."  A month later he wrote Maxwell to say "We do not wish to expose any rocks on the bank."  Maxwell turned the pits into bunkers.

1951 - 155 yards - For years the area between the tee and the creek as an oft flooded bog (in 1936 rowboats were considered to get players to the green).  When Rae's Creek was dammed for flood control in 1950, a tiny stream off the tee was buried in pipe, and the entire area was raised a bit.  A swale was created behind the green to remove water, and the bunkers were relocated.

1966 - 155 yards - The arched Ben Hogan Bridge was added in 1958, its grass surface soon replaced by artificial turf.  Further changes were made in 1965 to address flood control, including bringing in dirt with wheelbarrows to raise the entire putting surface 18 inches.  Land between the tee and creek was raised another two feet, and side-by-side-split-level tees were built, the Masters tee being lower than the tee used by the members.

1982 - 155 yards - When all greens were converted to bent grass in 1980, it was decided to slowly rebuild to the sand bases better for growing bent.  When construction reached the 12th green in 1981, warming coils were placed beneath the green, a concept later duplicated elsewhere.

2011 - 155 yards - Despite the flood control measures taken, a portion of the hole was damaged in an October 1990 flood.  It was quickly repaired.  The bunkers have remained in the same positions for 60 years, although the width and depth of the green has gradually shrunk due to its reconstruction and new mowing patterns.

Dan's take:

"Arguably the most famous par 3 in golf (and surely the most consistently dramatic) the 155-yard 12th has undergone several significant changes over the decades, most of which seem largely forgotten today.  To begin with, though a set of published drawings showed both this and the thirteenth greens as having been planned bunker-free (“It will be noted there is not a single bunker at either of these holes” – MacKenzie), the evidence is clear that the front bunker was indeed included during initial construction.  The two rear bunkers were added sometime later, carved into the rear hillside above a shallow, poorly draining swale that originally backed the putting surface.

With this swale’s seemingly permanent dampness causing numerous embedded ball issues (including a famous 1958 ruling that helped Arnold Palmer to win his first Masters), a substantial project was undertaken in 1960 to elevate the entire green area some two feet.  The net result makes for interesting viewing when comparing pre- and post-1960 photos: the rear bunkers, once carved into the back hillside at a level noticeably above the putting surface, are now drawn almost level.

Perhaps more significant are the changes that have overtaken the green itself, for today’s flattish, almost symmetrical putting surface belies a far more colorful past.  Indeed, prior to a 1951 expansion, the right side was considerably smaller than the left, requiring some major skill (not to mention guts) if one elected to have a desperation go at the traditional final round pin.  Additionally, as suggested in MacKenzie’s green sketch, this smaller right side was elevated significantly above the left – a substantial difference from the relatively flat surface in play today.

Better Then or Now?

Then – probably.  Most would agree that the elevation of the green was certainly a positive, solving the dampness issues that provided the potential for endless rules controversies, and removing the “elevated” appearance of the back bunkers in the hillside.  But the less-symmetrical, more-contoured putting surface was surely more interesting than that in play today, which inevitably made for even greater theater on those earlier Masters Sundays."

The damming of Rae's Creek and the expansion of the water hazard, has created the greatest "hold-your-breath" moment in championship golf.  The swirling winds, the penalty for anything short, the specter of the water looming for any recovery from over the green.  The shortest hole on the course provides the biggest drama.

« Last Edit: April 04, 2012, 03:30:03 PM by Sven Nilsen »
"As much as we have learned about the history of golf architecture in the last ten plus years, I'm convinced we have only scratched the surface."  A GCA Poster

"There's the golf hole; play it any way you please." Donald Ross

John Kirk

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I would suggest the front left to back right angling of the 12th green is a key factor.  Most players are right-handed, and most players tend to pull the ball long, and push the ball short.  Though I have no data to back this up, I hypothesize that right-handed golfers of all abilities have a tougher time hitting a green angled this way, with vice versa for lefties.

John Kirk

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One wonders if the idea of "Amen Corner" influenced recent changes, in that there was an inherent need to challenge the players that is greater on this three hole stretch then elsewhere on the course.  With length being less of a factor for the modern player, the club looked to a narrowed fairway and the removal of the ground game option around the green to "toughen" the 11th.

I can't remember the thread, but Tom Doak mentioned the beauty of Augusta's three hole stretches a year or so ago.  How 4-5-6 were hard, 7-8-9 were easy, 10-11-12 were hard, and 13-14-15 were relatively easy, and how the players had to cope with the stress of players ahead of them make birdies while they struggled on the difficult portions of the course.

John Kirk

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I found it.  "The Genius Of The Masters, By Design", by Tom Doak.

http://www.golfclubatlas.com/forum/index.php/topic,47931.0.html

Chris Buie

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Sorry I didn't have time to post yesterday. Here are some more images for your consideration.
The 11th tee shot:



My views on the above images are predictable. I am not a fan of constricting the playing areas and removing angles and options. Today there is little opportunity for a creative recovery from a tee shot that wanders a bit off the narrowed fairway.



Below is a photo I had in a file. I think this is the 12th hole at ANGC. If it is indeed that hole this green seems to have more contouring. Could be wrong about that - but that is how it appears to me.

Sven Nilsen

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Chris:

The last photo was either taken during one of the floods or the changes in elevation of the green have been fairly drastic.  I'd love to get a date on that photo to place it in the timeline of changes.  It would help to identify the nature of some of the changes discussed.  (As an aside, a gis search does little in the way of providing old photos of the course.)

John:

I've never heard anyone discuss 7 as an easy hole.  I think its the 4th or 5th hardest hole on the course (not sure about that).  I do think that the course comes at the player in waves, with 10-12 being a strong test of nerve, and 13, 15 and 16 presenting great birdie opportunities.

There are birdie opportunities on the front, but you never hear people talking about players making their move on that nine.  
« Last Edit: March 30, 2012, 02:28:59 PM by Sven Nilsen »
"As much as we have learned about the history of golf architecture in the last ten plus years, I'm convinced we have only scratched the surface."  A GCA Poster

"There's the golf hole; play it any way you please." Donald Ross

Emile Bonfiglio

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There are birdie opportunities on the front, but you never hear people talking about people making their move on that nine. 

Unless you are TW last year.
You can follow me on twitter @luxhomemagpdx or instagram @option720

Sven Nilsen

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If he had kept that charge going into the back nine, it would have rivaled Jack in '86.  Now, its an after thought.
"As much as we have learned about the history of golf architecture in the last ten plus years, I'm convinced we have only scratched the surface."  A GCA Poster

"There's the golf hole; play it any way you please." Donald Ross

William_G

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I would suggest the front left to back right angling of the 12th green is a key factor.  Most players are right-handed, and most players tend to pull the ball long, and push the ball short.  Though I have no data to back this up, I hypothesize that right-handed golfers of all abilities have a tougher time hitting a green angled this way, with vice versa for lefties.

yes the pull draw cuts through the wind and you are over and the push fade falls short and splashes, this occurs as most right-handers are not taking a full swing, but are trying to hit something more delicately with an abbreviated swing

best spot to watch practice rounds or tournament, IMO
It's all about the golf!

Sven Nilsen

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Here's a link to a Geoff Shackleford piece from Golf Digest discussing the connections between Augusta National and The Old Course:

http://www.golfdigest.com/golf-tours-news/2010-04/golf-shackelford-old-course-0405

Some great quotes from Crenshaw which give a bit of insight into his own design philosophies.  This one stood out as noteworthy:

"They wanted to show that there are different hazards in golf other than bunkers and water to extract penalties," Crenshaw says. "The concept is so very simple. You play over here to get there. But it's got to be accommodated for and presented that way with width."

"As much as we have learned about the history of golf architecture in the last ten plus years, I'm convinced we have only scratched the surface."  A GCA Poster

"There's the golf hole; play it any way you please." Donald Ross

Sven Nilsen

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Leaving Amen Corner with a good chance at Eagle or Birdie...

Hole 13 - Azalea - Par 5




1934 - 480 yards - MacKenzie and Jones discovered the natural hole early in their tour of the land and deciding the routing had to include it.    Needing only a tee, a green and some tree removal, shallow "flash bunkers on the uphill behind the green between tree trunks were added before the first Masters.  They were soon removed for oval bunkers behind the green.

1955 - 470 yards - George Cobb replaced the font-left thumb of the green with a new bunker.  He also added another bunker on the left and rebuilt the existing ones around the green.  Wooden bridges over the creek were converted to grass-topped rock bridges (the arched Byron Nelson Bridge at the tee was built in 1958).  Cobb also shifted the tee five yards to the right to accentuate the dogleg [Note: I think they meant to the right].

1976 - 485 yards - In 1970 the club bought nearly two acres located behind the 13th tee from Augusta Country Club, with privacy trees soon planted on it.  In 1975, the 13th tee was relocated onto this parcel, adding 10 yards.  Cobb also rebuilt the bunkers and the green, resting the original two-levels nature.  For the '76 Masters the green was "hard as a city sidewalk," and many shots bounced over it.

1984 - 465 yards - To improve drainage, the green was rebuilt by Bob Cupp, adding elevation, contour and a swale between the collar and the bunkers.  Before the '84 Masters, Weiskopf was asked by Nicklaus what he thought, responding "Players won't like it" while indicating a steep dropoff left of the green.  Said Jack:  "This isn't close to what I told them to do."  The edge wasn't softened until the '88 Masters.

1987 - 465 yards - In 1986, chairman Hord Hardin though players hitting from the rocky streamed were slowing up play.  The resulting dams and moat like level of the water was extremely unpopular with players and fans.  Crenshaw's take:  "Golf would not be a mystery if there were not instances of two different outcomes on the same shot."  The moat remained until 1996.

2011 - 510 yards - The yardage was revised to 485 in 1994 without any physical change.  In 2001, a further parcel was procured from A.C.C.  A new Masters tee was built on it, adding 25 yards.  in 2003, the green was rebuilt again to install a heating and cooling system.  Trees planted a decade ago (2001) at the far corner of the dogleg no pinch the "banked turn" tee-shot landing area.

Dan breaks it down:

"As dramatic a par 5 as has ever been built, Augusta’s legendary thirteenth has retained its general configuration fairly well – but a number of smaller, less-obvious changes have taken place.  Like the twelfth, MacKenzie’s plan for the thirteenth green indicated a complete absence of sand, but again, things seem to have evolved quickly, as three flashy bunkers were carved into the back hillside either during construction or in preparation for the inaugural Masters.  The putting surface itself has also been altered, being slightly re-contoured during the 1950’s, then entirely rebuilt by George Cobb in 1975.  A resulting swale that bordered its left and rear flanks was ultimately judged too severe, and was subsequently softened in 1988, and even a cursory comparison of images of the fronting creek over the years makes clear the extent to which it has been widened, and otherwise cosmetically touched up.

The one really obvious change to the green complex came in 1955, when a fourth bunker was built immediately adjacent to the creek, replacing a narrow, front-left sliver of putting surface.  This confined finger of green, squeezed tightly between the creek and the hillside, was a vintage piece of asymmetrical MacKenzie design, and would surely offer yet another dramatically tempting pin placement were it still in existence today.

Also evolving over the decades has been number thirteen’s length.  The club originally listed it at 480 yards, but that number has been revised both upwards and downwards over the decades, ranging from a shortish 465 (its 1980’s Masters yardage) to as much as 485 during the 1970’s, when the tee was extended onto a bit of land purchased from the adjoining Augusta Country Club.  More recently, as part of Tom Fazio’s new millennium makeover, even more neighboring land was purchased, allowing the hole to now measure a full 510 yards.

Better Then or Now?

Then – if we’re judging pound for pound.  The only significant problem with today’s hole is that at 510 yards, the balance for Masters participants seems to have shifted a bit too far towards laying up, thereby diminishing some of the most dramatic moments in all of competitive golf.  But the original version also had the front-left extension of the putting surface which, one senses, would offer particularly exciting possibilities to modern tournament players.  Why not bring it back?"

One of my favorite greens on the course with the pin positions closer to the creek presenting the greatest drama.  This hole and 16 may present the greatest opportunities to watch the ball in motion theory in effect.  

Although this hole has been lengthened, the difference between then and now is not as extreme as can be found elsewhere, leaving a hole that has retained most of the strategic qualities inherent in the original version.  Its one of the best risk/reward par 5's on the planet.  The recovery options from the creek bed give it a bit of an advantage over the 15th, where the penalty for a short shot would never allow for the miraculous.

« Last Edit: April 04, 2012, 03:31:43 PM by Sven Nilsen »
"As much as we have learned about the history of golf architecture in the last ten plus years, I'm convinced we have only scratched the surface."  A GCA Poster

"There's the golf hole; play it any way you please." Donald Ross

Sven Nilsen

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Borrowing the following photo from John Stiles who posted it in the Center-line bunkers thread:



"As much as we have learned about the history of golf architecture in the last ten plus years, I'm convinced we have only scratched the surface."  A GCA Poster

"There's the golf hole; play it any way you please." Donald Ross

Sven Nilsen

  • Karma: +0/-0
"As much as we have learned about the history of golf architecture in the last ten plus years, I'm convinced we have only scratched the surface."  A GCA Poster

"There's the golf hole; play it any way you please." Donald Ross

Sven Nilsen

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Adding a link to Tom MacWood's excelling IMO piece on the early days of the club: 

http://www.golfclubatlas.com/in-my-opinion/macwood-thomas-the-dream-decision/
"As much as we have learned about the history of golf architecture in the last ten plus years, I'm convinced we have only scratched the surface."  A GCA Poster

"There's the golf hole; play it any way you please." Donald Ross

Sven Nilsen

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Hole 14 - Chinese Fir - Par 4




1934 - 400 yards - MacKenzie based the design of this hole on the strategy of the sixth at St. Andrews.  A drive up the right side, over the sprawling cross bunker, opened up the approach.  A drive to the left side would leave a half-blind run-up shot over a gigantic mound short of the green, which featured exaggerated contours.

1939 - 425 yards - MacKenzie's green had an abrupt face at its front.  Maxwell merged a lower deck of the putting surface to it, then added two fairway knows on the right, so golfers from any angle had to deal with potentially bad bounces.  This was the era before routine irrigation when greens were normally hard and dry requiring shots to be bounced into them.

1956 - 420 yards - After the '52 Masters, the cross bunker was filled in.  So close to the tee, it had served little purpose, even though the optimal play was a draw against the fairway sloping left to right.  Before the '56 Masters, two small MacKenzie mounds behind the green were converted into one broad gallery mound.

2011 - 440 yards - I 1981, the scorecard yardage was changed to 405 yards.  Before 1993, the tee was shifted left, and in 2002 it was moved back 35 yards.  The green was reconstructed in 1997, adding new hole locations, and in the late 1990 pines were aded to tighten the driving zone.  At that time, the grand old MacKenzie mound short of the green on the left was bulldozed, an antiquity in today's aerial game.

From Mr. Wexler:

"The par-4 fourteenth could stake a claim as Augusta’s least-altered hole, save for one significant change: the 1952 removal of a huge, wildly shaped MacKenzie bunker protecting the preferred right side of the fairway.  True, this bunker – which was, by a considerable margin, the largest on the golf course – would not be relevant to today’s top players, but given its prominent place upon the landscape, the aesthetic difference is enormous.  Also altered is the teeing ground, which was moved leftward and forward in 1972 (to create space relative to the thirteenth green), then extended back to its current 440 yards during Tom Fazio’s 2002 reworking.

Better preserved has been the green, a true roller coaster of a putting surface whose enormous bumps and undulations lead to all manner of creative approach shots each April.  But even this Golden Age work of art is not altogether intact, for its back-left corner was extended a bit in 1987, its front edge has been brought noticeably forward, and multiple flanking mounds have been soften or removed over the decades.  But watching the occasional smartly played Masters approach land thirty feet from the pin, turn 90 degrees, then ultimately trickle down to within inches of the cup, one cannot help but recognize that this remains, in many ways, the last true footprint of Dr. MacKenzie at Augusta.

Better Then or Now?

In real terms, it is little different – though a net gain of 15 yards in length surely isn’t enough to negate the effects of unchecked modern equipment.  MacKenzie, however, had a purpose for his lost fairway bunker: tee shots which carried it were left with a clear view of the putting surface for their second, while balls played safely left stuck the golfer with a semi-blind approach over the now-deceased frontal mounding.  The bunker would little affect today’s best in its original position, but what if, like fairway bunkers at the fifth and eighth,, it was restored somewhat further downrange?"

I think Dan makes a great point on the elimination of the strategic decision created by the fairway bunker.  Unlike elsewhere on the course, at the 14th the fairway hazard was eliminated, rather than moved or adapted to the changes in length.  The fairway still may have a preferred side, but the only impediment to finding the better angle into the green is narrowness.

« Last Edit: April 04, 2012, 03:35:38 PM by Sven Nilsen »
"As much as we have learned about the history of golf architecture in the last ten plus years, I'm convinced we have only scratched the surface."  A GCA Poster

"There's the golf hole; play it any way you please." Donald Ross

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