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Ben Sims

  • Karma: +1/-0
Which architectural features at Augusta National...
« on: April 15, 2019, 12:13:29 PM »
...are in play for members and average golfers but not generally for the pros?


I can’t help but think of a few places on the golf course that we rarely see players during the Masters that probably have an impact on day-to-day play. Examples include the fairway bumps on 8 about 150yds out from the green and the the MacKenzie bunker on 10 for those that try to layup close on their second. Any other features come to mind?
« Last Edit: April 15, 2019, 02:57:31 PM by Ben Sims »

Peter Pallotta

Re: Which architectural features at Augusta National...
« Reply #1 on: April 16, 2019, 05:54:28 AM »
B -
maybe because Molinari's bunker shot on 18 on Saturday was so impressive and still fresh in my mind, I'll note something that had never occurred to me, even though it doesn't quite align with your framing/question, ie
amateurs/members might be able to play the course from c 6300 yards (instead of 7400+), but they are no less likely to occasionally find a fronting bunker (as on 18) than the pros are; but man, how exponentially more challenging they'd find the next shot (especially to a back pin) than the pros do.
Sure, the sand in fluffy and manicured etc etc, but the scale of those bunkers in relation to the size and contours (and potential pin placements) of those greens makes them 'in play' for members in so vastly a different way than they do for the pros.   
P

« Last Edit: April 16, 2019, 04:19:43 PM by Peter Pallotta »

Paul Carey

  • Karma: +0/-0
Re: Which architectural features at Augusta National...
« Reply #2 on: April 16, 2019, 08:27:41 AM »
I would think the mounds short of the 11th green May come into play more often.


Bill Raffo

  • Karma: +0/-0
Re: Which architectural features at Augusta National...
« Reply #3 on: April 17, 2019, 06:46:33 AM »
What do the GCA'ers think about the chute at 18? 


Before they moved that tee back, you could yank the ball left of the bunkers into that wide open area left of 18 as Tiger did on Sunday in '97. That option is now gone. From TV, it looks like anything left center is in the bunker and anything right center flirts with the rough and trees on the right side. Anything worse gets smacked down by the chute. It's too tight.


From a design perspective, aren't chute's supposed to end at a distance from the tee that is much in line with the way the hole was originally designed?  Shouldn't the 18th hole play in a similar way to the spirit of the rest of the course which is fairly forgiving off the tee? Is there any other hole in championship golf with a chute that narrow, that far from the tee?  Out of all the changes there, that one strikes me as the most out of character.  And who wants to see a guy lose a chance at a Masters on a decent drive because a chute that was designed to be in play 100 yards off the tee is now in play 200 or whatever...like Spieth last year? 







 

jeffwarne

  • Karma: +0/-0
Re: Which architectural features at Augusta National... New
« Reply #4 on: April 17, 2019, 08:19:50 AM »
What do the GCA'ers think about the chute at 18? 



The chute doeosn't bother me as much as the unplayable vegetation-some there for screening-some not(very much in play because of the chute) which was never anywhere near in play on the old tees


As far as the question, getting over the hill on 8 has to be brutal for the average guy.
Hitting 15 with the third shot, mounds in front of 11, the awkward pitch into 10 from the valley below the green.
The multple blind shots left for short hitters--#1,2 8,17 etc
« Last Edit: April 17, 2019, 09:03:53 AM by jeffwarne »
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