With 15 days to go until the Masters, it’s time to have a closer look at the course at Augusta National itself.
Did you know that there have been as many as 15 different architects who have led renovation projects on the course since it first opened in January 1933?
Bobby Jones and course architect Alastair Mackenzie designed the Augusta national together, supposedly inspired by the Old Course in St Andrews. Today, we’re looking at some of the biggest changes that have been made over the years- the ones people love and the more controversial choices.
Let’s start with one of the biggest names in Augusta architecture: Tom Fazio. He has worked as the in-house architect at Augusta since the 1990s and has been responsible for overseeing renovation projects ever since, whether directly or indirectly.
In 2002, Tom Fazio’s design company lengthened nine holes, adding 285 yards to Augusta in total, and made various fairway and bunker changes.
Four years later, in 2006, Fazio’s team was met with criticism after they did some work on the fifth hole. The tee was shifted and pushed back a full 40 yards.
Other features of the course have not been changed as much over the years. The 10th hole, for example, is virtually unchanged from MacKenzie’s original design. The only really noteworthy adjustment on the 10th was when Perry Maxwell moved the green back all the way in 1937.
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In general, adding distance to holes has been well received. Architects and course designers usually justify such changes as a way to adapt to technological developments in the game.
Less popular course adjustments involve tree planting.
To explain, when Bobby Jones and Alastair Mackenzie first designed the course, they wanted to give golfers the opportunity to be creative in their shots with wide open fairways. Over the years, architects have planted more and more trees on the course, making the opportunities for creativity ever less frequent.
There is no better example of how the trees made more creative shots near impossible than on the 17th hole. It has been widely noted that on today’s narrower course, Jack Nicklaus would have never been able to make his legendary tee shot on the 17th in 1986 that led to one of the greatest moments in Masters history.
Most of the so-called “narrowing” has taken place in rennovation project since 2002.
Tiger Woods is among the many top pros who has criticised the narrowing of Augusta. He claims that the version of the course when he first won in 1997 “wasn’t that hard”.
This article is part of our Countdown to The Masters series. Join us every day between now and April 7 for fun facts and interesting stories about golf and The Masters tournament.