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Augusta National has 18 great holes. Here are 5 that could decide the Masters

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3 months ago

April 14, 2024

AUGUSTA, Ga. – The 88th Masters is here, and with it comes a reintroduction to one of the greatest and historic courses in all of golf: Augusta National Golf Club. What makes this tournament so iconic is not only its history, but also the way the course is so important every April. It’s the only major championship that returns to the same location every year, meaning players and viewers know the course, its most famous holes and all the epic moments of greatness and failure that have occurred over the past nearly ninety years.

But which holes really decide the Masters? The Athletics chose five holes that offer both beauty and strategy. The kind of holes that spectators camp out for and players think about and plan for all week. Now it’s Augusta, an 18 scenic hole course designed by Alister MacKenzie and Bobby Jones with challenge, risk and reward in mind, so we could have chosen all 18. But these are the five that best tell the story of the Masters.

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No. 3: blooming peach

The story goes that one year golf great Gary Player sat next to Bobby Jones at the Masters championship dinner and pushed him to the third hole – how it was impossible to make a birdie. Jones leaned forward with a grin and said, “You’re not supposed to make a birdie on 3. The hole is designed for a four.”

It is a hole so perfectly designed and created that it has remained one of the least changed over time. If holes No. 1 and 2 are relatively easy starters, No. 3 is when Augusta starts playing mind games with players. It is a short par 4 of 350 yards with a small green that sits atop a steep slope from the fairway. If you miss short, the ball will roll all the way down the hill leaving a brutally short, uphill shot. That’s where the challenge comes off the tee. Because players drive it so far these days, many hit the driver on the short left slope, accepting his sit down the hill and doing their best to get up and down the small, right-to-left sloping green. And many who try fail to stay on the green on their second shot. Sometimes it rolls back down the hill. Sometimes it bounces off the back. According to DataGolf, players who hit the short left side of the fairway land on the green only 40 percent of the time.

Some players lie down close to the fairway bunkers to enter the green with a comfortable, full club. But you don’t feel so comfortable when you end up in this little green.

A general view of the par 4 third hole during the third round of the 2013 Masters (Ross Kinnaird/Getty Images)

No. 11: White dogwood

Welcome to the famous Amen Corner, starting with the 520 meter par 4 descent, where players tee off into a beautiful narrow opening surrounded by trees. The fairway eventually opens up, but the green is well below the fairway and guarded by a large pond to the front left, making attacking pins a dangerous pursuit.

Like many at Augusta, 11 is a good strategic hole. The best angle in the hole is certainly on the right side of the fairway. Doing this will avoid having to hit over the water hazard, but that right side had three tall trees in the fairway to make both the drive and approach a little more complicated. Augusta has removed many of the trees on the right to simplify things, but it’s still something players should think about.

The real decision then comes in how to approach the green. Historically, players have often played it safe and left it to the right side of the fairway, near the green. However, recent changes to the course have caused the grass on the right side near the green to be lower, creating a small valley where the ball can be stopped and making recovery more challenging. In theory, this makes players want to attack the green more, but it’s a risk that can derail a round if a shot goes into the water.

This is where Greg Norman’s collapse began in 1996, when a 12-foot birdie attempt turned into a three-putt bogey. In 2023 it was the third toughest hole on the course with 60 bogeys for the week and 15 birdies.

A general view of the green on the par 4 11th hole during the final round of the Augusta National Women’s Amateur at Augusta National Golf Club on April 6, 2024 (David Cannon/Getty Images)

No. 12: Golden Bell

One of the most fascinating par 3s in golf, number 12 is a short 155-yard hole that may look simple to the naked eye, but is one of the trickiest on the course. From wind to creeks to perfectly placed bunkers, there’s nothing simple about it. The trees surrounding the hole create a strange wind swirl that can change on any given day – or at any time. If a player hits the ball too high above the trees, the ball is exposed to more wind. There’s the famous story of Bob Rosburg, who hit a 4-iron in 1956 in an attempt to battle through a strong wind – but the wind stopped while he was in his backswing, resulting in Rosburg not only pushing it past the green launched, but also over the trees and fence to the nearby Augusta Country Club.

If a player falls short, he has to worry about the famous Rae’s Creek. The grass in front of the green is tightly mown and on a steep slope, meaning a short shot will likely roll straight into the creek. That was the key to Tiger Woods’ epic Masters victory in 2019, when both Francesco Molinari and Tony Finau rolled balls into the creek, while Woods played it safe and sent the ball well away from the pin to the center of the green hit.

General view of the 12th hole, Par 3 at the 1996 Masters. (David Cannon/Getty Images)

No. 13: Azalea

Here is a sweeping dogleg left par 5 on a large slope. No. 13 is hugged by a creek that extends along the entire left side of the fairway. Tall trees guard that entire left corner, and the fairway is so sloped that if you make a perfect, long drive down the left side for a shorter shot, you’re making a long approach on a huge slope. Meanwhile, if you play it safe and move further right, the shot will be much longer to the green and you risk going into the trees. And that approach shot is into an elevated green above a tributary of Rae’s Creek.

This hole lost some of its flair over time as players spent longer off the tee. It led to Jack Nicklaus saying in 2017: “The golf ball changed things. If you don’t roll the golf ball back, you really need to extend the hole 30 to 40 yards to test the players today.” So what did Augusta National do? It has spent millions to buy more land behind the 13th tee and expand it by 35 yards for the 2023 Masters.

The changes certainly add more nuance and decision-making at such a crucial gap in the round. The key is that attacking the green is a choice and not a certainty for every player in the field. Still, it played as the fourth-easiest hole in 2023 with eight eagles and 108 birdies compared to just 30 bogeys. But it was the hardest par 5.

Branden Grace of South Africa plays a shot on the 13th hole during a practice round ahead of the start of the 2018 Masters. (David Cannon/Getty Images)

No. 16: Redbud

The most climatic hole in Augusta’s final stretch, No. 16, is often where the Masters tension reaches its peak. The 170-yard par 3 is surrounded by water in the front and has sloping greens that make everything pin-positioned. It’s part of what has made it the sight of so many famous Masters moments, most notably Tiger Woods’ 2005 chip-in from an unforgiving spot in the rough that rolled to the edge, stopped and then fell in to lead to his epic victory. CBS’s Verne Lundquist famously shouted, “Have you ever seen anything like this in your life?”

It’s the most scoreable hole on the course that isn’t a par 5, with an average score of 2.9 at the 2023 Masters. Just don’t think it’s without risk. Many have found the water in front of them or bequeathed themselves a brutal second shot from the right rear bunker. In 2021, Xander Schauffele had a chance to catch leader Hideki Matsuyama, but he hit him short in the water, ending his chances of winning the green jacket. The Sunday pin is normally located in the back left, where shots to the right of the hole can catch a slope and lead to the pin.