Players differ over alterations
Mostly dry week offers a different perspective
For the first time since most of the major changes were made to Augusta National Golf Club, players got a chance to see the course play as officials had hoped - hard, fast and dry.
Full Story | See hole 3
Course Tour
Visit your favorite hole at the Augusta National above or take an interactive tour of the Masters course below.
More Masters Headlines
Today
Fans stake early claims for good spots at No. 18
This week, the hoopla has focused on Arnold Palmer's 50th consecutive and final appearance at the Masters Tournament.
Room offers champions quiet time
The room isn't that big, and the oak lockers are small. The furnishings are comfortable but modest.
Yesterday
- Short third hole playing small in '04
- Rain could affect fast greens today
- A Jones Cabin visit can be surreal
Saturday
- Behind the scenes: Changes to course take toll on rallies
- Elements, pins cause more course confusion
- Caddies have their own retreat
Friday
Thursday
Wednesday
Tuesday
Monday
- Finally, course will get dry run
- Behind the scenes: Paying a higher price for practice
- Magnolia Lane is reserved for few
- Masters trivia quiz
Sunday
Course Tour
Augusta National
Interactive course tour
Though Augusta National is steeped in tradition, change on the golf course has always been part of the plan. Take an interactive tour of the Masters course at Augusta National to see what's new.
Hole No. 1 - Tea Olive
Tee shots can easily find trouble either in the right bunker or in the trees to the left. Changes made before the 2002 tournament force players who used to use a wedge or 9-iron to take two or three more clubs on the approach.
Hole No. 2 - Dogwood
This second hole is a dogleg left, reachable in two by the longest drivers. For the shorter hitters, it's one of the more difficult drives. Many players will choose a 3-wood to help avoid the left bunker on their first shot, while large, deep greenside bunkers take special attention on the second shot.
Hole No. 3 - Flowering Peach
The shortest par 4 hole with a small L-shaped table-top green that requires the utmost delicacy with the approach shot. The tough pin position is on the left, the arm of the "L."
Hole No. 4 - Flowering Crabapple
A fine one-shot hole that can require a wood shot from even the long hitters. The green is wide. A shot sent to the wrong side of the green can leave a putt as long as 75 or 80 feet.
Hole No. 5 - Magnolia
Now measuring an extra 20 yards for the 2003 tournament, the bunkers on No. 5 were also moved right and 80 yards forward. Players now must aim farther right off the tee, leaving longer approaches to a green that features a large hump in front. Should a player hit his drive left, the bunkers are deep enough that it will be difficult to reach the green, and new trees planted along the left further penalize an errant drive.
Hole No. 6 - Juniper
An elevated tee looks down on this hole with a giant hump at the right of the green. The pin position at the top of the hump is one of the most difficult on the course.
Hole No. 7 - Pampas
Trees line both sides of fairway of this hole, the tightest on the course. A large tree between the tee and the No. 6 green creates a narrow chute for the players' first shots. After changes made before the 2002 tournament, players now take more than a sand wedge for their second shot to a small, well-guarded green.
Hole No. 8 - Yellow Jasmine
Only the longest hitters can get home in two, and they face a tough route. Since trees block the way to the green from the left side of the fairway, players have to flirt with the bunker on the right in order to reach the green in two.
Hole No. 9 - Carolina Cherry
Trees on the right can catch errant drives, especially since the ground slopes to the right. On their second shot, players have to consider the greenside bunkers. Then, they face a green severly sloping from back to front.
Hole No. 10 - Camelia
The fairway encourages a drawn tee shot which can kick off the hill and produce tremendously long drives. A drive hit too far to the right can require long second shots off a slanted lie.
Hole No. 11 - White Dogwood
The first of the water holes. The tee shot is through a very long chute, but once players reach the landing area it's wide open. More than length, the course demands accuracy off the tee, or the second shot becomes a perilous introduction to Amen Corner.
Hole No. 12 - Golden Bell
The shortest and maybe the deadliest of them all. The narrow, canted green is guarded by Rae's Creek and threatens not the easiest of shots in the little pitch across the water after your tee shot splashed into the creek. A shot from one trap at the back toward the water is one of the more frightening shots in tournament golf.
Hole No. 13 - Azalea
The hole is jealously guarded by a little creek that runs along the left side of the fairway before crossing just in front of the green and running past it to the right. Tee shots need to be hit long and straight just to reach the bend of this dogleg left. Many players face a difficult decision of whether to go for the green in two from a long distance.
Hole No. 14 - Chinese Fir
A fairly straight hole -- the only one on the course with no bunkers -- with trouble on the putting surface. This hole has one of the most difficult greens on the course, with a large hump running across the front it -- definitely three-putt country.
Hole No. 15 - Fire Thorn
The hole on which Gene Sarazen made his famous double-eagle in 1935. The landing area presents one large mound and several smaller ones, reducing the width to only 30 yards. A straight tee shot can allow long hitters who evade the mounds to try to reach the green in two, flying over the pond immediately in front of the putting surface.
Hole No. 16 - Redbud
Fairway? What fairway -- it's all water. The green has a small, back neck that protrudes left into the water. When the pin is there, it takes a desparate golfer to shoot for it. Also to watch out for - the bunkers to the right of the sloping green.
Hole No. 17 - Nandina
A large ever-growing tree, the Eisenhower Pine, stands sentinel on the left side of the fairway. The green slopes off toward the back, making it nearly impossible to hold an approach carried past the center of the green.
Hole No. 18 - Holly
This stern test requires 330 yards -- uphill -- to carry the bunkers on the left. Players face a second shot uphill to a green difficult to hold with a longer iron. Need a par to win The Masters? Play hard. Need a birdie? Good luck.
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