Best Masters Holes

Anyone Tiger Woods hasn't drilled is fine by me...

 

18 is a tough fucking hole.. narrow driving lane with a dogleg to the right and up a hill. if you don't bend it around you end up with possibly a blind shot to the green. too much and you're in the woods.

16 is my favorite hole to watch the tournament from. Right behind the green, obviously.

 

The postage stamp at 7.

 

There's no risk at 8. If you don't hit the green in two, the worst you can do is have a 30- or 40-yard pitch; granted, the terrain might make it tough to get close for a good birdie try, but nine times out of 10, a pro can take 6 out of the equation.

I don't mind the added length at 11. I'd rather watch this role than the goofy 15th; a par 5 where players can hit driver/7-iron does absolutely nothing for me.

There are lots of places where you can entertained all day just watching players hit one shot (second shot at 7 or 9, tee shot at 16), or try to putt from above the hole, when they end up twice as far from the hole as when they started.

 

People I know who have been lucky enough to play the course, and who are better golfers than myself by far (not that that is a difficult accomplishment) say there's no contest in terms of difficulty. It's 11 followed by 9.
For the tournament golf experience, combining difficulty for the pros and fun for the spectators plus aesthetic beauty, etc., I'd have to go with 12.

 

Personally, I love 10. In the old days most 2nd shots were long irons or woods and the hole was miked to give a "thwack" sound to the approach shots. Certainly the setting helped this effect.
Ken Venturi was great at intoning the importance of the second shot and as we all know 'this (the second nine) is where the Masters is won or lost'. The illusion of the huge fairway bunker is asthetically pleasing/intimidating and the incredibly difficult green make 4 a hell of a score. I doubt it's ever been ranked the hardest hole but I'm sure it's in the top 5 year in and year out.

 

12

 

No. 15 is no longer driver/7-iron. Ernie Els had 255 to the pin Friday and dumped it in the water. Anthony Kim had 250 to the pin also, and I think Mickelson had 227. It's still a fairly easy hole, I would think, by Tour standards, but at least they've put the pond back in play and given the players something to think about.

I think the tee shot at 12 would be my favorite "You get one swing at Augusta" shot, but I've always loved 13 because of the risk/reward and potential for drama on each shot.

 

Tiger had no more than 7 into the green at 15 on Thursday, and one of the marshals there said a few players were just as long. I have no way of going back to find out what club every player used, but I wouldn't be at all surprised if half a dozen players needed only 7/8 in Round 1. Whatever . . . I don't like a par 5 even if it's driver/5-iron. Make 'em hit a fairway wood if they want to try to reach the green in two.

 

Tri, The course was DESIGNED to make the short par-5s on the back nine the fulcrum of every player's round, and therefore, of the Masters. You make not like it, but it is how the course is supposed to work -- as Gene Sarazen's double-eagle proved early on.