Best Masters Holes

[MileHigh]

So many to choose from.

2, a challenging par-5.
3, a great short par-4.
8, a risk-reward par-5.
9, need to get it to the right.
10, long downhill par-4
11, frankly, has been ruined with its length.
12, enough said.
13, another risk-reward par-5.
15, see above
16, another classic.

The last two holes are such a letdown.

For my money, I'll take 13.

As for the worst, I do not like 14 or 17.

 

[slappy4428]

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

 

[MileHigh]

That'd be 3. He tried to drive it in the final round a few years back and, um, spit the bit.

 

[bydesign77]

18 is a tough ****ing 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.

 

[Football_Bat]

The postage stamp at 7.

 

[trifectarich]

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.

 

[Michael_ Gee]

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.

 

[misterbc]

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.

 

[JackReacher]

12

 

[Key]

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.

 

[trifectarich]

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.

 

[Michael_ Gee]

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.

 

[Evil Bastard (aka Chris_L)]

I'll take the 16th. You have a chance to see an Ace or a triple bogey with regularity. Plus no hole is more fun to watch during the practice rounds as players try to skip balls off the water and on to the green (except stuck up prigs like Monty).

 

[93Devil]

18

It might not play well on TV, but it is the perfect finishing hole.

If you pull a driver, the bunker is in play, but you have a slight chance at birdie. Hit the bunker, and your par is a distant memory.

If you pull a three wood off the tee, you need an insane long iron to have a chance at a birdie.

And the five is always on the table.

And the uphill walk makes covering the distance time-wise as long as possible, and gives you more time to catch a case of the yips.

 

[Batman]

That smokin' hot beverage cart girl.
[/TigerWoods]

 

[2underpar]

4 is an incredibly hard par 3.
5 is an incredibly hard par 4.
i thought they ruined 7 by making it longer. That green was a not designed for a mid or long-iron approach.
I thought they ruined 11 by adding trees up the right side and playing it at 505 yards. a birdie there now is an accident.
13 and 15 are genius designs. and even if you have a 7-iron into 15, it's by no means a gimme birdie. If you lay up at 15, it's very easy to suck it back into the water on your third shot.

 

[Chef2]

13 is probably my favorite.

Along with milehigh, I am not a fan of 14 and 17. They just don't seem to have any character. At least from the TV angle, it looks like the holes are carbon copy of each other. But the atmosphere, the sound of the shot from the fairway on 13 make it my favorite.

 

[Pencil Dick]

2 under's is dead right about 5. It probably gets the least TV coverage on the course because of its location and the fact it's sandwiched between two par 3s. But that hole is a brutal par 4.

I'll take 5 and 11 as the toughest on the golf course.

 

[bwright]

Absolutely shocked there weren't more responses along the lines of Slappy's and Batman's. The only reason I opened the thread was expecting some humor.

 

[93Devil]

Absolutely shocked there weren't more responses along the lines of Slappy's and Batman's. The only reason I opened the thread was expecting some humor.

Jim Nance agrees.