To Hootie Johnson and Augusta National:
I’m excitedly planning on attending the 2006 Masters. I can’t wait to see the world’s most beautiful golf course in person, should my “plans” work out as I hope.
I have some concerns, and a small request for you regarding your course lengthening. I completely understand why you’ve added over 500 yards to Augusta National since 1999. The equipment is better, the ball flies farther and the players are getting physically stronger every year.
When Bobby Jones built Augusta he envisioned specific clubs to be hit into certain holes. He obviously didn’t expect the long knockers of today to be able to hit short irons into par 5’s. He planned many approach shots on par 4’s to be 3 or 4-woods or long irons, but today’s players are hitting wedges. So I completely understand and endorse the lengthening of these types of holes to try to regain the club selection and shot making that the brilliant Bobby Jones envisioned.
Mr. Jones also had specific types of shots in mind for each hole. The fairways and greens slope specific directions to warrant fades from draw lies. Some greens slope opposite of the type of shot that would most commonly be hit from the fairway’s slope, requiring the player to skillfully manufacture a different ball flight than the lie would warrant. It is my hope that your course adjustments are able to bring these shot making requirements back into The Masters.
My concern and request:
The lengthening of the par 4’s and 5’s is understandable. But part of what makes Augusta National so great is it’s par 3’s. My favorite all time golf hole is #12 (pictured). The hole is so simple, but requires the best shot under pressure to put the ball in the proper location. #16 is a close second, where specific ball placement is absolutely crucial. 16 is one of the greatest theaters in golf without a doubt.
To me these are perfect golf holes. These may only be wedges or short irons for today’s players, but they are far from easy. These are not holes that the “bombers” just blast away with their drivers. These holes are “touch” holes. “Touch” seems to be a forgotten concept these days with many courses scrambling to lengthen their holes without so much as a thought about anything else.
The par 3’s at Augusta National do not need to be lengthened or tricked up. Lengthening or changing these holes will not make Augusta National a better golf course. Please do us all a favor and leave the par 3’s alone.
Augusta National #3 Tee (photo by my best friend: Alan Nelson)Augusta National has been lengthened again. This time by another 155 yards. At the current pace, by 2008 this course is going to be 8000 yards!
The official yardage is now 7,445 yards. Get the full story here.
If you want to see more photos of Augusta National, I have 74 of them just like this one in my photo gallery at Web Country Club.
What will we golf bloggers have to blog about for the next couple of months?
The PGA Tour season has ended. Most the other tours have ended or will be ending in the next week or two. There will be a few “hit & giggle” events between now and the end of the year like the Skins Game and Tiger’s event. But essentially any “serious” golf is over for the year.
Some out there are saying that us golf bloggers are going to be scrambling to find something to blog about. I for one will have NO problem finding material. I’ve got tons of reviews in the works on equipment, accessories and golf courses. Plus I have a few “ideas” up my sleeve that I may implement here or at my sister golf site Web Country Club over the Winter months when there’s snow on the ground in these parts. (I pray for very little snow though).
The best thing golf bloggers blog about is each other. Someone out there is always coming up with some good news, equipment nuggets or opinions that are worth linking to. And as long as we are able to hit the links now and then there will aways be war stories to blog about.
I’ve restarted up the old countdown module to help look forward to the 2006 season. It can be found in the left column (but may find it’s way to the right column later).
There are 57 days, 22 hours, and 13 minutes until the 2006 PGA Tour season begins.
There are 148 days, 21 hours, and 13 minutes left until the 2006 Masters!
I haven’t been to the Ping site for a while. I wasn’t really fond of their old format. It was too hard to simply get to their product pages before. The new site looks much better. The flash stuff the sites like Ping, Titleist and Taylormade are doing is awesome.
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