AUGUSTA – HOLE BY HOLE

• March 28, 2008

Hole-by-hole guide to Augusta National, with how the course played in last year’s Masters and what Zach Johnson scored to win.

Hole-by-hole guide to Augusta National, with how the course played in last year’s Masters (key to rank: 1=hardest, 18=easiest) and what Zach Johnson scored to win:
1st (Tea Olive), 455 yards, par four: No easy opener – Stuart Appleby double-bogeyed it when he took a one-stroke lead into the final day a year ago and Tiger Woods putted off the green in the first hole of his first Masters. The tee was moved back 15-20 yards in 2005, but it is the green which causes most problems.
2007 average: 4.47 (rank 2). Johnson: 5-4-4-5
2nd (Pink Dogwood), 575 yards, par five: Big hitters come into their own here, providing they do not stray into the trees or, even worse, the ditch down the left. As at the first, a bunker lies in wait on the right, while for the approach long or left are bad again. Nick Faldo once holed a 100-foot eagle putt on this treacherous green.
2007 average: 4.77 (rank 17). Johnson: 4-4-5-4
3rd (Flowering Peach), 350 yards, par four: Shortest par four on the course and a real teaser. Ask Woods – a double-bogey in 2003 put him out of the hunt. The pear-shaped green with steep slope in front allows for some wicked pin placings. It was here that Jeff Maggert hit himself playing out of a bunker when leading.
2007 average: 4.13 (rank 13). Johnson: 4-3-4-3
4th (Flowering Crab Apple), 240 yards, par three: After being unchanged since 1964 the back tee – not always used – went back 30-35 yards two years ago and turned it into a real beast. The green, guarded by sand, slopes from back to front. There has only ever been one hole-in-one, by Jeff Sluman in 1992.
2007 average: 3.41 (rank 4). Johnson: 3-3-3-3
5th (Magnolia), 455 yards, par four: Jack Nicklaus twice holed his second shot in 1995. The fairway bunkers down the left have been enlarged, making it more of a dogleg. It’s a 315-yard carry over them. Another devilishly difficult green. Winner Zach Johnson bogeyed it three times last year.
2007 average: 4.31 (rank 8). Johnson: 4-5-5-5
6th (Juniper), 180 yards, par three: From an elevated tee down to a vast green with a huge slope in it. Jose Maria Olazabal took seven in 1991 and lost by one to Ian Woosnam. Chris DiMarco achieved the fourth hole-in-one here in 2004, but many are delighted just to par it.
2007 average: 3.18 (rank 12). Johnson: 3-3-3-3
7th (Pampas), 450 yards, par four: What used to be a real birdie chance had 35-40 yards added two years ago. Trees were also added and the green reshaped to allow for a new rear right pin position. Since last year the green has been further changed on the left and two or three extra pin placements can now be used.
2007 average: 4.29 (rank 10). Johnson: 4-4-4-4
8th (Yellow Jasmine), 570 yards, par 5: The bunker on the right, about 300 yards out, pushes players left and from there it’s harder to make the green in two up the steep hill, but it regularly plays as the easiest hole on the course. Bruce Devlin scored an albatross two in 1967.
2007 average: 4.76 (rank 18). Johnson: 4-4-5-4
9th (Carolina Cherry), 460 yards, par four: The tee was pushed back 30 yards in 2002, leaving a longer approach to a raised green which tilts sharply from the back. Anything rolling off the front can continue down for 50-60 yards, but that is less likely this year as the right side of the green has been made less severe.
2007 average: 4.13 (rank 14). Johnson: 4-4-5-4
10th (Camellia), 495 yards, par four: A huge drop from tee to green and a big right-to-left shot required to get the maximum run. One of the tougher greens to hit and over all the years of the Masters the most difficult hole. Mike Weir won with a bogey in the 2003 play-off with Len Mattiace.
2007 average: 4.37 (rank 6). Johnson: 5-4-4-4
11th (White Dogwood), 505 yards, par four: A real tough hole made even more demanding two years ago with the tee moved back 10-15 yards, trees added down the right and the fairway shifted left. Water front and left makes for real drama. Tiger Woods broke a club playing from behind a tree last year.
2007 average: 4.51 (rank 1). Johnson: 4-5-5-4
12th (Golden Bell), 155 yards, par three: Probably the most famous par three in golf. Narrow target, water in front, trouble at the back, it’s seen everything from a one (three times) to Tom Weiskopf’s 13 in 1980. The wind plays all sorts of tricks and Seve Ballesteros said the key is always knowing when to hit.
2007 average: 3.40 (rank 5). Johnson: 3-3-4-3
13th (Azalea), 510 yards, par five: Massive dogleg left where scores have ranged from Jeff Maggert’s albatross two in 1994 to Tommy Nakajima’s 13 in 1978. Rae’s Creek runs down the left and then in front of the green. The perfect example of a risk-reward hole, but Johnson played safe and still made three birdies.
2007 average: 4.84 (rank 16). Johnson: 4-4-5-4
14th (Chinese Fir), 440 yards, par four: No bunkers, but three putts are common on a green which is one of the most testing in golf. Joint course record holder Nick Price took eight here in 1993, but there have also been 14 eagle twos, including one by Tiger Woods in 2006.
2007 average: 4.32 (rank 7). Johnson: 4-4-4-3
15th (Firethorn), 530 yards, par five: The tee has gone back and left, making it a tougher decision whether to go for the green in two across the pond on the hole where Gene Sarazen sank his 235-yard four-wood shot for an albatross in 1935. It became known as “the shot heard round the world”.
2007 average: 4.98 (rank 15). Johnson: 4-5-4-5
16th (Redbud), 170 yards, par three: The hole always to be associated with Woods’ chip-in in 2005, while Padraig Harrington is one of 11 players to have aced it. There was also Billy Casper’s record 14 three years ago – the 73-year-old put five balls in the lake for the highest score on any of the holes in Masters history.
2007 average: 3.30 (rank 9). Johnson: 4-4-4-2
17th (Nandina), 440 yards, par four: A new tee in 2005 added 10-15 yards. While the Eisenhower Tree in front of the tee is a famous feature it does not really come into play much. Control of the second shot determines success or failure and there is no such thing as an easy putt by this stage.
2007 average: 4.21 (rank 11). Johnson: 4-5-4-5
18th (Holly), 465 yards, par four: The drive through an avenue of trees was made much harder when the tee was moved back 60 yards in 2002. The fairway bunker from which Sandy Lyle got up and down to win in 1988 is now 300 yards away. The entire hole plays steeply uphill and can wreck a good day’s work.
2007 average: 4.42 (rank 3). Johnson: 4-5-4-4