Things Are Getting Rough After Changes at Augusta

AUGUSTA, Ga. —  Since they started keeping statistics at the Masters, way back when Rae’s Creek was just a drip, the second easiest hole at Augusta National has been the very friendly second.

It’s called Pink Dogwood, because all of Augusta National’s holes are named, but this particular one has had no bark and no bite.

It’s a 575-yard picnic, a pooch of a hole, a dogleg left that does everything except roll over on its backside and beg you to scratch its belly.

The way to play No. 2 has usually gone this way: driver, iron, eagle. Players blew over the fairway bunker. The only trouble has been the trees down the left side and you don’t want to hit it there, the place that Ben Crenshaw describes as the Delta ticket office.

If No. 2 were any easier, the players would simply skip it, everybody would write down a 4 and move on.

Not anymore.

Yes, they’ve toughened up No. 2 . . . and No. 11 . . . and No. 15 . . . and No. 17, not to mention grown about an inch and a half of rough, just in time for this week’s Masters. Bobby Jones and Cliff Roberts are probably having a really good belly-laugh right about now.

No, Augusta National didn’t like it too much when Tiger Woods took the place apart in 1997 with his record 18-under-par 270. It was time to make the place a little more menacing.

Take No. 2, for instance. The fairway bunker on the right side is a problem again. It used to be about 300 yards to carry the thing, which is not a problem for guys who hit it like Woods or a lot of his peers. The bunker has been moved farther right to make itself even more of a nuisance.

And the tee has been set back 25 yards, which means a drive must travel 325 yards to carry the bunker.

Now that’s likely to make a few players very uncomfortable.

The Masters people hope so. They have their own considerations.

“We’re comfortable with our golf course,” said Masters chairman William “Hootie” Johnson.

The new chairman, who succeeded Jack Stephens, helped oversee the projects to make Augusta National stand up to assaults from bigger, stronger players and better, modern equipment.

It’s not exactly a secret, Johnson said.

“Part of our rationale for these changes is that these young men are hitting the ball a lot longer,” he said.

“We wanted to put the bunker back in play. It makes sense. [Before], it just looked like a pretty white spot down the fairway.”

Mark O’Meara said that pretty white spot is destined to make a big difference.

“You won’t have as many guys knocking it on in two as you’ve had in years past,” he said.

But that’s far from the only change at Augusta National.

* No. 11: In 1990, a heavy rainstorm caused Rae’s Creek to wash out the 11th green. The course’s dam system allowed for a 10-year flood, but it’s being replaced with a 100-year flood system.

To achieve this, the 11th green has been raised two feet and the nearby pond has been raised a foot. The green is bigger. What’s more, new (and dangerous) pin placements on the back left of the green are now possible.

* No. 15: Fairway mounds that were Roberts’ idea, to help the sight lines for spectators, have been lowered. Clusters of pine trees have replaced them.

* No. 17: The tee has been moved back 25 yards (the par-four hole is listed at 425 yards). Players who are accustomed to blasting the ball over the Eisenhower tree might find that more difficult. The pine trees between 15 and the fairway are to be reckoned with.

There have been 69 significant changes to the holes at Augusta National over the years, mainly to make the course play longer in the modern age. It’s interesting to note that Augusta National remeasured itself after its latest changes and has officially grown from 6,925 yards to 6,985 yards.

O’Meara said what has happened at Augusta is going to force more players to be more accurate and that’s not really such a bad thing.

“It’s just a matter of hitting the ball well,” O’Meara said. “A lot has been talked about at Augusta National about the length of the course and is it made for a power hitter.

“No one would have thought at the beginning of the 1998 Masters that I would shoot nine-under and win. So it is also about putting. I mean, you’ve got to putt well. That’s the whole secret.”

Except for the bigger green at No. 11, the greens remain the same. That is to say they are as hard as a runway, faster than the pole-sitter at Daytona and allergic to golf balls.

In short, the greens are as diabolical as ever. That’s going to make everybody happy.

So if the course is longer, the greens ridiculously difficult, four holes made harder and the pressure greater, what more is there to do? How about growing some rough?

At this place, it’s referred to as the “second cut,” but some players may find it the unkindest cut of all. One of the great things about Augusta National is that you could hit it almost anywhere off the tee and not get penalized because the fairways were pretty wide and there wasn’t any rough.

Well, there’s rough now.

Woods says it’s going to be a problem, even though the rough measures only 1 3/8 inches.

“An inch makes a lot of difference in how the ball is going to come out,” he said. “You have to judge it, make sure you line the ball properly. I think you’re going to see more guys land the ball a little shorter if they are in the rough.”

So here are the new trouble spots at the Masters: on the tee, in the rough, on the green. Other than that, everybody is presumably home free.

This is the way they take care of business around here. Woods’ record score broke the one first set by Jack Nicklaus 32 years before. The way things are going, it may be another 32 before anybody gets close again.

Johnson probably said it best: “We think we have a pretty challenging golf course.”

The Masters

When: Thursday through Sunday

Where: Augusta National Golf Club (par 72-6,985 yards)

Defending champion: Mark O’Meara

Television: Live coverage on USA network on Thursday and Friday. Channel 2 on Saturday and Sunday

A look at some of the changes to four holes at Augusta National Golf Club for the 63rd Masters:

2

Par 5 575

Tee moved back about 25 yards, bringing the fairway bunker on the right into play. Not many will be able to catch the sharp slope in the fairway for extra distance that will make the green reachable in two. Two bunkers in front of the green.

****

11

Par 4 455

Tee shot is out of narrow chute to open fairway. Approach from the right gives better view of green, which has water on the left.

****

15

Par 5 500

Mounds on right side of fairway have been flattened and now hold 20 pine trees which could severely penalize any errant tee shot. Slight mound on the right of the green has been removed and six pine trees planted. Still can be reached in two, but second shot is over a pond.

****

17

Par 4 425

Tee box moved back 25 yards, making the Eisenhower tree come into play. Only choice is a draw around the tree or a low tee shot under it. Landing area is uphill. Green fronted by two bunkers and has a slight crown that makes it difficult to hold.