Masters champions weigh in on move to November

The 84th Masters, if contested as now scheduled on Nov. 9-15, truly will be a tradition unlike any other. The Masters has been played in April every year apart from the inaugural event in 1934, which ended in late March. How will Augusta National play differently than it typically does in April? Who will it favor? Well, several Masters champions have weighed in with insights and perspective that only those who have mastered its fairways and greens could know. We asked Freddie, Gentle Ben, the Golden Bear and more.

Masters Champions

Fred Couples, 1992

Fred Couples getting help putting on the green jacket from 1991 masters champion Ian Woosnam. Couples won the tournament at -13 under par. (Photo by Focus on Sport/Getty Images)

I’ve only gone to Augusta once other than getting in there on the Sunday before the Masters and it was the end of November. We teed off at 8 a.m. and I hit driver, 2 iron into the first green. The next day it was cold and windy and I needed a rescue. So, I’m not sure what the weather will be like in early November, but I will say this, the greens were unreal and as good as any Masters I ever played. The fairways were a little thin, but we’re talking Augusta, usually it’s an 11 out of a 10 when we play. I don’t think it will touch 70 degrees, so it will play extremely long and be a unique situation.

Ben Crenshaw, 1984, 1995

Ben Crenshaw became the oldest second-time Masters winner when he triumphed in 1995 at 43 years, 2 months and 29 days old. (AP photo)

“I’m elated to hear the announcement [that the Masters is planned for the fall],” Crenshaw said on Sirius XM Radio’s PGA Tour Network this week. “I have [played Augusta National in November] but it is hit or miss to know what the weather could be like. I know one thing, you’ll see different blooms on the golf course. … What I would not like to see is wet conditions.  The most interesting conditions are dry and fast. If the temperature goes down a little bit, if it gets a little cool and gets a little breezy and dry, then you could really have something interesting.”

Trevor Immelman, 2008

Zach Johnson, the 2007 Masters champion, puts the green jacket on Trevor Immelman during the green jacket presentation after the final round of the Masters at Augusta National Golf Club. (Photo by C. Aluka Berry/The State/MCT via Getty Images)

“If we just had to put the golf course in a bubble, so to speak, I think the golf course itself won’t play all that differently. They have ways to be able to control from an agronomy standpoint the types of moisture and exactly what’s going on.

The massive wild card is going to be Mother Nature. You look at the average temperatures in April, you’re looking at the 70s. You’re looking in November, it’s in the lower 60s. And so that change in temperature along with the possibility of that northerly wind that can blow is going to be the big difference.

So many things are going to — holes are going to play differently. The 1st hole is going to play a lot longer. You look at 17 and 18, you’re going to be coming into some kind of breeze. And I think the biggest difference from a playability standpoint is you look at the par-5s, three of the four par-5s with a northerly wind will have some kind of breeze into, and so maybe not the same amount of birdies and eagles as what we’re used to when we have nice warm weather in April.

But then on the flip side, you’re going to have some of the other traditionally tougher holes that are going to have some help from that northerly wind. You’re looking at the hardest on the golf course last year was the 5th hole. That’s now going to have the chance to play downwind. Nos. 10, 11, 12, so that start of Amen Corner, that’s all going to be coming downwind, so those holes may play a little bit shorter.

But all in all, I do think playing it in November, and I’ve done that many times, the scoring won’t quite be as low as what we’re used to over the last few years.”

Jack Nicklaus, 1963, 1965, 1966, 1972, 1975, 1986

Tiger Woods And Jack Nicklaus at the Champions Dinner of The 2002 Masters Tournament (Photo by Augusta National/Getty Images)

“I didn’t expect the Masters to even be played. I didn’t think it could be adjusted to it,” Nicklaus said on Golf Channel’s “Morning Drive.” “But to be played in November is obviously better than no Masters.

“The golf course will be especially overseeded, unless they decide to wait until after the Masters to overseed it. So the playing conditions will be different. Obviously, it won’t have any flowers. But the greens will be fine, and the Masters will be good.”

Nicklaus also predicted that a November Masters would favor World No. 1 Rory McIlroy in his bid to complete to the career Grand Slam. “He seems to play better in the fall. As you know, he’s won the Tour Championship a couple times. Played in Atlanta, very similar conditions. I think this scheduling will be to Rory’s favor.”