Every year, it’s so exciting when The Masters rolls round. It's something that never changes no matter how old you are of how many events you've watched at Augusta National.
One of the great things about having a Major Championship staged on the same course every years in that viewers build up a strong knowledge bank of Augusta’s holes – great moments, horror shows, likes and dislikes.
There are no bad holes in this idyllic corner of Georgia, that's evident. But could some be better? If you were in charge, what changes would you make?
It's a question I've asked myself countless times over the years, and I was fortunate enough to actually attend The Masters in 2017 to see Sergio Garcia defeat Justin Rose in a play-off.
Here, I’ve listed my five favourite and five least favourite holes at Augusta. It’s worth reiterating again that I don’t think those in the ‘least favourite’ category are bad – they merely don’t excite me as much as the others. Feel free to disagree and leave a comment!
My favourite 5
The 12th
What is there to say about the 12th? It’s a wedge or 9-iron for most players – and a scoring club for everyone in the field – but every single player would bite your hand off for four pars. That tells you all you need to know about the difficulty of the hole.
From the tee, the green looks impossibly shallow and the shaved bank running down to Rae’s Creek appears as steep as Everest. I’d also challenge you to find a more beautiful spot from which to hit a golf shot.
The 13th
The 13th is quite simply one of the most iconic par 5s in world golf, and unlike the 15th, things can go disastrously wrong off the tee if you’re not careful. If you do find the fairway, you’ll face a long-iron or fairway wood approach from an uneven lie to a green fronted by a tributary of Rae’s Creek.
What I love about the 11th, 12th, 13th and 15th is that you can make anything from a 2 to a 10. Every shot is dramatic and one bad swing can completely derail your title challenge. It’s pure theatre. No course has a better six-hole stretch than 10-15 at Augusta.
The 15th
Of all the par 5s at Augusta, the 15th is my favourite. I love holes where you just have to stand up and hit a good golf shot; where miscues are severely punished. One great swing can change the entire course of a tournament (see Sergio Garcia in 2017), but one bad one can be disastrous (see Garcia in 2018!).
What’s more, players often decide to go for the green in two when they’re in two minds. Why? If you lay up, the third shot is played with a wedge from a steeply downhill lie.
You don’t see too many birdies from lay ups and spinning back into the water is a real possibility. There’s also water long if you catch it a bit thin. It’s a fantastic golf hole.
The 11th
There’s nothing quite like the sight of your favourite player appearing over the crest of the hill, ready to take on arguably the most daunting approach shot in golf.
There’s just no margin for error with a long-iron in hand, playing towards a green with a magnetic pond to the right (watching players who miss right off the tee punching shots with right-to-left spin through a channel of trees is great, too).
Players also know bailing out right presents a really difficult downhill chip towards water (and potentially over sand depending on the pin position), so the pond is very much in play.
Double-bogeys are common, birdies are rare and par is a really good score – that’s my kind of golf hole! It's gripping.
The 9th
I really like the 7th and 2nd holes and I thought about putting them here, but the 9th takes it. The drive is exciting, as is watching people hit out of the trees when they've strayed too far left or right, and the approach is one of the best on the course.
The tiered green makes for some interesting pin positions and, perhaps sadistically, I enjoy watching players spin off the front of the green when they're trying to access the front flag.
My least favourite five
The 17th
It’s fair to say I’m not a fan of the 17th hole. I think it’s the obvious weak link on the back nine and no match for what comes before it. It’s not bad by any stretch of the imagination, but I think the penultimate hole of a Major Championship – especially one that’s staged at the same course each year – should offer more.
I know there are subtle differences – like the bunkers around the green – but the 14th and 17th are very similar and I don’t think it’s ideal to have them both within the space of four holes. For me, the 17th is the worst hole on the golf course.
The 14th
Well, I’ve already mentioned the 14th, so I might as well talk about it next. Again, it’s not a bad hole, it’s just similar to another one on the back nine and is probably a victim of its position on the scorecard. To be fair, any hole sandwiched between the 13th and 15th would struggle to live up to those famous par 5s.
I do like the interesting green complex and the fact it has no bunkers gives the hole a unique identity, but for me, it lacks the ‘wow’ factor possessed by most other holes on the back nine.
The 4th
In general, I'm not a huge fan of a long par 3 and Augusta's 4th falls into that category. It's actually better when they push the tee up, giving players a mid-iron instead of a long-iron or hybrid.
It also doesn't help that it's tucked in a corner of the course without much spectator presence. It's not bad, and I do enjoy watching player attempt to get up-and-down from the bunkers, but it's not wildly exciting.
The 1st
I'm prepared to cut the 1st some slack because it's the opening hole, and it's a cool sight watching players tee off near the clubhouse and stride up the steep fairway towards the bunker on the right.
From the approach onwards, it doesn't really do much for me, however. A left miss just means a pitch out or a low punch towards the green and fewer people seem to miss right than you'd expect. There's a sole bunker by the green and it all feels fairly predictable.
The 18th
This might be a controversial inclusion in the list, but I think the closing hole on the best golf course in the world should be stronger.
It's fun to watch players thread the needle off the tee and I like holes where there's real pressure on the tee shot; where a good drive provides a good birdie change and a bad one makes a bogey more likely than par.
But I'm not a huge fan of semi-blind uphill approaches and I have a real issue with the Sunday pin position. It absolutely should not sit in a bowl.
