GolfDigest.com – Collision Course
Golf Digest has a scathing report of the changes to Augusta in Collision Course.
After doing anything almost 70 times, it’s normal to wish for at least one do-over. But in that many years of preparing its course for the Masters, the tournament has never ended with the Augusta National Golf Club in clear need of the imaginary mulligan. When it comes to setting up the game’s ultimate competitive arena, Augusta always seems to get things right.
Because the course is a shrine, the club’s major projects–like converting the greens from Bermuda to bent grass 25 years ago, creating a second cut in 1999 and adding 285 yards in 2002–have all provoked much hand-wringing. So it was predictable after the club lengthened six holes by a total of 155 yards for this year’s Masters that old heads would decry the defilement and current players would assert that fewer of them had a chance to win.
But with each overhaul, the Masters has proved it runs the best laboratory in golf. Chairman Hootie Johnson might have the final say on course decisions, but a very thoughtful if publicly silent brain trust–conspicuously devoid of ex-champions–painstakingly guides the process. When it comes to the world’s best golfers, Augusta knows them better than they know themselves.
Of course, it’s possible the club has gone too far by perpetrating the two longest expansions in its history within five years. Tiger Woods thinks the latest changes will be fair if conditions are dry. “But if it’s soaked again,” he warns, alluding to the rain that has plagued the tournament the past four years, “I think that eliminates a lot of guys who have the skill to play but just don’t hit the ball far enough.”
From the looks of it, Augusta has not been “Tiger-proofed”, but instead has been made more “Tiger-friendly”. I’m a big Tiger fan, but I’d prefer that the course be kept to play the way it was originally invented, and not made so only long hitters can win.