Letter from Augusta: Longer Par 5 an issue for Shane Lowry but not Rory McIlroy
MASTERS CHANGES: Shane Lowry of Ireland laughs on the second green during a practice round prior to the 2023 Masters Tournament. Photo by Patrick Smith/Getty Images.
Among the Masters traditions unlike any other is spotting all the changes and enhancements to the course and grounds thanks to a seemingly bottomless well of funds at Augusta National Golf Club’s disposal. There is a lot to take in this year.
The only announced significant course change involves the par-5 second hole – Pink Dogwood. The tee box was moved 10 yards further back and slightly to the golfer’s left, requiring a little more shape to drives to avoid the fairway bunkers on the right side where the hole doglegs left down the hill.
The added yardage brings the official total for the course to 7,555 yards – 630 yards long than it was in 1997 when Tiger Woods won his first Masters.
“I know it’s 10 yards back, but thought it was going to be more left,” said Will Zalatoris.
“In reality, I think it’s more the fact that carrying the bunker is completely out of play with the exception of about four or five guys in the field. Used to maybe say 10 percent of the guys could do it. Now it’s maybe a bit more.
“I think now it’s really a premium of hitting that fairway with the driver, you’ll have an iron in. If you are back at the top of the hill, you’re just not going to get there?”
Said Shane Lowry: “Funny, I was here last week and I wasn’t playing with Rory. He was out at a different time. I asked him, ‘Can you carry that bunker?’ And he says, ‘Yeah,’ and I’m like f--- hell. I certainly can’t.
"I remember there was a couple of times last year when I could carry that bunker but I definitely can’t this year.
“I’ll go back to where I played it a couple of years ago where I lay back and try to hit a shot right of the bunker and hit a 5-wood down there and try to make birdie that way.”
Lowry said a different unpublicized change might have a larger impact this week – a reshaped sixth green with two new potential pin positions back right and left. It’s the back right shelf that poses the biggest challenge, with a steeper drop off behind the green.
“The back right of 6 green is different,” he said. “There’s a new spot back right on 6 and back left and there’s more of a run-off back right on 6 so if you hit it long of the green it’s a lot harder shot. When the pin was back right on 6, you’d usually go right at it and if you went over it was fine. But now if you’re over the green it’s very tricky.”
One of the biggest patron enhancements is the newly installed “hub” between the eighth and 18th holes – with expanded concessions, bathrooms, a boutique golf shop as well as tables, shade trees and a stone sitting wall for fans to get refreshed and rest.
To make room for those new facilities, the stone records water fountain was moved from behind the grandstands at the 17th green to adjacent the practice range along the road coming from the patrons’ entrance.
Across Washington Road from the water tower at the back of the practice range is a new hospitality facility called Map & Flag, an alternative to the exclusive Berckman’s Place for folks with a spare $17,000 for a weekly badge – according to a report in Sports Business Journal.
There has been a traffic light added on Washington Road for Map & Flag patrons to cross the busy road, but in 2025 there will be a tunnel underneath the busiest thoroughfare in Augusta for them to be shuttled to and from the course.
The biggest rumored change coming in 2025 is a new underground parking garage built below the practice range. Augusta is expected to tear up its first-class practice ground this summer and install a hidden garage to accommodate all of the players and caddies for the tournament, then rebuild the practice range back on top of it.
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