|
 |
 |
Augusta National, USA |
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
 |
|
|
|
| |
|
| Augusta National... The Dream. Fergal O'Leary gets the invite to play Augusta National. Click here to read the story. | Everybody knows that Augusta National Golf Club is home to the Masters. It’s Georgia’s dream course which is located in a dream-like setting and the nearest most of us will get to teeing it up on the 1st is in the depths of our dreams.
Augusta National Golf Club is one of the most exclusive clubs in the world and was designed by the world’s greatest golfer, who teamed up with the world’s greatest architect. Bobby Jones and Alister MacKenzie were the perfect duo to lay down the perfect course.
“The Augusta National is the epitome of the type of course which appeals most keenly to the American taste, the meadowland course.” Wrote Robert Trent Jones in The Complete Golfer. “From tee to green there is nothing but closely cropped green turf. These broad expanses of fairway, punctuated with pines and dotted with flashes of white sand, give Augusta a clean, sprightly appearance. The Jones conception, incarnate in Augusta, was that the course should be a true test of championship golf, but, more than that, that it should be a pleasure for all classes of golfer to play.”
“The Augusta National keeps up with the times. Almost every year, upon the conclusion of the Masters Tournament, and after things have been mulled over, changes are made in one or two holes to increase their playing value. Undoubtedly the two most thorough overhaulings took place on the 11th and the 16th, and my work in developing these two holes has been my loving contribution to Augusta’s greatness. Over a period of years these two holes have been transformed from the easiest par four and the easiest par three on the course to perhaps the most difficult.”
Robert Trent Jones was not the only architect to subtly contribute to the development of Augusta National. Perry Maxwell, George Cobb, Jack Nicklaus and Tom Fazio all shaped the course over the years to fulfil the wish of Bobby Jones for Augusta to remain “eminently playable from the regular tees for the medium and high handicap golfer while simultaneously presenting a stiff examination from the back tees for the low handicap or scratch golfer.”
Magnolia Lane, Rae’s Creek, Eisenhower Tree, colourful azalea, dogwood and redbud, Amen Corner, wickedly fast greens and, of course, the Green Jacket, are all synonymous with the Augusta National. The Masters is the only Major to be played every year on the same course and consequently anyone even remotely interested in golf becomes familiar with the course thanks to extensive TV coverage. Billions of people may feel they know the course but only the lucky few have been fortunate enough to actually play it. If you have somehow managed to befriend a member and take divots out of Augusta’s immaculate fairways, did the course meet your expectations? | |
|
| |
If the above course review article is not accurate, let us know by clicking here |
|
|
|
|
|
 |  | | Average Reviewers Score: |  | | | got to play here as my boss is friends with a member and that i play a lot of golf with my boss we got invited over to Georgia aa a spur of a moment trip and the course is the best best in quality from the moment you pull into the gates, being with a member that play often we greeted some very interesting people and you just knew they were billionaires, the whole place has a buzz and manicured, trrees bushes flowers all perfect and kept after, the course was in best condition, greens fast and i love the pine straw and trees, god this place is golfing heaven and the bbq after was real good too, spent all day up at the club and never wanted to leave. |
|
|
| 28 October 2011
|
Reply
|
| | an excellent course by far the best in the universe!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! |
|
|
| 11 November 2007
|
Reply
|
| | Once in a lifetime! Advice on how to get on the course: go to St. Andrews University, apply to be a Bobby Jones Scholar, go to Emory university in Atlanta for a year of study, work at the US Masters as a gallery guard and then return to play the course in June shortly before it's closed for the summer with a guaranteed tee time (oh, and play the Par 3 course as much as you like and have free run of the clubhouse, including the champions locker room) - I thoroughly recommend it!
The course was immaculate, and the greens every bit as challenging as you expect: BUT I agree that it seems less "true" than the course I remember watching Sandy Lyle, Nick Faldo and the Europeans dominating in the late 80s, early 90s.
My highlight was a birdie on 12 from 10 feet and an up and down from the left hand bunker at 16 for par. The driving feels tighter than I imagined, and the land is far hillier than can be understood from the TV.
Overall I would love to go back (who wouldn't?) to challenge the greens in all their contours all over again - definately the best feature. Oh, and the bar-b-q on the front lawn was excellent as well!! |
|
|
| 09 October 2007
|
Reply
|
| | This is the ultimate golf experience for anyone who grew up watching the likes of Nicklaus, Player and Faldo win the Masters. It is difficult to describe the thrill and anticipation as you stand on the first tee and hit over the valley to the fairway. From the members tees the course is not too intimidating from tee to green, but the greens themselves cannot be imagined in terms of speed and slope. The course as a whole is very hilly and the depth of bunkers cannot be apreciated on TV due to the pure white sand. Holes seldom seen on TV such as the 5th, 6th and 8th are real gems, but nothing can beat walking over the bridge to the par 3 12th. No words can describe the condition of this course even in December when I played, but with little play and being closed for 6 months per year it should be expected. |
|
|
| 15 July 2006
|
Reply
|
| Response: | | | Ortwin Klang | 20 March 2007 | | Too many adjustments to the real design, therefore 5 points with a big minus behind |
| |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
