A-Z of The Masters

On the 2nd playoff hole in 2012, Bubba Watson bent his approach shot from the trees at the par-4 10th hole to 15 feet.

In Bubba’s own words “My thought process was never how tough this shot was, my thought process was let’s hook this 40 yards and hit it on the green and let’s two putt and make par. I hooked a 52 deg wedge off pine straw where you could easily slip.

For me it was easily a top 10 shot I’ve ever hit, to pull it off at that moment made it number 1 and to put on the green jacket made it number 1.”

It was Ben Hogan who first suggested and hosted the initial Champions Dinner in 1952. The idea is simple – the previous year’s champion gets to choose a menu for a meal for all of the previous winners on the Tuesday night. Over the years meals have included haggis from Sandy Lyle in 1989, paella from José María Olazábal in 1995, cheeseburgers from Tiger Woods in 1998 and elk and wild boar from Mike Weir in 2004.

However the former champions aren’t forced to eat what the defending champion selects. If the current champ’s taste isn’t the same as the other Masters winners then they can choose off Augusta National’s normal menu.

Current Champion Rory McIlroy's menu is an elegant, globe-trotting affair: Irish home cooking meets New York fine dining meets Georgia farmland, with a wine list that would make a sommelier weep with joy.

It's hard to fault it. The Irish champ is a beautiful personal touch; the elk sliders are brilliantly unexpected and the wine list is, frankly, obscene in the best possible way. Drinking the bottle of Lafite he toasted his Grand Slam win with, alongside a dessert wine from the year he was born, is the kind of storytelling that makes a dinner unforgettable.

At the age of 46 Jack Nicklaus was reaching the end of his very successful career as a professional golfer. So there weren’t many who were even considering the Golden Bear as a serious contender to take the title.

His victory from four shots back will always go down as one of the Masters greatest ever moments. He played the final ten holes in seven-under, which included an eagle-birdie-birdie run on the 15th, 16th and 17th holes.

This was to be Nicklaus’ 18th and final Major victory.

The 12th hole was described by Jack Nicklaus as “the most difficult par-3 in tournament golf”. Measuring just 155 yards, it plays over the dreaded Rae’s Creek and is made trickier by the swirling wind, which makes it very difficult to choose the right club.

The highest score ever made at Augusta during The Masters was on this hole when Tom Wisekopf took a 13!

The 10th hole, Camellia, is officially the hardest of the 18 holes at Augusta. The 495-yard par 4 has an average score of 4.31!

The shortest hole on the course, the 12th checks in at 3.28 shots per hole. The two “easiest” on the course are the par-5’s 15th and 13th which score 4.78 and 4.79 respectively.

After returning from a walk through the woods on the eastern section of the grounds at Augusta National, the then, General Eisenhower informed Chairman Clifford Roberts that he had discovered the ideal place to build a dam if the club would like a fish pond. Ike’s Pond was built and the dam located exactly where Eisenhower had recommended it should be.

Ike’s Pond gets the spotlight every year during the Masters Par-3 Contest, which concludes on holes that play around the pond.

Those golfers of a left-handed persuasion have had superb success since Canadian Mike Weir became the first “lefty” to win The Masters in 2003. This was immediately followed by Phil Mickelson’s victory in 2004, 2006 and then 2010. In 2012, Bubba Watson became the third left-handed golfer to lay claim to a green jacket.

The Augusta layout favours a right-to-left shape, and as it’s easier for a “lefty” to control a fade than it is for a “righty” to control a draw it makes sense that a left-hander might find the course slightly easier that their right-handed counterparts.

The Golden Bear has won more Masters than anyone else. The first of six came in 1963 and he was presented with his final Green Jacket an unbelievable 23 years later in 1986, when he also became the oldest ever Major winner, aged 46.

He also managed 16 top-10 finishes and made the last of his competitive appearances at Augusta in 2005. He is now an Honorary Starter, along with Player and Palmer.

34 is the number of aces that have taken place during the Masters event: one at the 4th, six at the 6th, three at the 12th and 24 at the 16th.

Ross Somerville made the first at the 16th in 1934 and the most recent was by Stewart Cink in 2022 & Tommy Fleetwood in 2021.

2004 saw both Padraig Harrington and Kirk Triplett hole their tee shots on 16 in consecutive groups.

The Par-3 Course is the site of the annual Par-3 Contest, which takes place on the Wednesday of Masters Week. The “little course” was designed by George Cobb and Clifford Roberts, opening for play in 1958 and hosting the Par-3 Contest since 1960.

Today the 9-hole, par-27 layout measures 1,060 yards. Winning the Par-3 Contest is seen as somewhat of a jinx as no winner has gone on to win the Green Jacket the same year.

94 Aces have been seen in the history of the contest and it has been won a total of three times by Irishman Padraig Harrington.

Don’t expect any “Get in the hole’s” or “Mashed Potato” shouts and screams at Augusta, the Patrons (at Augusta, they’re called Patrons, not fans) are always on best behaviour and all are proper golf enthusiasts.

However don’t get the impression that the crowd won’t show any passion. In 1986 en-route to a memorable victory the Golden Bear went eagle-birdie-birdie on holes 15, 16 and 17, setting off what might just have been the loudest gallery roars in the history of golf.

The par-3 16th measures 170 yards but can require anything from a short to medium iron dependent on the wind.

The traditional Sunday pin position is one of the trademarks of this hole – tucked to the left side; it can lead to amazing results for balls that trickle down the slope; however this also brings the water more into play.

Redbud was the scene of one of the most famous shots in Masters history – Tiger’s chip in for a birdie two, on his way to winning the tournament in 2005.

Tiger currently sits one behind Jack Nicklaus for most Green Jackets won throughout his career but time may be running out for Tiger to surpass the Golden Bear. However it is not just the fact that Woods has five Masters wins to his name, but the manner in which they have come about and the importance of one in particular outside of the golfing world that means Tiger will forever be associated with this great tournament.

Tiger’s blowout 12 shot victory in 1997 saw him equal or break endless Masters records along the way including becoming the tournament’s youngest ever champion, setting a new mark for best 72 hole score and winning by the largest margin. In doing so he also became the first player of African descent to win the Masters which had far reaching social significance in the game of golf.

Augusta National Golf Club has approximately 300 members at any one time. These memberships are strictly by invitation only, there is no application process.

It’s not only the memberships that are hard to come by; even getting a ticket to attend the event can be very difficult! Luckily for you golf fans that are searching for these elusive tickets, Your Golf Travel is here to help. We have a great selection of packages that cover everything from tickets to accommodation and flights.

One of the best things about watching the Masters is that you always feel as if you’re seeing history in the making. Augusta National somehow always manages to produce shots of a spectacular nature on a constant basis.

Tiger’s chip-in on 16 in 2005 – Who can forget this shot, I’m sure it still seems fresh in the memory for most people but I’ll briefly explain it anyway. Wood’s had hit his tee shot clear over the back of the green and was looking at a seriously tough up-and-down. After viewing the slope of the green from every single angle he finally settled over his ball. It came out fast; hit the slope left of the flag and almost came to a complete halt. From then on the ball made a 90° turn and slowly rolled towards the hole and fell in on its last rotation.

Nicklaus’ shot into 16 in 1986 – After an eagle on 15 Jack was within two strokes of the lead, he elected to play a five-iron on the par-3 16th. It landed within about 20 feet of the right of the hole, caught the slope and rolled down to within just a few feet of the hole for a simple birdie, which would mean he was just one shot behind for the championship.

Mickelson’s 6-iron through trees on 13 in 2010 – After pulling his tee shot right into the trees he was left with 209 yards to the hole (187 to carry the water at the front of the green). His caddy Jim “Bones” MacKay tried to talk him out of it but Phil grabbed his six-iron and smashed it through the pines, over the water and to within just four feet of the pin. Sadly he didn’t manage to sink the putt, spectacular nonetheless.

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