Countdown: My 15th Favorite Hole At Augusta National

Welcome

Countdown time! We’re just a few weeks away from the Masters so I’m doing a daily countdown of my favorite holes at Augusta National. Not a math guy but according to my calculations, we should wrap this thing up on the Friday of the tourney. Perfect timing.

18 holes. 18 days. Here’s my 15th favorite.

4th hole, 240 yards, par 3 — Flowering Crab Apple

GREAT name for the 4th here, perhaps the best name in all of golf holes. The 4th is an incredibly challenging one-shotter early in the round, playing 0.29 strokes over par through its history and the 3rd toughest at Augusta National.

This hole was 190 in 1934 and, outside the 50 yards added, hasn’t changed a ton since. Here it is in 1960, 1978, and 2013 respectively.

This thing was originally intended to be a long-iron or wood in 1934, and the yardage today has protected that intention. It doesn’t always play the full yardage, but when it does, watch out.

Here’s Phil in 2012 making triple in his tan on tan outfit.

Video game flyover.

As is tradition, the green is nuts here. There’s a back tier, a middle tier, a front tier, and then another front tier within that left tongue. The hole can change dramatically day-to-day depending on tee placement, hole location, and wind direction.

This is a fantastic golf hole, unfortunately its fame and notoriety are diminished by its location on the course. If you do the math, I had no option but to drop Flowering Crab Apple here: I’m obsessed with all four par 5s, I had to veer from the par 4s, and one simply cannot put the 4th hole in front of the 6th, 12th, or 16th.

So here we are. My 15th favorite hole at Augusta National = the 4th hole.