Countdown: My 11th Favorite Hole At Augusta National

Riggs 3/27/2018 3:56 PM

Welcome

Countdown time! We’re just a week 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 Masters Week. Perfect timing.

18 holes. 18 days. Here’s my 11th favorite.

9th hole, 460 yards, par 4 — Carolina Cherry

What a name! Carolina Cherry. Just such a positive vibe type name. Probably also the name of a delicious, fruity alcoholic beverage at some tiki bar along the beaches of South Carolina.

This hole’s remained mostly unchanged tee-to-green since the first Masters in 1934. Requires a draw off the tee to hit this doglegging left fairway. Here’s the bird’s eye view.

View from the tee. You very clearly need to make your ball go right-to-left.

It’s better to miss right than left. Right trees, if you draw a decent lie, can actually provide the ideal angle into this famous green.

Here’s a view from the 1980 Masters.

If you miss left, you better hope you’re capable of doing something like this.

The green and surrounding bunkers have changed dramatically from MacKenzie’s original design. Here’s a drawing of what it originally looked like, from our friends at Golf Digest.

Since guys were blasting their balls down 1 fairway for a much easier way of playing the hole, however, the entire green complex and bunkering were redesigned to include a clump of bunkers guarding the left.

You can see 3 here from the 1948 Masters.

Nowadays there are just 2 bunkers guarding the left side of this severely back-to-front green complete with a steep false front. Watching approaches and lag putts on this green is one of my favorite parts of the Masters.

Here’s a look from the fairway from the 1995 Masters.

And here are some more modern looks at the green.

The 9th green sits just beside the 18th green, a vast hilltop with incredible views overlooking much of the course’s front nine. When visiting for the fist time, you’re stunned standing at this spot at the openness of Augusta. This hole’s a great finish to the front, ascending you back by the clubhouse before you begin the epic back nine.