AUGUSTA, Ga. — There is no course that golf fans know better than Augusta National. Even those who have never stepped foot on property understand the swirling winds and nuances of the slick greens. Most will never play the course, but all understand how the course plays.
At GOLF.com, however, there are a lucky few who have had a chance to play the course. Thanks to the annual media lottery, some of our staffers have played the famed Alister MacKenzie design on Monday after the Masters — and they made sure to savor every moment.
As the 89th edition of the Masters gets ready to kick off this week, we are asking our staffers who’ve played the course a few burning questions about their experience. Today, they reveal which shot they thought was the hardest.
1. Approach on 13
The hardest shot I faced was the third over the creek on 13 after two semi-decent ones. No breathing room around pin, no grass under ball, limited skills in hand. It’s trickier than it looks. —Michael Bamberger
2. Tee shot on 12
It would actually be easier to name the shots that weren’t hardest for an amateur at Augusta. The course is super-wide and forgiving off the tee, but the second-shot margins are so narrow. If I was forced to pick one, I’d say the tee shot on 12 — half because it is a bit like attempting to draw your own sketch on the Mona Lisa, and half because the green feels roughly 3 yards wide. Easy to understand how so many champions have been made and destroyed here. —James Colgan
3. Approach on 3
I was most surprised by just how hard the approach shot at No. 3 is for mere mortals — particularly to Sunday’s left pin. You can’t go long, but you definitely, definitely can’t go short. You either need to bail out right and pull off a touchy two-putt or lock in and gun for glory. —Dylan Dethier
4. Any shot inside 100 yards
The 100 yards-and-in shots to the green were particularly difficult for me on the day I played. I got a bit snake-bit with the wedges and botched several of them on the iconic holes, 13 and 15. Such a bummer! Also, 12 is soooo hard. The anticipation is sky high and you want to hit a good shot so badly. I pulled mine left into the bushes. —Jessica Marksbury
5. Pitch from the drop zone on 11
The drop zone on No. 11. That’s a brutal angle for a delicate wedge shot for an amateur to deal with. The best strategy is not to rinse one on your approach. (I did not follow this advice.) —Tim Reilly
You can get yourself in some pretty sticky situations if you miss in the wrong spots, but the hardest shot I faced was when I dumped my second into the water in front of 11 green. The drop zone is behind the water, meaning your next shot is a 40-ish-yard pitch from a tight lie over water to a tucked pin on a lightning-fast putting surface (with the 12th green eyeing you in the background). Now imagine a 14-handicap with the chip yips is hitting that? I still remember the club shaking in my hand — and still can’t believe I somehow landed it on the green. —Josh Berhow
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