Course Rater Confidential: What would scratch and bogey golfers shoot in tournament conditions at Augusta?

So maybe you’ve never played Augusta National, but lucky for you dozens of our distinguished course raters have. Some know the place better than their own backyards. To honor the Masters week that never was, we polled more than 60 of our raters — and granted them anonymity — to answer our questions about the course’s ranking, best holes, most terrifying putts, Tiger-proofing and more. We’ll roll it out all week long so check back to see the next batch of questions and answers, and you can learn more about our course raters here.

On a Masters Sunday tournament setup, in calm, dry conditions, what would a scratch golfer shoot from the tournament tees?

76-80 – 43.5%
81-85 – 35.5%
86-90 – 9.7%
70-75 – 4.8%
91-plus – 6.5%

PANELIST COMMENTS

80-85. Given the length of the course, the firmness and speed of the greens, and the tightness of the hole locations, par would be a great score on any hole for even a scratch player. The better player would also make a double or two attempting to get cute on a short-sided chip shot.

82. But I’ll need Fluff on the bag and a breakfast ball off the first tee.

From the back tees, a standard scratch golfer who typically plays 6,800 yards will shoot 80-plus. There are many holes that you will have a wood into, and you need to hit the hood of a Volkswagen bug. Good luck.

What would an Average Joe bogey golfer shoot from the same setup?

101-110 – 48.4%
Sky’s the limit – 35.5%
96-100 – 12.9%
91-95 – 3.2%

PANELIST COMMENTS

100-110. The speed of the greens and the amount of movement around the hole on short putts would make it difficult for the bogey golfer to score well. It would also play 1,000 yards longer than anything that they are accustomed to playing.

100. Too much pressure to break 100.

110-plus if they ever finish. There will be holes where they may go back and forth chipping until they have a John Daly or Phil Mickelson moment, then DQ!

Assuming everything has to be holed out, my guess is that Joe Bogey golfer would need about 60 putts to get around ANGC.

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