Small Site, Big Changes

In simpler times, the golf world would be united in filling the nine long months between major championships with conversation about the mysteries of Augusta National Golf Club. Thanks to David Dobbins, his Cessna 172, a mounted camera and the EurekaEarthPlus Twitter feed, the outside world is privy to peeks behind the curtain of the private club from 1,000 feet.

And those bird’s-eye views have given us much to talk about during the offseason.

In a world without LIV and lawsuits, the biggest debate in golf right now would likely be the pushed-back tee box on the par-5 13th hole at Augusta. The long-awaited change to one of the most captivating holes in the world generates strong opinions. That a club with a bank account to relatively rival the Saudis’ Public Investment Fund bought an entire golf hole from its neighbor five years ago just to add 30 or so yards to Azalea is the kind of subject that always fascinates.

We are excited to report that it looks like they carved out some room for Woosie’s bench 😜💚⛳️ @garrett_TFE #TheMasters #Masters2023

(📸 ©30JUL2022 David Dobbins/EurekaEarth)#EurekaEarth #NotDrone #DiscoverThePresent pic.twitter.com/ZPVz47Ejhy

— Eureka Earth® (@EurekaEarthPlus) August 2, 2022

But it’s another project happening just inside the gates off Washington Road that will generate excitement on the eve of the 2023 Masters. Augusta’s Par 3 Course is undergoing a major renovation that is likely to enhance one of the tournament’s most cherished traditions.

Ben Crenshaw called it “a little piece of art.” Paul Azinger dubbed it “the best golf course in the world.” Gary Player said he used to play it often each Masters week to sharpen his wedge game and escape the intensity of everything taking place on the big course. Sam Snead and Johnny Miller used to get away for a little fishing in its stocked ponds.

The changes presumably will make for an enhanced experience and easier traffic flow for the players and the patrons who attend the Par 3 Contest.

The Par 3 Course is undergoing its biggest makeover in 44years, since two new holes were built in 1978 around Ike’s Pond to create the dramatic stage where the Par 3 Contest concludes each Wednesday before the Masters starts. In April, patrons will see a new routing of the first five holes on the short course. The changes were first revealed by EurekaEarth aerial images showing a drained pond and removed trees. The scope of the project was confirmed in reporting by The Augusta Chronicle and the Aiken Standard from engineering documents filed with the Augusta Planning and Development Department.

The filed plans – “Northeast Pond Grading and Drainage Revisions Phase I” – show two new cabins, an event building, a member restroom, a 3,000-square-foot merchant building, patron hub and east restroom being built on the perimeter nearest to Washington Road. The plans also mention a small player pavilion and west bathroom.

👀 Progress!!

Cabin 1: 6,284 ft2
Cabin 2: 5,556 ft2
Event Building: 596 ft2
Member Restroom: 222 ft2
Player Pavilion: 531 ft2
West Restroom: 1,383 ft2
East Merchant: 2,970 ft2
East Restroom: 1,792 ft2#TheMasters 💚⛳️#FlyOverFriday

(📸 ©30JUL2022 David Dobbins/#EurekaEarth) pic.twitter.com/pgHz4ioSCx

— Eureka Earth® (@EurekaEarthPlus) August 5, 2022

The updated routing of the first five holes will bring Desoto Springs Pond more prominently into play on 1, 3, 4 and 5. Holes 6-9 remain unchanged.

The new first hole – built in the open area where the original abandoned first and second holes were – plays toward the pond, as does the new third. The new second hole plays away from the pond toward a green set near where the previous first green was situated. The former second hole was eliminated and the new third will play from near where the former second tee was toward a green set closer to the pond than the previous third green.

The new fourth hole will play shorter and to a green built on a new peninsula jutting into the pond. The fifth green was moved closer to the edge of the pond and will play more over the water instead of adjacent to it.

The changes presumably will make for an enhanced experience and easier traffic flow for the players and the patrons who attend the Par 3 Contest.

🔥ANGC PAR-3 UPDATE🔥

Aerial overview updating the ‘Drastic Changes’ to the Par-3 Course at Augusta National Golf Club💚⛳️#TheMasters #Masters2023

(📸 ©30JUN2022 David Dobbins/EurekaEarth)#EurekaEarth #NotDrone #DiscoverThePresent pic.twitter.com/QGSsUJpCXB

— Eureka Earth® (@EurekaEarthPlus) July 3, 2022

The roots of the Par 3 Course go all the way back to Alister MacKenzie’s original plans for Augusta National. MacKenzie first drew up routings for a nine-hole and later an 18-hole “approach and putt course” in his original concept for the club. Bobby Jones nixed the idea – presumably because of costs when the club was struggling during the Depression – and instead marked on the site plan, “Reserved for Park.”

It took 25 years before aging co-founder Clifford Roberts resurrected MacKenzie’s concept for a short course to augment the main attraction. In 1958, a nine-hole course was designed and built by George W. Cobb – “with help from Roberts.” The membership did not immediately embrace it, derisively referring to it as the “Tom Thumb course” according to David Owen’s book “The Making of the Masters.”

But it didn’t take long for the little beauty playing around and over Desoto Springs Pond to soften hearts. By 1960, the Par 3 Contest was created and evolved into one of the most beloved traditions in golf – a rare light-hearted calm-before-the-storm event on the eve of the season’s first major championship.

In 1978, Tom Fazio was enlisted to build two additional holes around adjacent Ike’s Pond. Those two holes serve as the dramatic finish to the Par 3 Contest, replacing what were originally two non-descript half-wedge shots that served as holes 1 and 2. The new holes stretched the Par 3 Contest course to 1,060 yards, though the original opening holes remained in place, making it an 11-hole layout.

When Fazio made his changes in 1978, the Par 3 Course also served as a significant test subject with its greens converted from a hybrid Bermudagrass to bentgrass. The experiment was deemed a success, and the greens on the main course were converted to bent two years later, before the 1980 Masters.

Shape it baby, shape it
Shape it baby, shape it 🤪#TheMasters #Masters2023

(📸 ©30JUL2022 David Dobbins/EurekaEarth)#EurekaEarth #NotDrone #DiscoverThePresent pic.twitter.com/6CYlw61fLA

— Eureka Earth® (@EurekaEarthPlus) August 1, 2022

Other plans the Chronicle reported that were filed separately with the city detail a “patron hub” with concessions and restrooms between the main course’s eighth and 18th holes. EurekaEarth images show construction in the area where the former concession stand was located.

Notes accompanying the drawings read: “The patrons’ concession and restroom each consist of one main level and a basement. The member restroom is a single-story, standalone structure.”

Augusta National may close for five months every year from late May to mid-October, but the club never sleeps.

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