Augusta National: A Hole-by-Hole Tour of the Masters Battlefield
AUGUSTA, Ga. — Let’s walk through Augusta National, home of the Masters Tournament. This iconic course challenges the world’s best golfers with its deceptive slopes, strategic bunkers, and lightning-fast greens. Here’s what players face at each hole, along with some unforgettable moments that have defined this tournament.
No. 1, 445 yards, par 4 (Tea Olive)
This uphill dogleg right immediately tests players’ nerves. A deep bunker guards the right side, requiring a 317-yard carry for those brave enough to challenge it. The bunker’s tongue on the left can block shots that find the front portion. Miss the green left and you’re in sand; miss right or long and you’re facing a treacherous recovery.
Masters memory: Charl Schwartzel kicked off his 2011 victory with a bit of magic, pitching a low-running 6-iron from the right mounds that rolled across the green and dropped for birdie.
Average score: 4.237
Rank: 6
No. 2, 585 yards, par 5 (Pink Dogwood)
Big hitters can reach this dogleg left in two with a solid drive. The smart play is down the left side to shorten the hole, though it leaves a downhill lie for the approach. Two deep bunkers guard the green’s front, ready to swallow anything short.
Masters memory: Louis Oosthuizen made history in 2012, hitting a 4-iron from 253 yards that landed on the front and rolled some 90 feet into the cup for the first albatross ever recorded on this hole.
Average score: 4.773
Rank: 18
No. 3, 350 yards, par 4 (Flowering Peach)
One of golf’s best short par 4s remains unchanged since 1982. More players are trying to drive near the green these days, but the L-shaped putting surface slopes sharply from right to left, creating devilish short-game challenges. Many still hit iron off the tee to stay short of the four bunkers guarding the left.
Masters memory: Scottie Scheffler’s three-shot lead had dwindled to one in the final round of 2022 when he drove left and came up short. His chip-in for birdie restored a three-shot cushion when Cameron Smith made bogey.
Average score: 4.073
Rank: 14
No. 4, 240 yards, par 3 (Flowering Crab Apple)
This brute typically requires a long iron or even fairway metal for shorter hitters. Deep bunkers protect both sides of a green that slopes toward the front. It’s also home to Augusta’s only palm tree—though players are usually too focused on survival to notice.
Masters memory: Phil Mickelson was just one shot back in 2012’s final round when disaster struck. His tee shot hit the grandstand and went into the woods, forcing him to hit two right-handed shots to escape. After finding the bunker with his fourth, he salvaged a triple-bogey but finished two shots behind.
Average score: 3.283
Rank: 3
No. 5, 495 yards, par 4 (Magnolia)
The tee was pushed back 40 yards in 2019, now demanding a 313-yard carry over the left bunkers on this uphill dogleg left. The green falls severely from back to front, with a small bunker catching anything long. Miss that bunker long and you might roll down into the Magnolia trees. A recent softening of the back left green has created a new pin position.
Masters memory: Jack Nicklaus made two eagles here in 1995—first with a 5-iron from 180 yards in the opening round, then with a 7-iron from 163 yards in the third.
Average score: 4.266
Rank: 5
No. 6, 180 yards, par 3 (Juniper)
From an elevated tee, players face a large three-tiered green with significant slopes marking each level. Getting close to the hole is a major challenge, with perhaps the front left pin offering the easiest target. This hole hasn’t changed since 1975.
Masters memory: Amateur Billy Joe Patton, trying to become the first non-professional to win the Masters, made a hole-in-one with a 5-iron from 190 yards in the final round of 1954. He ultimately missed the playoff between Ben Hogan and Sam Snead by a single shot.
Average score: 3.136
Rank: 12
No. 7, 450 yards, par 4 (Pampas)
This hole has evolved dramatically from its original 320 yards to today’s 450. The tee shot threads through a chute of Georgia pines to a left-center target on a slight slope. The green is surrounded by five bunkers—the most around any green at Augusta.
Masters memory: Byron Nelson drove the green in 1937 when it played at just 320 yards, making a two-putt birdie. This prompted Augusta National to move the green back 20 yards and to the right, creating an elevated surface with three bunkers in front and two behind.
Average score: 4.157
Rank: 10
No. 8, 570 yards, par 5 (Yellow Jasmine)
Accuracy off the tee is crucial to avoid the fairway bunker on the right. This uphill hole features trouble left of the green and severe mounding instead of bunkers around the putting surface.
Masters memory: Tom Kite and Seve Ballesteros created back-to-back fireworks in the final round of 1986. Kite holed a sand wedge from 80 yards for eagle to get within two shots of the lead. Ballesteros, unfazed, followed with a pitch-and-run from 40 yards that also found the hole for eagle, putting him in the lead.
Average score: 4.816
Rank: 15
No. 9, 460 yards, par 4 (Carolina Cherry)
The tee shot should favor the right side for the best angle into a green guarded by two large bunkers on the left. Any approach landing short might spin back as much as 25 yards into the fairway.
Masters memory: Jack Nicklaus, after hitting 9-iron to 12 feet in 1986, heard consecutive roars from the eighth green behind him. “Why don’t we try to make some noise ourselves?” he told the gallery. His birdie putt dropped, launching his legendary back-nine charge to a sixth green jacket.
Average score: 4.136
Rank: 13
No. 10, 495 yards, par 4 (Camellia)
This long hole plays shorter if drives catch the fairway’s slope. Saving par from the bunker right of the green is extremely difficult, and the putting surface tilts from right to left.
Masters memory: Bubba Watson’s miraculous recovery in the 2012 playoff. Deep among the trees right of the fairway, 155 yards out, he hooked a wedge 40 yards around the trouble. The ball landed about 10 feet below the hole, setting up the two-putt par that won him the green jacket.
Average score: 4.298
Rank: 2
No. 11, 510 yards, par 4 (White Dogwood)
Amen Corner begins here. A long, straight drive is needed to reach the hill’s crest. A pond guards the green’s left side with a bunker back right. The safe play is short and right, though it leaves a challenging pitch.
Masters memory: Larry Mize, in a sudden-death playoff with Greg Norman in 1987, missed the green right. His 140-foot chip was gathering speed when it dropped for birdie, giving him the victory and dealing another crushing blow to Norman’s Masters hopes.
Average score: 4.304
Rank: 1
No. 12, 155 yards, par 3 (Golden Bell)
Perhaps the most famous par 3 in golf and Augusta’s shortest hole. Club selection ranges from 6-iron to 9-iron depending on swirling winds that are notoriously difficult to read. Rae’s Creek guards the shallow green’s front, with bunkers behind and one in front.
Masters memory: Jordan Spieth’s 2016 collapse. Leading by five shots at the turn on Sunday, he put two balls into Rae’s Creek and made a quadruple-bogey 7. By the time he reached the 13th tee, he trailed by three.
Average score: 3.269
Rank: 4
No. 13, 545 yards, par 5 (Azalea)
The tee was moved back 35 yards in 2023. Players still need an accurate drive to center-fairway to have a chance at reaching in two, though now with a mid-iron at most. A tributary of Rae’s Creek winds in front of the green with four bunkers behind. The hole is framed by roughly 1,600 azaleas.
Masters memory: Phil Mickelson’s daring shot in 2010. Leading by two in the final round, he found himself in pine straw behind two trees. His 6-iron threaded a tiny gap in the pines and cleared the creek, stopping 4 feet from the hole. Though he missed the eagle putt, he maintained his lead and won his third green jacket.
Average score: 4.774
Rank: 17
No. 14, 440 yards, par 4 (Chinese Fir)
The only hole at Augusta without a bunker. Even with a perfect drive avoiding trees on both sides, the green’s severe contours feed balls to the right.
Masters memory: Phil Mickelson holed out for eagle during an eagle-eagle-birdie stretch on Saturday in 2010, helping him secure a spot in the final group. He claimed his third Masters title the next day.
Average score: 4.165
Rank: 8
No. 15, 550 yards, par 5 (Firethorn)
A maturing cluster of pines on the right makes accuracy off the tee crucial. The green is reachable in two with a good drive, but a pond guards the front and a bunker lurks right. Even laying up is tricky, requiring a precise wedge from a severe downhill lie.
Masters memory: Gene Sarazen’s “shot heard ’round the world” in 1935. Trailing by three, his 4-wood from 235 yards found the hole for an albatross. He tied Craig Wood and won in a playoff the next day.
Average score: 4.779
Rank: 16
No. 16, 170 yards, par 3 (Redbud)
This hole plays entirely over water and bends left. Two bunkers guard the right side of a green that slopes significantly from right to left. Sunday’s pin is typically back on the lower shelf, making pars from the upper tier extremely rare.
Masters memory: Tiger Woods’ iconic chip in 2005. Leading Chris DiMarco by one, he missed long. His chip away from the hole up the slope made a U-turn at the top, rolled back toward the cup, paused dramatically for a full second, then dropped for birdie.
Average score: 3.138
Rank: 11
No. 17, 440 yards, par 4 (Nandina)
The famous Eisenhower Tree that stood 210 yards from the tee was lost to an ice storm in 2014, making the tee shot considerably easier, especially for those with a lower, left-to-right ball flight. Two bunkers protect the green in front.
Masters memory: Jack Nicklaus made his final birdie here in 1986 with a 12-foot putt, completing a back-nine 30 for a final-round 65. That birdie gave him a one-shot win and his sixth green jacket.
Average score: 4.163
Rank: 9
No. 18, 465 yards, par 4 (Holly)
Now one of golf’s most demanding finishing holes, this uphill dogleg right features two deep bunkers at the left elbow—the only fairway bunkers in play off the tee on the back nine (except at par 3s). Trees punish drives straying right, while bunkers guard both sides of the green.
Masters memory: Sandy Lyle, tied with Mark Calcavecchia in 1988, found the first of two left fairway bunkers with his 1-iron. Thinking the green was unreachable, he surprised everyone by clearing the tall lip with a 7-iron that landed behind the flag and rolled back to 10 feet. His birdie putt dropped for the win.
Average score: 4.232
Rank: 7
