Augusta National
| Augusta National | |
|---|---|
.jpg) Hole 10 during the Masters tournament |
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| Place data | |
| Coordinates: | 33 ° 30 ′ 0 ″ N , 82 ° 1 ′ 20 ″ W |
| Playable since: | 1933 |
| Architect: | Alister MacKenzie |
| Extensions: |
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| Par: | 72 |
| Length: | 7290 yards |
| Character: | Parkland |
Augusta National is an American golf course that hosts the Masters tournament every year . It is operated by the Augusta National Golf Club .
history
When Bobby Jones retired from active golf in 1930, he was looking for a way to build a golf course according to his ideas. Together with Clifford Roberts, a stockbroker, he began looking for a suitable reason. Augusta in the US state of Georgia was selected as the location . It was hoped for a site with a natural river course that would be integrated into the golf course. In addition, only a few bunkers were planned, and they even wanted to do without deep rough entirely.
Finally, the decision was made to acquire the so-called "Fruitland Nursery", a former tree nursery. Many of the exotic trees and shrubs that are the hallmarks of the golf course today were already on an area of almost 150 hectares . Bobby Jones suggested setting up a golf club with a national membership structure for refinancing and won Alister MacKenzie as architect.
Bobby Jones described his motivation as follows: “My ambition with the Augusta Company is to help build a place that will likely be recognized as one of the great places in the world. I cannot hide the fact that it is very important to me to see a golf course realized that contains the best holes of all the great courses I have played. But I don't have this dream alone or without a well-known collaboration. Dr. MacKenzie is the man who will actually design the square. "
Construction began in 1931 and the official opening took place in January 1933. From 1934 an annual invitation tournament was held, which later developed into a major tournament and became known as the Masters . However, the first few years of the club were marked by financial difficulties, as in the course of the Depression it was hardly possible to gain financially strong members.
Over the years, changes have been made to the course, primarily to continue to offer the professional golfers who are hitting longer and longer an adequate challenge. Perry Maxwell , Robert Trent Jones , Jack Nicklaus, and Tom Fazio were among the golf architects who carried out this work.
Current situation
The self-imposed highest quality standards mean that Augusta National is only open for playing a few months of the year. All activities of the club, especially those of course maintenance, are geared towards the Masters in April. The date in spring should bring out the many flowers and plantings in particular. To get a perfect picture on TV, you even color the water blue and the grass green, which occasionally provokes protests from environmentalists. The perfectionism extends to lawn heating for the greens and UV lamps with which shady parts of the square are irradiated at night. Augusta National is considered to be the best-maintained golf course in the world.
Although many golfers know the course almost by heart due to the annual television broadcast, and many fans make the pilgrimage to the Masters every year, only club members and their guests are actually allowed to play in Augusta National. However, especially in Japan, there are some replicas of the square that are accessible to the general public.
Golf aspects
character
The many alterations and extensions to the square are controversial. Some critics argue that the original character, as envisioned by Bobby Jones and Alister MacKenzie, is lost forever. In particular, the "ground game", ie the flat game over the ground, is no longer a real option due to the introduction of various obstacles. Golf courses such as the Old Course in St Andrews would have withstood the attacks of the professional golfers who kept hitting further and further, as you are still dependent on the ground game. Proponents of the changes at Augusta National associate the ground game with a too high luck factor, which is owed to bouncing balls. The best golfer should win and the list of winners in the Masters proves, especially in comparison with the other major tournaments, that this goal can be achieved year after year.
Bobby Jones himself had this idea: “The main idea was to bring the closest possible approach to British links golf to Georgia. The course should be an expression of my ideals in golf architecture. "
He described these ideals as follows:
- The largest possible number of players should enjoy it.
- Strategic thinking and playing skills are required.
- The average gamer must stand a chance while the expert demands the utmost.
- All natural conditions must be preserved.
As a result, Augusta National became a fairly hilly golf course with wide fairways winding through a pine forest. The many plantings give the course the character of a landscape garden, and each of the 18 fairways is named after a plant that occurs there. In addition to some water hazards, individual trees also make the game more difficult, but there are relatively few bunkers. The greatest difficulty, however, are the undulating and extremely fast greens, which can usually only be played at exactly one point without the ball rolling off the green (and possibly into the water) again.
Special landmarks
Eisenhower Tree
This Frankincense Pine stands on the 17th fairway, about drive length for amateurs. President Dwight D. Eisenhower struck his ball into that tree so many times that he officially requested its removal. The application was rejected, but the tree was named. The tree was removed in February 2014 after it was badly damaged during an ice storm.
Ike's Pond
The construction of this lake as a reservoir for the golf course's water hazards also goes back to "Ike" Eisenhower. While walking in the surrounding forest, he discovered a suitable place for a dam.
Rae's Creek
The stream running through the golf course that comes into play at holes 11-13 was named after John Rae, an early settler in the area.
Amen Corner
Golf journalist Herbert Warren Wind gave this name to the route from the second half of the 11th hole to the first half of the 13th hole in 1958. This was where the decisive moments of the Masters took place, which in the end, after a much discussed interpretation of the rules, was won by Arnold Palmer . In search of a sufficiently dramatic name, he used an old jazz recording called "Shouting at Amen Corner". Today the term is used symbolically for any section of a golf course that is considered crucial.
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ Augusta loses Ike's Tree on golf.de ( memento from May 2, 2014 in the Internet Archive ) accessed on April 30, 2014