Augusta National Golf Club is famed for its challenging holes and iconic features, including Rae’s Creek and Amen Corner, the latter of which is set to be even harder to navigate next month thanks to the monumental makeover of the par-5 13th.
The hole, named Azalea, has been lengthened from 510 yards to 545 yards for the 87th Masters and beyond in a bid to provide a more challenging and visually stunning hole for players and spectators alike.
” It’s definitely harder,” said defending champion Scottie Scheffler, who visited Augusta National after winning the Players Championship.
“I think with modern technology and that tee shot… I used to hit 3-wood there because I can sling hook a 3-wood. I can’t sling hook a driver on purpose. The ball just doesn’t spin enough. I can do it on accident, but I can’t quite sling it on purpose. Because I like to fade my driver more off the tee, and so when it comes to that tee shot and hitting a hard hook with the driver, it’s not really a shot that I’ll try just because it’s not worth the risk for me.
Scottie Scheffler on the newly developed 13th hole at Augusta National. 🔊🔛pic.twitter.com/0dua9boreE
— Snainton Golf (@SnaintonGolf) March 21, 2023
“That hole was one where I’d hit the same shot I hit on 10. The 3-wood, it has enough spin where the ball can actually stay in the air. With the driver, when I hook it, the ball doesn’t have enough spin to where it can stay in the air and hook that much. It kind of nosedives. But the 3-wood, I can sit up there and it will just be like a boomerang.
“But that’s really the biggest change for me. Now, I’ll just hit driver kind of out towards the corner and try and use more of the contouring to get the ball that way versus before. I should say it this way: My driver is now going where my 3-wood kind of used to go. My 3-wood, I could maybe get it a little bit further around the corner, but my driver is now going to where that 3-wood was before.”
Azalea has played to an historical scoring average of 4.77, making it the easiest hole at Augusta National. The game’s longest hitters have typically been able to to play driver-wedge thanks to modern technology – that looks set to change next month!
