Golf World - May

More documents

Recommendations

Info

l THE COURSE l THE COURSE l THE COURSE l THE COURSE AUGUSTA’S SECRET ROUTES The challenge remains the same today as it was when it opened. Jock Howard reveals the way MacKenzie and Jones intended the course to be played – and the secrets to scoring well.
augusta’s routes Fashions come and go, technology moves forward and golfers change – but Augusta National has stood the test of time as one of the greatest layouts in the world. This is largely down to the fact that the challenge designers Dr Alister MacKenzie and Bobby Jones envisioned and created in the early 1930s remains fundamentally unchanged today. It’s a design that tests every facet of the best players in the world and forces them intently to analyse every shot they play and execute it to near-perfection. Make bad choices and errant swings and you will be punished. But understand the design philosophies behind one of the most revered courses in golf and you’ll discover the road to Masters success – Augusta’s secret routes. MacKenzie and Jones complemented each other perfectly. Jones’ brilliance as a player meant that he had a unique understanding of how the elite player would think and how the ball reacted once it hit the ground. MacKenzie’s brilliance as a designer and his fascination with camouflage from his time spent serving in the Boer War meant he was able to take the greatest possible advantage of the natural terrain and beauty of the former nursery land. And they both agreed on the design philosophies that would underpin their ‘dream’ course. They wanted the mental challenge to come to the fore in a way that would allow both the elite and the average player to be tested at the same time, over the same piece of land. This was especially important to Jones. Writing in his book Golf is My Game, he said: “The first purpose of any golf course should be to give pleasure, and that to the greatest possible number of players, without respect to their capabilities.” And this fitted perfectly with MacKenzie’s mantra that he tried to build courses “for the most enjoyment for the greatest number”. Both men also shared a love of St Andrews that prompted the belief that each hole should offer a variety of strategies. The thing that made golf interesting to them was options: let a player judge his own capabilities on any given day, and give him one or two alternate routes. If a player felt strong enough, he should be encouraged to cut the dog-leg (and be rewarded accordingly); but if he felt less sure, he should have other options. This was precisely what made the Old Course unique in their eyes. Designing was a subtle art. It wasn’t simply about putting hazards out there, and punishing bad shots; more about rewarding good ones. If, for instance, you could gently encourage a player to bravely take on a tricky tee shot, he should be rewarded with an easier second. It wasn’t necessarily the case that holes had to be protected May 2015 Golf World 73
Page 1 and 2: 30-page masters preview MAy 2015, i
Page 3 and 4: e quipment tour wedges to see which
Page 5: InstructI on CoaCh Q&a Butch Harmon

Golf World - May

Create successful ePaper yourself

Delete template?

Save as template?