Bernhard Langer knows the golf course at Augusta National better than most. The Masters champion of 1985 and 1993, Germany’s Langer made his Augusta debut in 1982 and he will be making his 34th Masters appearance this year. Here is Langer’s hole-by-hole guide to playing Augusta National.
1. Tea Olive, 445 yards, par 4
Augusta National: The first is a slight dogleg right that plays uphill. Drives to the left may catch the trees. The hole requires a precise second shot to an undulating green. A poorly struck approach may result in a difficult two-putt.
Langer: “The first priority is to avoid the right-hand fairway bunker, and then wind direction dictates how much club you need to reach the green. You must avoid going long or left and ideally you want to set-up an uphill putt”.
2. Pink Dogwood, 575 yards, par 5
AN: No. 2 is a dogleg left which may be reachable in two. Large, deep greenside bunkers demand special attention on the second shot.
Langer: “The driving line is left of the bunker on the right. As it’s downhill the green is within reach but because it’s so severe and narrow it’s no bad thing to be in a front bunker for two or to have a full pitch into the green”.
3. Flowering Peach, 350 yards, par 4
AN: A classic short par four. Golfers attempt to hit short of the four fairway bunkers, resulting in a full shot to the green, where it is better to be long than short. The putting surface slopes right to left, with a thin neck on the left side guarded by a bunker. Alister MacKenzie, the architect of Augusta National with Bobby Jones, believed the third hole to be nearly perfect in design. Thus, this hole has been changed less than any other on the course.
Langer: “A short par four but the green is only about 11 yards deep on the left side. It is very easy for the second shot to spin down the slope in front of the green or for it to go through the back, so short-iron precision is critical”.
4. Flowering Crab Apple, 240 yards, par 3
AN: This hole is a stout par three that requires a long iron and is often made harder by deceptive winds. Two bunkers, front right and front left, guard the green, which slopes back to the front.
Langer: “This is a difficult par three because the hole plays so long it can be difficult to generate both the necessary height and distance off the tee. It is better to be in the front bunker than past the flag”.
5. Magnolia, 455 yards, par 4
AN: An uphill, dogleg left to a sloping green. The fairway bunkers are deep and positioned to demand accuracy off the tee. To clear them requires a carry of 315 yards. The green slopes back to the front, and a rear bunker catches balls hit too long.
Langer: “The fifth green is extremely difficult so as much distance as possible on the tee means you can play into the green with as much height as you can to stop the ball quickly. A nearly perfect shot can finish 50 feet from the hole”.
6. Juniper, 180 yards, par 3
AN: This par three features an elevated tee and a large undulating green. The shifting levels of the putting surface from front to back make the pin position very important.
Langer: “A great par three, but perhaps too severe with the top-right corner pin position. I need to stop a long-iron tee shot on an area that is roughly 10 yards deep and eight yards wide”.
7. Pampas, 450 yards, par 4
AN: The drive on this tight hole is often played to the left-center of the fairway to set up a second shot from a level lie. From there, a short to mid-iron may be played, but it is important to avoid the three bunkers in front of the green and the two behind.
Langer: “This hole demands a narrow, long tee shot through the trees and then real precision is key to the approach to find the right part of the small, elevated green”.
8. Yellow Jasmine, 570 yards, par 5
AN: An accurate drive is needed to avoid the fairway bunker on the right side on this uphill hole. The long, narrow green is bunkerless. It is guarded instead by a series of mounds, the biggest of which line its left side.
Langer: “This uphill par five plays so long that it is very difficult to find the right part of the green with the second shot. There is a severe slope in the middle of the green so even approaching with a wedge requires great accuracy and control”.
9. Carolina Cherry, 460 yards, par 4
AN: This hole is best known for its green that slopes from back to front. Players often drive down the right side to avoid having to contend with two left greenside bunkers on their second shots.
Langer: “Drives must be drawn from right to left or tee shots will find the trees. Even the perfect shot leaves a difficult shot from a downhill lie to an uphill green. If the second shot is short the ball could run back down the fairway for 60 or 70 yards”.
10. Camellia, 495 yards, par 4
AN: This long par four plays steeply downhill and features a nearly 60-yard-long center bunker well short of the green. Players will try to drive the ball to the left center for the best angle into a green that pitches right to left. Until 1935, this was the first hole. It is traditionally the most difficult hole on the course.
Langer: “This is another tee shot that demands a draw. The fairway falls to the left side and catching the slope means you can take more loft into the green. Problems from the left of the fairway often come from overhanging branches”.
11. White Dogwood, 505 yards, par 4
AN: At this hole begins Amen Corner, and wind is often a factor. The tee shot plays downhill and left to right. A pond guards the green to the left and a bunker is strategically placed right center. This hole may best be remembered for Larry Mize’s miraculous chip-in to defeat Greg Norman in a playoff in the 1987 Masters.
Langer: “This used to be one of golf’s widest fairways but now trees on the right and with the tee pushed back it is one of the hardest driving holes. With water left of the green I aim perhaps 10 yards on from the green’s right edge. Try and make par and get out of there”.
12. Golden Bell, 155 yards, par 3
AN: One of the world’s most famous golf holes, this is Augusta National’s shortest par three. Club selection is often difficult, as varying winds can require anything from a six-iron to a nine-iron for Masters competitors. The daunting presence of Rae’s Creek and three strategically placed bunkers make it imperative that players land their shots on the putting surface. Golfers walk across the Ben Hogan Bridge to reach the green.
Langer: “The green is angled from front-left to back-right and so is Rae’s Creek. Due to Amen Corner’s swirling winds I agree with Jack Nicklaus, in playing over the bunker even though the landing area is only about nine yards deep”.
13. Azalea, 510 yards, par 5
AN: An accurate tee shot to the center of the fairway on this sweeping dogleg left allows a player to go for the green in two. A tributary to Rae’s Creek winds in front of the raised green, and four bunkers threaten behind. The Byron Nelson Bridge is located just off the tee. More discovered than designed, this hole was originally an open field. Virtually all that Alister MacKenzie had to do was to build a green on the far side of the stream.
Langer: “I love this hole, classic ‘risk and reward’. The tee shot needs to hook around and hug the left of the fairway by the creek because that shortens the second shot and gives you a flatter lie. Even then the second shot is played above your feet”.
14. Chinese Fir, 440 yards, par 4
AN: The primary defense on this bunkerless par four is a terraced putting surface that drops significantly from left to right. Following a well-placed drive, the second shot will usually be a middle iron. A fairway bunker that once sat to the right of the landing area was removed after the 1952 Masters, making this the only hole at Augusta National that does not have a single bunker.
Langer: “With the fairway sloping from left to right, another hook helps here as long as you set it off on the right line. Wind direction and pin placement dictate what club to take next, hitting into one of the hardest greens on the course”.
15. Firethorn, 530 yards, par 5
AN: A famously reachable par five when the winds are favorable. A well-struck second shot must be played over the pond and away from the bunker that guards the green on the right. Gene Sarazen hit his “shot heard ’round the world” here when he holed a four-wood approach from 235 yards away for a double eagle in 1935.
Langer: “It takes two great strikes to carry the water and reach the green in two, but even then it is very easy for the ball to skip through. Golfers can still birdie with a precise wedge approach. A great risk-and-reward hole”.
16. Redbud, 170 yards, par 3
AN: This hole is played entirely over water to a green secured by three bunkers. With the putting surface significantly pitched from right to left, an exacting tee shot is required to set up a reasonable birdie chance. Alister MacKenzie’s original 16th hole resembled the 12th, but it proved too easy for Masters competitors. In 1947 a pond was built and the green was moved right.
Langer: “The water on the left tempts you to aim for the right half of the green but that can leave a wicked, curling putt if the pin is low and left. You want to avoid putting with your back to the hole – it can happen”.
17. Nandina, 440 yards, par 4
AN: The putting surface at this uphill par four offers its share of challenges, as it seems to slope off in all directions. The back-right hole location is particularly demanding. The Eisenhower Tree—a loblolly pine named after the 34th president because he hit into it so often that he requested it be torn down—once stood just left of the fairway, 210 yards from the tee. A February 2014 ice storm caused irreparable damage, resulting in its removal.
Langer: “This hole is more straightforward since the Eisenhower Tree came down three years ago. There is more room off the tee but the green can get very slick, especially on the right”.
18. Holly, 465 yards, par 4
AN: One of the most famous finishing holes in golf, this uphill dogleg right is protected by two bunkers at the left elbow of the fairway. A drive hit down the center will often require a middle iron for a second shot to a deep, narrow green guarded by one bunker short-left and another hard right.
Langer: “This tee is one of golf’s tightest and longest shoots. The key is to hit a slight fade for the dogleg, then it could be a mid-iron or much longer club to the elevated, two-tier green, depending on the pin and the wind. There is a birdie chance if you find the right plateau”.
Bernhard Langer is a Mercedes-Benz brand ambassador. Mercedes-Benz is a Global Sponsor of The Masters.
