Anything that is born has to get older, fall prey to the ravages of time and then decay into eventual renewal in nature’s inimitable design. So ,too, with golf courses. Trees grow bigger, grass spreads, unimaginable subterranean activity takes place, roots constantly stretch out in search of stability and sustenance and are affected, sometimes unintentionally, by the human intervention of artificial pesticides and nutrients. At Augusta National, the loblolly pines, whose natural life cycle may be 300 years, can actually mature and die much earlier as a result of such interventions. Their bark becomes thinner as the root system is slowly sapped of some strength and this reduces their natural resistance to pests, etc. It is now known that manicured grass (fairways) and trees do not like each other but must face forced co-existence on golf courses. A planned schedule of regeneration and replantation of trees is necessary to maintain the desired contours of a mature golf course.
Therefore, a detailed inventory of the knowledge of agronomy, including various soils, nutrients, water, pesticides, types of trees and grasses and their behaviour over the seasons and with each other, are essential to golf course management. A culture of these disciplines in any golf club must be deeply ingrained (Delhi Golf Club, please note!) so that patrons can better enjoy the game. At the Augusta National Golf Club, they have learned much over its 80 years or so of existence and now spend millions, wisely, to maintain and manage its pristine condition.
Any older course, and even new courses, are modified from time to time. The late 1990s, in the aftermath of Tiger’s mammoth driving saw attempts at “Tiger proofing” by lengthening of golf courses. However, according to Gary Player, this is futile because the era of 400-yard drives is already on us and it is not possible to extend the golf courses any further. In any event, most golf courses are never used for significant championships and can, therefore, save the many millions involved in course modification on this account. Even Augusta National modified itself in this pursuit when all along the ideal response may have been available in the idea of the “never ever changed” design of “Golden Bell”, or hole number 12, at the pivot of Amen Corner.
Ask not for whom the bell tolls, for it tolls for thee! Alister Mackenzie and Bobby Jones must have had this in mind when this hole was named. The green is said to have been built over an ancient burial ground of some nomadic Indian tribes and many players are seen to mutter a silent prayer as they seemingly invoke the favour of some hovering spirits. The design of this course “naturally” changed as 10-feet-high pines grew to become 150-feet giants, thus altering the wind flow pattern. Now, the winds come in from the north, south and west and they swirl, and eddy, and gust and blow unpredictably. No player or experienced caddy can truly fathom the condition of the air as the ball traverses the 155 yards towards the green. That in itself would not be too bad, but the layout of the green, with water in front and deadly sloping sand traps, backed by trees and shrubs (where potential champions — Graeme McDowell in 2011 — can lose their balls) behind the green, and surprisingly, exceptionally bare lies on the sides of the green complete this witches brew. While Gary Player miraculously holed out for birdie from this dangerous down-sloping bunker (Amen, prayer answered!), Tom Weiskopf hit five balls into the water to take an infamous 13 on a par three in the 1980 Masters. Rory Mcilroy not only tripled the 10th but also doubled the 12th in his 2011 meltdown.
Pretty as a Picture but dangerous as Hell!
Remember Jezebel?
The all-time scoring average of 3.29 makes this the toughest par three in the history of golf and a challenge for even those “stupid long” hitters. No need to lengthen, tighten, bend, trap this hole at all. Could course modification learn from this great “teaching and humiliating” hole? Perhaps, but then the first response always seems to be to throw money at the thing to make it go away.
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It is completely feasible that the tournament will be decided on this hole on day four. To drop a shot (or more) here is to put additional pressure on oneself to score birdies on the easy 13th and 15th holes. The fabric of one’s game can begin to unravel especially when one is running out of holes. With the recent rain having softened the fairways, the field is wide open as the long hitters may have lost their distance advantage. Who will it be? Phil? Rory? Westwood? Woods? Donald? or the promising young amateur Patrick Cantlay? Pick one.
Addendum: My good friend Stephen Mulholland from South Africa quite rightly raps me for omitting the near-win by Tom Watson at age 61 in the British Open two years ago. I blame that damn German doctor fellow for this lapse of memory!
The author is chairman, Honda Siel Cars India Ltd; and co-chairman, Usha International Ltd