"The answer is they were smothered by Johnson's cack-handed alterations."
Lawrence Donegan seems pretty confident that Billy Payne and Tom Fazio will restore Augusta National to its former glory, prior to Hootie Johnson and Tom Fazio making a mess of it.
The answer is they were smothered by Johnson's cack-handed alterations. He lengthened the course, he planted trees, he narrowed the fairways, he grew a "second cut" (rough) – in other words he did his best to turn a unique course into just another US Open course. He did not quite succeed but he did turn the Masters tournament into a glorified US Open, which is to say it has become devoid of much of the excitement that made it such a global institution.
The next seven days will be about restoring the excitement, although Johnson's successor, Billy Payne, will never, ever concede this point. Yet it has already begun, with a couple of holes being shortened and some greens being rebuilt. There will be further changes in the years to come – trees will be removed, and the strategic element of the course restored.
Sunday, April 5, 2009 at 07:54 PM
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Reader Comments (21)
god i miss pat summerall!
What does cackhanded mean?”
[A] It’s certainly British. It’s only obscure, though, if you’re from somewhere else, since it’s a well-known British informal term for somebody who is inept or clumsy. By extension, it means somebody left-handed, who does everything “backwards” and so looks clumsy or awkward. It first appeared in the middle of the nineteenth century.
The American Heritage Dictionary suggests it comes from Old Norse keikr, bent backwards, and other American dictionaries also suggest this. I disagree, as do most British works of reference. The direct association is with cack, another fine Old English term, for excrement or dung. Cachus was Old English for a privy, and both words come from Latin cacare, to defecate.
It almost certainly comes from the very ancient tradition, which has developed among peoples who were mainly right-handed, that one reserved the left hand for cleaning oneself after defecating and used the right hand for all other purposes. At various times this has been known in most cultures. Some consider it rude even to be given something using the left hand. So to be left-handed was to use the cack hand or be cack-handed.
Speaking of boozy, did anyone see Norman's second into 18 yesterday? Brings to mind Venturi's "hoe down scoreboard" when Greg hit a similar shot at the island scoreboard at Doral a few years back. Nantz may be a lot of things, but compared to Pat Summerall, boozy isn't on the list. . .
I recommend everyone submit their membership application at Augusta National and then you have something to offer. Because, if you are not a member of that club, it is none of your damn business.
I have read terms like ,"ruined the course", "turned it into a joke" and the best one, "the players hate it but are afraid to speak aloud"...
Augusta National could balance Obama's budget with a single check and they sure as hell don't need golf course 'designers' and golf writers telling them where they messed up. How do we know Alister MacKenzie would not have made even more draconian changes if he were still alive?
If you have designed the perfect golf course, I would like to hear your opinions. If you are a writer with a plus 3 USGA index, I would like to hear your opinion. Otherwise, your opinion means nothing to me.
And there is no place on earth less likely for an average golfer to play. The changes literally have NO EFFECT on 28 million American golfers.
Again:
No one turns them down,
They could sell 30,000 MORE tickets for 4 times as much money
They could sell four times as much advertising on TV
They could triple the price of a beer and an (inedible) pimento sand
And their course is the best in America. GD just said so.
Critics might as well tell Sinatra how to sing.
How can one judge something/anything to be the best if you have never tried it, tasted it or in the case of AGNC, played it? Simple answer is you can't.
GD is a system with flaws...but based on the outraged squawking by bluenosed GCA-types, it appears to be a system with lots of credibility and clout, no?
Besides, it doesn't matter if many raters haven't played ANGC, everyone sees it on TV and I'm sure most of the GD raters have walked it in the Masters. Augusta is no secret.
I agree any rating system (GD, BCS, OWGR, etc.) is inherently flawed. Whether #1, 11 or 101, ANGC belongs to the members. I just checked the American Society of Golf Course Architects and my name is not on their roster and there appears to be only about 300 members, including the Nicklaus', father and son. Judging by sheer volume of comments made the past few weeks here and else, I would have guessed there were 14 or 15 million golf course architects.
It is none of our business what these people do with THEIR golf course.
"Unless you believe as we do, begone!. Because we are an echo chamber!"
Are your views simply too important to be questioned?
Dismissing the pimento sandwiches as inedible? Sacrilege.
Heads will roll.
it is not true that one has to be a member or a plus handicap course architect to voice one's opinion on all things relating to the masters. the tournament belongs to all golfers, even if our opinions and criticisms are ignored by both the master of the universe at angc and libertarian enablers like vince.
beides, does anyone really think that hootie or the rest of the aristocrats of golf give a hoot (intended) what we the great unwashed think about anything? i suspect they are equally unaffected by passionate defenses like the one mounted by vince.
Umm, I took one bite and spit it out immediatley. It was simply terrible...inedible.
HUGGAN: Cut all the rough, get rid of the new trees ... move the tee up on 7 and 13 and 15. And fire all the members.
What an asshat.
Why do people feel they can say offensive things like this about a private club. If you despise the course, don't watch. It is a private club.
I'd like to replace all those crooked and yellow teeth in the UK because their owners can't be trusted to brush, but those teeth belong to an entire island full of people for whom dental hygiene is a rumor. Pity.
I know the above gentlemen aren't really major league higher ups at ANGC, but their monthly dues spend just like the big boys...
Use your power wisely, my friend.
And I must add, this gentleman did not tell me this in a threatening way despite the fact I had been very critical of some of his actions. He told me this in a respectful way. So I think you underestimate how much certain members realize they have a national treasure and do not want to lose that. Therefore, they are interested in construction criticism from players, historians and media. In my case, I've been very consistent for a long time about which elements of the course were vital to preserving the original design vision, and which were a mistake to change. It just so happens a whole bunch more people smarter and more influential than I have concurred in that time.