Golfdom Podcast

My chat with Golfdom editor Larry Aylward about this year's Masters...here's the link (the embedded player was causing technical problems.) Gabcast! Shackelford on Augusta #1

Palmer On Thursday?

Scott Michaux writing in the Chronicle about Augusta the museum piece, dropped this bit today:

There are golf museums in other prominent corners of the world, but none comes to life like Augusta National. And it's open to the public only one week a year.

This is why Arnold Palmer will probably step to the first tee Thursday morning for a ceremonial tee shot that will provide as much of a thrill as whoever drains the winning putt come Sunday evening.

Above Augusta, No. 11 Then and Now

Reader Andrew suggested on another post that we check out Google Earth's Augusta National images for an eye-opening look at the recent changes. The Google photos appear to have been taken in 2005 before last year's horrific new grove on No. 11 debuted, but after the decision had been made to force tee shots down the left side. (I still say this is the easier side to approach the green since you are hitting over and away from the worst trouble...)

Anyway, here are the now and then views courtesy of Google Earth and Golf Digest's recently posted photos:

 

Augusta Mayor Upset By Realistic Golf Magazine Portrayal Of City

Yes, hard to believe that Mayor Deke is upset, since this same story has been done about 15 times in the last decade.

But for some reason the current Golf Magazine piece rolled out for its readership of 6 million--yes, that's what the story says--carries some weight.

Golf Magazine is taking a swing at the city of Augusta, and it has some folks teed off.

"It gives a very misleading impression of our city," said Mayor Deke Copenhaver.

Mayor Deke Copenhaver is disgusted by the article, which calls the Garden City "a bargain-basement mosaic of strip malls, strip joints and unassuming houses."

"It's very inaccurate," Copenhaver said.

The article also calls Augusta and the National worlds apart, but says it's only "a short walk from Amen Corner to a Bud Light and beef jerky at the corner store."

(click to see the strip malls)I know, where would anyone get that idea?

The problem with that article is that lots of people will see it. Golf Magazine has more than six million readers.

What, per decade? 

Huggan, Ogilvy Declare Their Love For Augusta Course Changes

That's the closest you're going to get out of me for an April Fool's Day shtick.

Actually, John Huggan uses his Scotsman On Yet Another Dreary Sunday Scotland On Sunday column for a nice trashing of the dismal course changes, but with so many new fresh insights thanks mostly to guys named Ogilvy/Ogilvie.

In what is nothing less than a direct and disrespectful contravention of Mackenzie's and Jones' original and delightful philosophy, the Augusta National that will this week host the world's best golfers resembles nothing more than just another one-dimensional country club. Aerial photographs published in the April issue of Golf Digest graphically portray the tragedy that is the modern Augusta National. In place of what were once spacious and tightly cut fairways, rough has been grown and trees have been planted. What was once the most democratic of courses - one that allowed every standard of player to figure out his own way of playing each hole - has become a golfing Zimbabwe, a misguided dictatorship that has all but eliminated freedom of thought and expression.

Ah, we're just warming up.

Where once professionals as diverse as, say, Tom Kite and Seve Ballesteros - the scientist and the artist - could compete on equal terms at Augusta by playing almost every hole in ways that had almost nothing in common, today every player stands on almost every tee attempting to answer the same question and, in turn, hit the same shot.

In other words, virtually every semblance of strategy has been removed.

Today, the paucity of the landing areas, rather than the player, decides how each hole will be played. At Augusta, the spirit of St Andrews is no more.

"I couldn't understand why, at the Masters last year, [former chairman] Hootie Johnson said that he wasn't sure that Augusta National should be fun," says US Open champion Geoff Ogilvy. "That was a very strange thing to say! He is just not right."

Now now Geoff, you forgot. It was all about Hootie. And fun for Hootie was protecting his pride with a high winning score. It's okay, you were a rookie last year.

"Augusta has a lot to answer for, getting the whole world obsessed with really fast greens," contends Ogilvy, who grew up within walking distance of Royal Melbourne. "They have lost a lot of pin positions with that policy. I bet they used to have a lot more variety.

"I would like to see Augusta's greens - even if only for one year - maybe two feet slower. Then they could use some of the front pins that have basically been eliminated. And you wouldn't need the rough. I think everyone would be comfortable with getting rid of it. It's just not necessary. The course is all about the greens. You don't even need the trees. If you put the pin in the right place there is only one good spot on the fairway.

See, that's just way too much to understand for an architect of T...oh we won't go there. Been there, done that.

"I think Augusta is paradise, but the whole golf world tries to follow their lead too much. And all the recent changes certainly haven't been improving the place. I mean, for 60 years not a bad word was said about the place and for the last five a lot of very important people have been very critical. Which is a shame. That course isn't a national treasure, it's a world treasure. It needs to be preserved. And I hope it will be from now on; they'll get it right."

That's a great point, so great I'm going to bring it up again in tomorrow. Why interrupt the fun?

"It's like if you have a beautiful woman, but after her 20th or 30th plastic surgery she doesn't look as good," quips American professional Joe Ogilvie, neatly summing up the feelings of many.

Hmmm...that's a keeper!

Oh, now isn't this fun. Yet another post for tomorrow too.

Most damning is the news that Ogilvy, a big strong boy and a major champion to boot, is seriously considering laying up short and left of the par-3 fourth green, so ridiculously penal does he consider the punishment for even the narrowest miss at this much-lengthened hole.

"I think the 4th is going to be a two-shot hole for me this year," he says. "From short left it is a relatively easy up-and-down; the only pin that is hard is the one way back right. The chip to the front is easy as you can use the slope.

"It's just too risky a tee-shot to go for. If they put the tee where they did last year and the wind gets to swirling, you will see guys hitting it on to the 5th tee or into that stuff on the right. Even the front bunker is not great; it is hard to spin it out of that sand. So the lay-up to the front left is a legitimate play. Even if the ball rolls back a bit it isn't too bad. You can get to every pin except that top right one. So there is a case for it."

Hey, Mike Clayton and I had a blast talking about all of the great long par-3's in golf really become far more interesting as short 4s. Somehow, I don't think that's what Jones and MacKenzie had in mind here. But just think, if Ogilvy plays it like that, then he'll actually get to play No. 6 at Winged Foot as it was intended!

"Two important aspects of modern golf have gone in completely the wrong direction," says the Australian. "Most things are fine. Greens are generally better, for example. But the whole point of the game has been lost.

"Ben Hogan said it best. His thing was that you don't measure a good drive by how far it goes; you analyse its quality by its position relative to the next target. That doesn't exist in golf any more.

"The angle of attack and the shape of the shot mean nothing nowadays. It is 'can you hit it through the goalposts' on every hole. And so the game becomes a one-dimensional test of execution, time after time."

Those humming noises you hear in the background? Both Mackenzie and Jones spinning wildly in their graves.

"I may not say anything, I may just do sign language."

So nice to see Nick Faldo talking to the British press, this time to James Corrigan in advance of his first Masters in the booth:

"I've always said exactly what I thought, but if I do that at Augusta, only one thing will happen - I'll be out," he said, smiling as he thought of the expulsions that have befallen the loose-lipped in the past. "I'll be walking on eggshells and have my guidelines right next me: they're not 'fans', they're 'patrons'; it's not 'rough', it's 'first cut'. Actually, I may not say anything, I may just do sign language. Only joking. I'm sure Augusta will cut me some slack on my first year."

"I played the members' tees. I can't play the back tees anymore"

Does anyone know when Nicklaus made these comments? From an unbylined report from South Africa's Pretoria News:

Nicklaus played a social round at Augusta recently and came off the course disgusted with its new length.

"I played the members' tees. I can't play the back tees anymore," he told reporters. "Every tee I stood on I saw 73 to 91 yards before the back tee.

"The members tees at Augusta used to be 18 or 27 yards in front, which was a normal distance. It's so far now it is ridiculous, but every golf course is that way."

"I believe they were necessary"

From Ron Sirak's Golf World profile of new Masters Chairman Billy Payne:

The course changes under Johnson--criticized by, among others Arnold Palmer and Jack Nicklaus, who are members and winners of a combined 10 Masters--get Payne's approval. "I believe they were necessary," he says. "This course should never be reduced to driver-pitching wedge as it was becoming." He adds, however, a rolled-back Masters ball is still possible if another distance explosion occurs.

A follow-up for Wednesday's press conference: Do you believe the "second cut" and added trees are integral to preventing the course from being reduced to a driver-wedge design?

I know, I know...he won't say. 

Golf Digest Launches Masters Coverage

Groundbreaking stuff here, but it appears GolfDigest.com is actually going to start the serious online Masters coverage before the first tee shot Thursday when people have been known to go to the Internet for insights into what's happening on-site. I know, revolutionary.

They have some interesting looking blogs set up. A main Masters blog and a photo blog inviting reader photos from the event. And Bob Carney covers some other Masters related info in the "Editor's blog."

A Joe McNally photo from the Masters blog. Because we miss him already...

 

Tiger's Pre-Masters Visits

After winning at Doral:

 Q. How many times in the years you've played the Masters have you gone to Augusta the week before you get there?

TIGER WOODS: Only when there's changes. Only when they decide to rebuild the place.

Q. So most.

TIGER WOODS: Lately.

Augusta National Tree Planting Looks Just As Bad From The Air As It Does From The Fairway

The April Golf Digest features several aerial overviews of Augusta National, and while the "second cut" continues to make the once wall-to-wall tight grass layout look like a thousand other inland American courses, it's the tree planting that says, this could be any country club you see flying into O'Hare.

Most shameful of all is the 15th/17th corridor, which I had to look at twice to convince myself that it wasn't the super narrow 7th hole, but in fact the 17th on the left. Look how narrow those landing corridors are.

The Big Three Together Again?

Nick Seitz dreams of Masters honorary starter scenarios, including a Palmer-Player-Nicklaus trio. I think Middle East peace is more likely.

Palmer As An Honorary Starter

In reading yesterday that Arnold Palmer was considering the club's invitation to serve as the Masters Honorary Starter, I noticed that he's sounding more likely to reprise one of the tournament's great traditions.

While reading Scott Michaux's piece on it today, I wondered about this quote from Palmer:

"I'm giving it some careful consideration now that I have stopped playing competitively.  And you know Augusta is one of my very favorite places, and of course Bill Payne is a good friend and I think he is a great guy to have as the chairman.

"So as of this day, I am really giving that some serious consideration. It isn't that I have anything against doing it. I just want it to be the right time when I decide to do it. That's all."

Is he giving his more careful consideration because of the timing, or because Billy Payne is the chairman (and you-know-who is not running the show). 

The Nicklaus Golf Digest Article, Vol. 5

Finally, there were Jack's comments on Augusta National which I found interesting because last year he appeared to back off of his original assertions made during the Golf Digest Panelist Summit (and subsequently published in the April 2006 Digest).

No grey area here:

I miss the old Augusta National. Is the radically redesigned golf course a good one? Yes. Is it the golf course with the design principles that Bobby Jones and Alister Mackenzie intended? Absolutely not.

Augusta was generous off the tee, which made it great for everyday member play. But to score—to really play golf—you had to position the drive to get a good angle at the green. It was a second-shot golf course.

Now the tee shot is more restricted. Trees and new bunkering have narrowed the landing areas, making Augusta a tight course with few angles or options. I know the changes were made to provide an increased challenge for modern pros and keep them from overpowering the course, but it has taken the charm out of the Jones/Mackenzie design.

So much for any possible misinterpretation that Nicklaus thinks they are upholding the integrity of the original design.

I was disappointed that in doing the redesign, Augusta didn’t consult the five oldest multiple Masters champions who also are course designers [Palmer, Player, Nicklaus, Watson, Crenshaw]. We would have had a lot of good ideas, and we wouldn’t have clashed. We would have come to an agreement because we all have so much respect for what’s there.

Well, I don't know about the part about not clashing...but those five would be a lot better than what they've been doing! 

Payne: Bringing Back "Win-and-you're in" (Maybe)

Doug Ferguson sits down with new Augusta National Chairman Billy Payne and manages to wrestle one bit of news out of him:

Payne wants to restore starting in 2008 the eligibility criteria that PGA Tour winners receive an automatic invitation to the Masters. Johnson did away with the category after the '99 Masters when the Tour began scheduling events – usually with weak fields – the same week as the World Golf Championships and the Ryder Cup or Presidents Cup.

But bringing back the "win-and-you're in'' category is not that simple.

Should the Masters recognize winners from opposite-field events in Mexico, Milwaukee and Reno, not to mention the seven events after the FedEx Cup?

Hey, what about PGA Tour events played against European Tour events with much better fields? Oh, sorry. Continue... 

And does it continue to take the top 40 on the PGA Tour money list or the top 30 in the FedEx Cup? Or both?

"There's a lot of arithmetic in this,'' Payne said. "What you don't want is all of a sudden to have 100 playing participants, and we have arguably eroded the quality of the tournament. Notwithstanding folks' opinion of how the best way to get there is, we're going to do the best we can.''

His goal is to keep the field around 90 players, and "anything that puts that number at significant threat has got an uphill battle.''