Augusta sets the standards by which all other courses are judged – for better or for worse. We discuss the conclusions that British courses should draw.
What we can learn from – by Tom Irwin
1. The number of bunkers at Augusta
There are 44 bunkers at Augusta. 32 are green side, and just 12 are greenside. One hole, the 14th, has none. At the time of writing, it is playing over par for the week.
With just 12 tee bunkers, you might imagine that very few of the top players find any at all. Yet, our leader by 6 shots has visited five already, so about 20% of all possibilities. He is the best player in the world.
Bunkers are expensive to maintain. In British conditions, they can become flooded, unplayable, full of leaves, and are often poorly conditioned and variable.
They are scant challenge to the better player. Rory has made two birdies and three pars on the holes he has driven it in a bunker this week. Yet for the weaker player, they are a disaster, and for the beginner can be hugely dispiriting.
So, fill them in, create interesting grassy swales and hills, create interesting run-offs where all players have a chance and the best players have choices. They hate that.
2. Augusta’s enthusiasm to keep the grass short
Augusta has almost no rough, it has a first and second cut but there is nothing troubling. It also has very few places it is possible to lose a ball (save boundaries). Yet at the time of writing, only around 30 players are under par, and all but no one is better than 6.
Better players hate it when their ball can run into trouble, what they crave is control. Fast firm conditions are one thing, but in those fast firm conditions, you have to allow the ball to run away from the desired finishing spot.
For the weaker player, an absence of rough means fewer lost balls, which means quicker rounds that are more fun and the opportunity to complete most holes without the embarrassment of a walk back to a tee or the dreaded blob.
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Far from dumbing the game down, wider fairways restore angles and all for a hole to play in a variety of ways. depending on flag position, increasing interest and strategy.
3. The way Augusta moves the tees up and down
We all play the same course most of the time and often using the same tee set. Flag positions move but how often does the position of the tee shift? This week, the 4th hole at Augusta has varied in length from 240 yards to 175 yards. That is huge.
A course can move up to 100 yards in total length before course rating is affected, and a maximum of 10 yards per hole. This feels restrictive in an era where we are trying to increase fun and maximise interest.
Playing holes from differing lengths, each time is an education, it can eliminate or restore hazards, it can introduce risk and reward and totally change your perspective on how a hole can be changed.
Even within the restrictions imposed by amateur governing bodies, tees should be moved up and down as frequently as possible
What we can’t learn from – by Dan Murphy
1. Augusta’s control over the conditions
Augusta’s approach to agronomy is the most sophisticated in the world. The golf course is not even open for play for almost half the year. The climate in their winter and spring months is perfect for golf, and this golf course. Even a busy day when they are open would hardly correspond to a midweek medal at the average British course. To give an idea of the level of detail involved, every single tree on the property is tagged. They know how old it is, how big it is and how many branches it has.
Every year is dominated by the preparations for a couple of weeks in the spring. Irrigation and drainage are monitored and adjusted to minute detail.
At pretty much every course in Britain, we take what the weather gives us to a greater or lesser extent. Nobody would claim that our climate is an exact science. Therefore, we cannot expect that our courses will miraculously be ready for play by the time the Masters comes around each spring or that they will be at their very best for a certain day in the club calendar. It just doesn’t work like that.
2. Augusta’s incredible bunkering
There are remarkably few bunkers at Augusta National – two and a half per hole on average – but many of them are huge in scale. Architecturally, they are fascinating and visually, they are stunning but maintaining them is a cost- and labour-intensive process that is beyond all but the wealthiest clubs.
In fact, bunkers should be kept to a minimum and not least because they are disproportionately problematic to the weaker golfer. When bunkers cannot be maintained to the required level, they become scruffy, inconsistent and unfair.
Used sparingly, they are an interesting hazard that can add strategic interest to the game. But when purely punitive, they make very few golfers happy.
3. The speed of Augusta’s greens
For the best players in the world, the combination of Augusta’s contours and the speed of the greens creates what might be thought of as the ultimate challenge. It should also be borne in mind that conditions at Augusta are almost always perfect – it isn’t often that the Masters is played in a freezing easterly off the North Sea with rain turning into sleet.
Good greens should not be confused with fast greens – which are often dangerous to turf health to maintain in the longer term anyway.
Better to concentrate on the quality of the surfaces and understand that contours are more interesting than speed. Combine the two, and you end up with something utterly beyond the scope of almost all golfers. The impact on both pace of play and enjoyment is huge. We should not chase fast greens. They are stressful for turf and golfers alike. It’s unsustainable, unnecessary and undesirable.
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NOW READ: Why Augusta National sets the standard for spectator viewing at The Masters
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What can we learn from Augusta National? What do you make of our points from the ground at the 2026 Masters? Let us know on Facebook
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