AUGUSTA, GEORGIA | Change is constant at Augusta National Golf Club, which is known as much for its near-century of tradition as it is for its 21st-century leadership in the game.
Chairman Fred Ridley disclosed during his annual media address last week before the 88th Masters that two big updates to the facilities are coming, and he resisted other calls for change at the club.
After the high-end Map & Flag hospitality center opened this year on Washington Road across from the club, two major construction projects will follow immediately after the tournament, which ended Sunday, Ridley said. A tunnel under Washington Road will be built to ease access for patrons to Map & Flag. Also, the expansive practice area opened for the 2010 Masters will be rebuilt to accommodate an underground two-level parking garage.
Yet, there are some other potential changes that will be off limits at Augusta National.
ANGC will continue to stand behind the United States Golf Association and the R&A in the ball rollback scheduled to take place in 2028 for professionals and 2030 for amateurs as the governing bodies attempt to rein in distance gains. In doing so, he drew a red line short of an 8,000-yard Augusta National.
“Adding distance to the Augusta National golf course has become standard operation over the past two decades,” Ridley said. “For almost 70 years, the Masters was played at just over 6,900 yards. Today the course measures 7,550 yards from the markers.”
The par-3 12th hole, known as Golden Bell and sitting at the apex of Amen Corner, is just fine and certainly doesn’t need 10 more yards, as past champion Vijay Singh recently suggested. Actually, the 12th is as close to perfect as a one-shotter can get, Ridley said.
“I would say with a hundred-percent certainty that it would not be lengthened during my tenure,” Ridley said. “That’s almost like asking can we touch up the Mona Lisa a little bit.”
The success of the Augusta National Women’s Amateur and the Drive, Chip and Putt finals, held on the weekend preceding the Masters, has renewed calls for ANGC to consider hosting a women’s professional tournament. It’s highly unlikely, said Ridley, who noted that the club closes in mid-May and won’t reopen until the fall.
Change for the sake of change is not part of Augusta National’s credo, but progress and foresight certainly remain key to the operations manual. READ MORE
Jason Day attracted plenty of attention last week at the Masters, but it wasn’t so much for his play as for how he looked.
Dressed in baggy pants that flapped in the strong winds in the second round, Day earned the equivalent of an Augusta National penalty stroke with the rest of his attire Friday. The Australian, who earlier this year became the first PGA Tour player to sign a sponsorship deal with Malbon Golf, wore a white vest with “No. 313 Malbon Golf Championship” splashed in large block letters across the front. The sartorial misstep attracted a viral response on social media, with very little of it complimentary.
Day confirmed the next day that he had been asked by club officials to change shirts, which he said is part of what the company lays out for him in advance.
“Respectfully, you do that, because it’s all about the tournament here, and I respect the tournament,” Day said. READ MORE
Compiled by Steve Harmon