Augusta National just got longer – again

February 23rd, 2022 / Bernie McGuire

With a little over a month to go, the home of the Masters has released their 2022 Masters Media Guide that reveals the Georgia golfing gem now measures 6,867 metres for this year’s hosting of the annual tournament.

It is the first lengthening of the course since 2019 when the course measured 6,835 metres.

The Masters flag flies at Augusta National (Credit: PGA Tour)

For this year’s Masters, the club has lengthened the par-4 11th hole by some 14 metres to 475 metres while the par-5 15th has been stretched by 18 metres to 503 metres.

The lengthening to the furthest hole from the stately Georgian clubhouse, the 11th and known as White Dogwood, has no doubt been undertaken to bring the pond guarding the green more into play and further testing the second shot accuracy of those in the field.

As well, the club has moved the 11th tee more to the left as you look down the fairway, and removed several pine trees down the right side of the hole. The 11th was ranked the second-hardest in 2021 averaging 4.40 strokes.

Historically, the 15th (Firethorn), which averaged 4.77 strokes at last year’s Masters, is the easiest at Augusta National.

It was also at the 15th that Gene Sarazen double-eagled the par-5, hitting a 4-wood second shot some 210 metres, with his ‘shot heard around the world’ en route to victory in the second hosting of the Masters in 1935. The bridge you cross in front of the green is named after ‘The Squire’.

There’s also been changes to the closing hole, the par-4 18th with the tees being extended back by 12 metres, though the official length at the last remains at 425 metres (465 yards).

Augusta National measured 6,218 m (6,800 yards) in the 1940′s and didn’t change appreciably until the “Tiger-proofing” years when approx. 400 metres were added to the course inside a decade – a total that eclipsed the previous 50 years of course changes.