Augusta National Golf Club home of the Masters tournament has not been afraid to make changes to the golf course as the game of golf has evolved over the years!
They have made holes longer,aquired a local housing communitiy to knock it all down and build a new driving range! They have planted 50 foot pine trees on holes which is a expensive operation in it self! The greens at Augusta National have a underground air venting system to dry them out if needed!
The depth of the new proposed changes at Augusta National Golf Club, which is in discussions to buy another parcel from neighboring Augusta Country Club.
As the Masters grows in popularity, Augusta National desires better access to the left side of the 11th and 12th holes, which border the property line of Augusta Country Club to the south.
The changes also would allow Augusta National to lengthen the iconic par-5 13th hole, if club officials were so inclined.
The course lengthening was facilitated by an acquisition of land from Augusta Country Club, ranked No. 68, Golfweek’s Best Classic Courses. In 2001, Augusta National bought a small parcel of land from Augusta Country Club to position a new back tee for the 13th.
According to a source with knowledge of the negotiations, Augusta National has approached ACC with an interest in acquiring land that includes the fairway and right side of the 388-yard, par-4 ninth hole. Enough room exists left of the ninth hole to slide the entire par-4 over without disturbing the routing and flow of the Donald Ross-designed Augusta CC. The current fairway on the ninth hole comes close to Augusta National's 12th green and 13th tee, at the heart of Amen Corner. Once, an errant ball from Augusta Country Club ended up on Augusta National’s 12th green with Woods on the putting surface during Masters play.
The anticipated purchase price of the parcel is believed to be $27 million.
However, a source indicated that getting to that price was not easy, with a low initial offer of just $1 million from ANGC and a counter offer of $50 million from ACC.
The eventual back and forth of offer and counteroffer left some residual bad feelings around town, the source told Golfweek.
“They want to move the (13th) tee back. They also want to build a service road behind it so they can get service vehicles around 13, down to the right, all the way around to the 12th green and up around 11,” the source said. “So they want a ton of room, and they want to put up this massive, thick trees out there to completely sort of obscure the view, which I understand that.”
The par-5 13th hole, a sweeping dogleg left around Rae’s Creek, plays 510 yards. A land acquisition would allow an architect to add 50 or so yards to a par 5 generally regarded as being the best risk-reward hole in golf.
Zach Johnson famously avoided the risk of Augusta National’s par 5s and wedged his way to the 2007 Masters title. Asked about the proposed lengthening of No. 13, he said, “I won’t comment on that, but I will say I don’t like change.”
Representatives of Augusta National Golf Club and Augusta Country Club would not comment when asked about the proposed purchase, with both clubs citing their respective policies of not commenting on club business.