Andy’s Masters Mailbag

The 2023 Masters is here, and I am here too. Here are your questions and some answers:

I would like to hear what Andy thinks about the second course at Augusta. Would you build it in a similar style [to the original ANGC course] or do something completely different? Do you think Coore & Crenshaw would do it if asked or is that too risky for Ben? -Tom Wethekam

First: I have to give props to Joel Beall for dropping such a big story last week. Second: every Masters I think a lot about HOW MUCH MONEY Augusta National must be making. As Joel’s article mentions, the club is always in the black, and might spend some money to avoid some taxes.

If the club wants to continue to expand, a new course makes a lot of sense. Champions Retreat is simply not a course that fits the tournament they are attempting to build with ANWA and it could be neat to trail blaze with a great women’s championship course. Building a second course at Augusta National would give the club more options in terms of what the next 50 years could look like. Do they want to create more championships? Do they want to have a larger membership? Do they want to have a more inclusive feel but not disturb the exclusivity of the Alister MacKenzie course? Do they want to test innovative agronomic ideas before rolling them out to the big course? If the answer is yes to any of these, the second course would help them do that.

As for the style of the second course, if I were in charge of building it, I would want it to be its own unique course, not just an imitation of the MacKenzie course. I would hire one of the big-name architects and let them do whatever they want. That strategy yielded a great course when they hired MacKenzie more than 90 years ago and generally is what yields the best courses in the world. We are currently in the best era of golf design since the Golden Age. It would be fitting for Augusta National to have a course designed by one of the best Golden Age architects and one of the best architects from this Second Golden Age as well. Coore & Crenshaw are obviously a natural fit due to Ben Crenshaw’s Masters triumphs. But two other names I wouldn’t sleep on are Gil Hanse and Beau Welling. Hanse consults at a number of courses where influential members of the Augusta National braintrust also play. Meanwhile, from everything I have heard, Welling is now Augusta National’s consulting architect.

Since you are credentialed for the Masters, do you guys get a shot at playing on Monday? -Kevin Kaufman

Yes, we were allowed to enter the “media lottery.” Last year, I did not get picked. But fingers crossed that soon I’ll be rebooking my return flight!

Do you think we’ll ever see an amateur win at Augusta? If so, what impact would that have on the game as a whole? -Paul Fitzgerald

I really believe we will see an amateur contend at Augusta National in the near future. Every year, the game is getting younger. Also, Augusta appears to be letting more amateurs in. This year, the game’s top amateur Gordon Sargent got an exemption into the tournament. It’s unclear whether that was extended for his NCAA win, or just his all-around excellence.

Just got in from walking the final four holes of Gordon Sargent's practice round. The hip speed is incredible. Like a young Tiger.

He hit it 40 yards by Max Homa and Justin Thomas on the 17th hole, reaching the top of the hill.

It's incredible speed.

— Sean Martin (@PGATOURSMartin) April 3, 2023

Augusta National doesn’t extend a lot of invitations to amateurs, and the ams that it does traditionally invite are the winners of unpredictable match play tournaments. Often, the best amateur players in the world don’t get a chance to give the pros a challenge at the Masters. That being said, I am extremely excited to see both U.S. Am winner Sam Bennett and the aforementioned Sargent take on ANGC.

Augusta National can be blamed for some unattainable standards/practices that have trickled down to other courses, such as:

1. greener grass = better
2. faster greens = better

What ANGC standards/practices have trickled down to other courses that have made the game better? -Nathan Carr

Not to be a downer but I’m not sure there have been any to date. But, I hope that, in the near future, that’ll change. Here’s two things that Augusta gets right that other places could easily copy:

• One of the most exclusive clubs in the world is staging and hosting an elite women’s golf tournament. The ANWA has provided the biggest stage for women’s golf for four years now. If a club like Cypress Point, Pine Valley, or Seminole hosted an annual event, it would have a similar impact.
• I wish people would go to Augusta National and say wow, that course doesn’t have that many hazards. Somehow, one of the most marvelous design choices at ANGC is often glossed over because the grass is green and the putting greens are fast. Everybody should notice that a course with minimal bunkering and wide fairways yields the most popular event in golf.

What stuck with you from your first trip to Augusta that you’re really looking forward to revisiting? -Cameron Hurdus

I hope to write about this more in the future, but for me, the no-phone policy is a huge part of what makes the Masters special. The policy extends to the press, who can have their phones in the press center but not on the grounds. Unlike other tournaments, where you are out watching golf while also monitoring social media and the leaderboard, at Augusta, you are completely cut off from The Discourse. When you’re on the course, your undivided attention is on what you are watching that day. It’s really special and leads to deeper thinking.

A phoneless Augusta National crowd. Courtesy of Getty Images

Do you (Andy) pick up more architectural detail and nuance from playing a course or just by walking a course and observing? I’m curious if you think that there might be aspects (green contours, bunker placement, shot corridors, etc.) of Augusta that you think you might see differently or pick up if you played the course. -Brian Fitzpatrick

This is a great question, Brian! I think that both playing and just walking a course are extremely helpful experiences in different ways. You can walk a course a dozen times but nothing simulates the understanding you from standing over a shot thinking about how the design makes you feel. That said, playing golf forces you to think primarily about the spots where your ball ends up.

Meanwhile, when you walk a course, you are free of the anxiety of worrying about your next shot. This allows you to take in what’s happening around you far better. I tend to notice that I see more features of the course while just walking, but it’s more difficult to understand what a tee shot might feel like to hit.

What would Andy serve at his Champion’s Dinner? -Grant Gates

I might be a prisoner of the moment—I am currently living in a metropolitan area void of any pizza that doesn’t have the texture of cardboard—but I think I might go with Chicago Style Pizza, both deep dish and tavern style. (The latter is the hot new pizza everyone is just discovering.) A recommendation for anyone that is visiting Chicago and getting pizza: do not just get a deep dish pizza, you will be missing the actual “I live in Chicago experience.” Order a smaller deep dish pizza and a smaller thin crust (tavern style) pie and enjoy the unmatched variety of styles that no other city boasts.

For those staying in the city, my favorite pizzeria is Pequods. If you’re going there, you should anticipate a long wait. You can go to the bar next door while you wait, but expect to be hanging out for at least 90 minutes on a weekend. Otherwise, in Chicagoland, Lou Malnati’s is a rock-solid option that you can get just about everywhere.

What’s the best way to cope with my annual Masters ticket lottery rejection letter? -Mark Harbeson

I think the best way to cope with this is to think of all the money and vacation time that you are saving. Maybe every year you get denied, you instead treat yourself to a day off and a reasonable purchase that enhances your at-home viewing experience. If you keep getting rejected for the next 20 years, think of how good your home setup for the Masters will be by 2043.

Augusta is considered a model for other courses around the country. With that in mind, what is its plan for sustainability as resources become more constrained? The constant land acquisitions and course expansions, along with the volume of inputs, resources, and water needed to maintain the course at a high level, set an unrealistic standard for other courses and the average golfer. -Kevin Van Cleef

This is a question that I have been thinking of asking Fred Ridley. Augusta National is, by far, the most influential course in America, and one of the biggest concerns in golf over the next 100 years will be sustainability. Surely, Augusta’s sustainability decisions will have a huge impact on the golf world as a whole. I do not have an intimate understanding of all of Augusta National’s turf practices. but based on what I have seen, my guess is their budget and inputs are greater than those at 99.9% of courses in the world. Their rye overseed is something that requires a ton of water and growth agents. I can’t imagine that Augusta National is in any hurry to change the look and feel of its tournament but I do think that if the club begins to take sustainability into consideration, the rest of the golf world will follow.