Every Hole at Augusta National - No. 8, Yellow Jasmine
History, Masters strategy, and expert commentary on the par-5 eighth
The Basics
This uphill three-shotter consistently produces the highest scoring average of Augusta National’s four par 5s, but it still presents a welcome birdie opportunity after the tough stretch of Nos. 4-7. From the elevated tee, the player’s main task is to avoid the huge fairway bunker eating into the right side of the fairway. In Alister MacKenzie’s typical fashion, however, that bunker is placed exactly where the ideal tee shot would otherwise land. If players bail left, they will find themselves blocked by trees on their next shot, needing to sling the ball from right to left to get back into position. Those who carry the bunker or end up near it will have a green light to launch their second shots straight at the green, through a mound-framed saddle at the top of the hill. The green complex, MacKenzie’s version of a punchbowl template, is one of the most eccentric on the course — long, narrow, bunkerless, and surrounded by tall, overtly manufactured mounds. Recoveries from either side are difficult to get close.
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History
Aside from losing a great deal of width — the fairway bunker was once in the center of the corridor rather than on the right side — the eighth hole strongly resembles what Alister MacKenzie and Bobby Jones built 90 years ago. However, the par 5 went through a few odd variations in the mid-20th century before returning to its original form. In 1957, Augusta National chairman Clifford Roberts knocked down the greenside mounds to open up better spectator views. What remained was a bizarre-looking, pancake-flat putting surface. The next year, George Cobb rebuilt the green with a pair of bunkers to make it slightly more respectable. After Roberts's suicide in 1977, the club decided to take the green back to its 1934 design, enlisting two-time Masters champion Byron Nelson and architect Joseph Finger to carry out what would be the first significant golf course restoration project of the post-World War II era.
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Strategy Notes for the Masters
Send driver on No. 8. Clearing the right fairway bunker requires roughly a 315-yard carry, achievable for some of the longest hitters in the field. The fairway bunker imposes a stiff penalty: players who find it must hit a high-lofted, safe recovery shot, leaving a full wedge in, while those who hit the fairway can usually get on or around the green.
Players who end up on the left side of the fairway or in the left rough must contend with trees on the long, uphill approach. While most elite ball-strikers in the modern game prefer shaping the ball left-to-right, the second shot here demands the opposite: a long iron or wood that curves from right to left. Most players will aim toward the right edge of the green on the approach, erring on the side of caution with ample fairway right, while significant danger lurks left of the green. –Joseph LaMagna
Our Take
“Yellow Jasmine” is the most underrated hole at Augusta National. The combination of the fairway bunker impinging on the right and the trees cutting in on the left still governs off-the-tee strategy beautifully. The hole is also one of the few on the course that preserves MacKenzie and Jones’s founding minimalist concept: with just one bunker, some trees, and a bold, ingenious green design, No. 8 generates ample interest and excitement.
Expert Commentary
Alister MacKenzie (1932): “A three-shot hole uphill. The green is in a punchbowl surrounded by large hillocks nine to twelve feet high. It is completely visible for the third shot and a player who is sufficiently long to get up in two will be able to define the position of the green owing to the size of the surrounding hillocks. It may be compared to the 17th green at Muirfield (Scotland).”
Bobby Jones (1959): “This is another par 5 which can be reached under normal conditions with two find shots. Here again, although the line is not directly over the bunker, it is well to hit the tee shot with sufficient power to make the carry. It is important that the ball be kept a bit to the right of the center of the fairway so that the second shot may be played through the saddle formed by the mounds at the top of the hill and so directly toward the green. Should he play left to avoid the fairway bunker, the player must risk skirting the trees on the left on his second shot in order to get very near the green. Many good rounds have been spoiled by encounters with the trees at this point, and a second played out safely to the right usually leaves a very difficult approach. It is an indication of our interest in our spectators at Augusta that this green was completely redesigned and rebuilt for the sole purpose of providing better visibility for spectators and a better gallery flow through what had been a congested area.”
Geoff Ogilvy (2019): “Strategically, the [eighth hole] ticks every box. The more risk you take off the tee, the less you have to hook your second shot to get it on the green. It’s exactly the same on the second shot. If you take no risk on the second shot, the further right you go, the harder your wedge. The further left you go, the easier your wedge in, but you risk going left into the flowers and the rubbish.... It’s a really brave shot, the second shot. You’ve got to hook, quite solidly, some sort of 3-wood to get up near the green or anywhere close to the hole. That’s a really difficult shot off an upslope. Whenever you try to do that off an upslope, you generally miss it right. That hole allows you to miss it right, so your brain says, ‘It’s okay if I don’t hit this [perfectly].’ So everyone generally flails it out to the right. You can lay up as far right as you want to. You have a football field right of the green to hit your second into. It’s quite a receptive green to hit it within 25 feet because it’s high on both sides. It doesn’t repel balls; it brings them back towards the hole. To hit it inside six feet in three [shots] is tough, but to get it within 30 feet for birdie is quite easy.”
Memorable Shots
Tiger Woods sets up an eagle in the final round (2011 Masters)
Jon Rahm made double bogey after a topped shot in the third round (2020 Masters)
Tom Kite holed a wedge for eagle, then Seve Ballesteros followed with his own eagle minutes later (1986 Masters)
Course Routing
Click on a pin below to preview the hole or go to the full profile of the hole.
Augusta National
Ever since it opened, Augusta National has been in a constant state of evolution (for better or for worse), but it remains one of the greatest championship venues in the world
Hole 1 - Tea Olive
Augusta National's property is defined by a single broad downslope that ends at Rae’s Creek, and this par-4 opener is the only hole on the course that sits completely on top of it. Strategically, No. 1 at Augusta National is one of the most compelling opening holes in professional golf.
Hole 2 - Pink Dogwood
The second hole at Augusta National produces more off-the-tee variety than most par 5s in professional golf.
Hole 3 - Flowering Peach
Players face three basic options off the tee: hit a long iron or hybrid near the bunkers at the top of the first ridge, leaving a full wedge in; bash it left, past the bunkers and into the valley short left of the green; or go straight for the green in hopes of at least holding the narrow shelf short right. The most strategically complex hole on the golf course, “Flowering Peach” has stood the test of time, less affected by distance gains than most holes at Augusta National.
Hole 4 - Flowering Crab Apple
The first — and longest — par 3 at Augusta National has historically required a strong strike with at least a long iron, though club selections in the Masters have shifted as distance gains have spiraled out of control. Can you execute a towering shot with a long iron, hybrid, or fairway wood?
Hole 5 - Magnolia
“Magnolia” is like Paul Thomas Anderson’s film of the same name: brilliant, probably underrated, but a tad bloated. Nonetheless, the hole presents an honest challenge, and the green is one of the most artfully shaped at Augusta National (or anywhere else).
Hole 6 - Juniper
“Juniper” is, in our opinion, Augusta National’s second-best par 3. Each pin position presents a different range of challenges and exciting possible outcomes.
Hole 7 - Pampas
Yes, the green contours are fun, but “Pampas” has morphed into something that Alister MacKenzie likely would not endorse: a hole that merely defends itself through length and narrowness rather than asking complex strategic questions.
Hole 8 - Yellow Jasmine
This uphill three-shotter consistently produces the highest scoring average of Augusta National’s four par 5s, but it still presents a welcome birdie opportunity after the tough stretch of Nos. 4-7. “Yellow Jasmine” is the most underrated hole at Augusta National.
Hole 9 - Carolina Cherry
The ninth hole plays from a high point near the first and eighth greens, down through a valley frequently used by galleries, and up the hill where the clubhouse sits. From a risk-reward perspective, “Carolina Cherry” is a bit of a muddle.
Hole 10 - Camellia
The 10th hole kicks off the back half of the round in hair-raising fashion, plunging 100 feet into a valley shrouded by tall pines. Perry Maxwell’s 1938 transformation of “Camellia” is one of the rare cases in which a change to MacKenzie and Jones’s design represented a substantial improvement.
Hole 11 - White Dogwood
No. 11 is simply a brute, often playing as the most difficult hole to par at Augusta National. It’s also been one of the most frequently tinkered-with holes at Augusta National.
Hole 12 - Golden Bell
The focal point of Amen Corner and the center of gravity in any final round of the Masters, the 12th hole at Augusta National is as terrifying as it is beautiful.
Hole 13 - Azalea
This iconic risk-reward par 5 offers the first of a series of birdie opportunities on Augusta National’s home stretch.
Hole 14 - Chinese Fir
Although some nuances of MacKenzie and Jones’s original strategic concept for the hole have been lost, “Chinese Fir” is still a compelling par 4, rewarding precise and well-shaped shots both off the tee and into the green.
Hole 15 - Firethorn
No. 15 consistently presents one of the toughest decisions players have to make during their rounds: go for the green in two or lay up to one of the most demanding wedge shots in golf.
Hole 16 - Redbud
Set at the base of the ridge that the fifth green and sixth tee occupy, the par-3 16th hole provides a ready stage for championship-defining shots. Over the past several decades, the 16th has shown an undeniable knack for spectacle.
Hole 17 - Nandina
From tee to green, No. 17 is one of the simplest holes at Augusta National and is likely the least-loved hole on the second nine.
Hole 18 - Holly
“Holly” is a little funky, but its design is smart and elegant: bend it around the trees on the right and bypass some of the natural difficulty of the next shot.
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Every Hole at Augusta National - No. 12, Golden Bell
Every Hole at Augusta National - No. 11, White Dogwood
Every Hole at Augusta National - No. 10, Camellia
Every Hole at Augusta National - No. 9, Carolina Cherry
Every Hole at Augusta National - No. 7, Pampas
Every Hole at Augusta National - No. 6, Juniper
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