Getty Image / David Cannon
Google Earth is pretty incredible. Creepy in a lot of ways, but incredible at the same time. It’s wild that we can literally get a satellite image of practically every location on the planet. The service updates their images once a month and it has now revealed a rather interesting construction site at Augusta National.
After first seeing a tweet about this from @LouStagner I decided to see it for myself and it looks like the Par 5 13th tee at Augusta is finally being pushed back.
https://twitter.com/ItIsMarkHarris/status/1218972866416402435
For those that may not know, Augusta Country Club borders the 11th and 12 holes plus the 13th tee at Augusta National. If you’ve ever been to the Masters you can catch a glimpse of Augusta Country Club through the trees. It was rumored for years that Augusta National wanted to buy the land, which was actually the 8th green and 9th fairway from Augusta CC for years, and finally did so in August of 2017.
The last Masters I went to was in 2015 and interestingly enough the person we got our practice round tickets from was a member at Augusta Country Club and discussions were starting to pick up about National purchasing the coveted land from the country club. What was interesting was that he was quick to say that money wasn’t the issue. While the land itself would alter the layout of Augusta CC, what members were really after in exchange for the land were tickets to the Masters for x-amount of years to come.
Now, three months ahead of the 2020 Masters, it looks like we could see a new tee at the Par 5. According to the Augusta Chronicle, the new land could allow the hole to be lengthened by up to 60 yards. The hole named Azalea has played around 510 yards in years past and was the easiest hole during last year’s tournament with a 4.474 scoring average.
Pushing the tee back 50-60 yards will turn the hole into a legitimate three-shot hole for most players in the field with Rae’s Creek guarding the front of the green.
While the new tee will likely make viewing of the hole even that much worse for patrons on-site during the tournament – the tee shot is basically impossible to see at this point anyway – it will make things that much more interesting down the stretch for years to come.
It’s worth noting that Augusta or the Masters has not announced any official changes coming to the hole.
Club chairman Fred Ridley discussed the 13th tee back in April of 2019 admitting changes to the positioning of the 13th tee box were under consideration and it’s not an alteration he plans to take lightly while never confirming that it would be moved or lengthened in 2020.
Nevertheless, something major is happening behind the 13th tee at Augusta National.