The Toughest Holes at Augusta

The 2010 Masters Golf Tournament will be held April 9^th through April 12^th at Augusta National in Georgia. Live coverage of the events will start on Wednesday at 3 PM EST with the first round of play starting on Thursday April 9^th. We still don't know if Tiger Woods will resume golfing for the 2010 Masters, but Jack Nicklaus believes that we'll see Tiger back for this year's Masters.

The Augusta National course is an exclusive golf club that is the only course to host a PGA major every year with the other three majors rotating between major courses. All of the holes at Augusta National are named after a bush or tree. Some of the toughest holes at Augusta National include the 10^th (Camelia), the 12^th (Golden Bell), and the 4^th (Flowering Crabapple).

Toughest Holes at Augusta - Camelia (10th)

Camelia is known by the club members and PGA professionals as the toughest hole on the golf course. The hole normally plays at just under 500 yards and is a par 4. In order to have a decent shot at par on the hole, you have to hit an almost perfect drive on a sloping fairway being careful to not end up too far downhill to the left. If you end up on the left hand side of the hole, then you have trees impeding your approach shop. Last year, there were only 16 birdies on Camelia over all four rounds. The historic average for PGA players on the hole is worse than par at 4.25 strokes.

Toughest Holes at Augusta - Golden Bell

The 11^th through 13^th holes at Augusta are known as "Amen Corner. The 12^th hole or Goolden Bell is in the center of this corner of the course and is a relatively short hole at 155 yards. Although the hole is the shortest on the course, its rated as the second most difficult hole on the course due to the protection of the green. Up front is Rae's creek and the back of the green is lined with shrubbery. Add to this the front and rear bunkers with difficult pin placements and you get a consistent average of over par on the hole by PGA professionals.

Toughest Holes at Augusta - Flowering Crabapple

The Flowering Crabapple is the 4^th hole at Augusta. Its an extremely long par 3 at 240 yards with a front and side bunker protecting the hole. Many players who can land a low iron on the hole have to try and skip the ball through the bunkers to the hole using a wood which normally results in a long putt for the pros choosing that route to the hole. The Flowering Crabapple normally plays at 3.29 average strokes per hole in professional play.

Refs:

http://www.augusta.com/masters/coursetour/

http://www.masters.com/en_US/about/tvsched.html?promo=left

http://bleacherreport.com/articles/153599-augusta-national-masters-hole-by-hole-breakdown