The par-5 second hole is one of the most exciting at Augusta National, but it’s only been during the past 20-odd years that television viewers have had a chance to see it. Before the early 2000s, CBS broadcasts went live well after the third and fourth-round leaders were beyond it.
It starts in the level north corner of the property behind the first green before plunging more than 70 feet downhill, turning to the left past a yawning fairway bunker. The green is wide and shallow, and two bunkers protect it left and right though they offer the chance for recovery in ways the water features on the second nine’s par 5s don’t. No.2, called “Pink Dogwood”, offers a chance early in the round to make a birdie and build momentum.
The origins of the second hole
From the beginning, architect Alister MacKenzie knew that the length and downhill nature of the second meant that many players would be able to reach the green with two strong shots to set up birdies and even eagles, and statistics bear this out – the second is historically the easiest hole at Augusta National in relation to par (4.77 stroke average).
The first part of the equation entailed avoiding the large bunker that he placed in the centre of the fairway that could be carried with a good drive. Those who pulled that off (a more difficult feat for members than Masters competitors) would see their ball kick forward down the fairway slope to set up the option of playing for the green with a wooden club if they had a good lie.
The green was quite different than it is today, deeper and with a lone bunker on the right. This made it more of an imperative for players to hug the inside corner of the dogleg to open a clear angle into the depth of the green, a tactic that also brought a shallow ravine on the left into play. Hole locations towards the front were very inviting, though the risk and defences increased the further back the flag moved.
Modest alterations change the strategy
A second bunker was added short and left of the green in the 1940s, blocking off access from the old, preferred line – players could no longer chase second shots onto the putting surface unless they threaded the gap between them. To reach the green in two meant carrying the ball in the air.
The tightened window protected front hole locations, but the deep green was still receptive to aerial shots. Consulting architect George Cobb changed the dynamic of the hole more substantially when he rebuilt the green in 1955, making it shallower and adding an extension on the left side. Previously, players who laid up had only their third shot distance to consider. The widened green, with two gull-wing appendages where holes could be tucked, meant lay-ups needed to consider angles as much as distance.
If the hole was cut in the left lobe, players would usually lay up as far to the right of the wide fairway as possible to have more green to work with. When it was placed on the right, the approach was much easier from the left edge of the fairway.
A premium on driver control
Another simple but impactful change occurred a decade later when Cobb filled in MacKenzie’s enormous fairway bunker, which was not in play for the professionals, replacing it with a smaller one further downfield and set to the right-centre. This attention-getting bunker forced the players to hit a controlled right-to-left drive off its left edge. They would still benefit from hitting the speed slot as the fairway began to tumble downhill past it, but the bunker made them earn it by forcing them to shape the tee shot.
Though Augusta National’s fairways were wide – often 60 to 80 paces across – hole locations, the movement in the land and smartly placed bunkers like at the second made it imperative during this era (which lasted until the introduction of the second cut of rough in 1999) to play to precise areas to benefit from additional rollout and better angles to hole locations.
How the second hole plays today
Though it has been lengthened as recently as 2024 and now measures 585 yards (535 metres), the second remains essentially the same hole it has been since Cobb’s green remodel in the 1950s. Players who get their tee shot in the fairway have a bird’s eye view of the green and a chance to get home in two for an early-round birdie or eagle, or even an albatross as Louis Oosthuizen made in the final round in 2012.
The trick off the tee is to sling a right-to-left drive off the bunker to get the downhill roll without overcooking it into the dry gulch on the left, probably the only place on the hole where the competitors can make double-bogey or worse.
Middle pins, both forward and back, are neutral and result in balanced scoring. The tilting contours of the traditional final-round hole location on the right feed balls towards the cup, while left-side hole locations are the most difficult – par is often a good score when balls are left above the hole or in the front-left bunker. No.2 is a dynamic, fascinating test that’s emblematic of the evolved genius of Augusta National’s architecture, where hole location dictates the way the players strategise.
