It might surprise some people that Augusta National is not the top-ranked course in America. It has earned the No. 1 spot before—three times in our ranking’s history, the last time being 2015. Most times, Augusta National has been ranked second in our ranking of America’s 100 Greatest Courses list.
Though the home of the Masters is the most famous course in the U.S., it’s Pine Valley Golf Club in southwest New Jersey that owns the top spot in our ranking most often. (Our new ranking will be published at the end of next month, so stay tuned if that remains the same.)
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What makes Augusta National so good? It’s the result of the scores from our course-ranking panelists, who evaluate courses for Golf Digest based on six scoring definitions—Shot Options, Challenge, Layout Variety, Aesthetics, Conditioning and Character. Not surprisingly, Augusta National ranks first in Character and Conditioning and second in Aesthetics. Our panelists admit: The toughest thing about evaluating Augusta National is separating the experience of getting to play this insanely exclusive course and to examine the architectural merits.
Dom Furore false Private Augusta National Golf Club Augusta, GA 5 12 Panelists
- 100 Greatest
- Best In State
No club has tinkered with its golf course as often or as effectively over the decades as has Augusta National Golf Club, mainly to keep it competitive for the annual Masters Tournament, an event it has conducted since 1934, with time off during WWII. All that tinkering has resulted in an amalgamation of design ideas, with a routing by Alister Mackenzie and Bobby Jones, some Perry Maxwell greens, some Trent Jones water hazards, some Jack Nicklaus mounds and swales and, most recently, extensive rebunkering and tree planting by Tom Fazio. The tinkering continues, including the lengthening of the par-4 fifth in the summer of 2018, the lengthening of the 11th and 15th holes in 2022, and the addition of 35 yards to the famed par-5 13th in 2023. Explore our full review
Our rankings have nothing to do with the amenities, experience or how exclusive a course is. It’s just about the golf course. That’s why it’s so hard for the guest, getting to evaluate a course they’ve seen on TV dozens and dozens of times, to study the task at hand.
“The width on many of the fairways is slowly starting to return from the Hootie/Payne narrow days, and with the recent hurricane many many trees have come down whether they wanted them to or not. None of which had anything to do with the playing strategy of any of the holes, so no harm no foul, but it does open of the vistas more than any time in my first visit in the late 80s. There is every other golf course on the planet Earth and then there is Augusta, no matter how many times you have played and stayed.”
J.D. Cuban
“A masterful routing takes full advantage of wonderful topography and natural beauty. The best maintained bunkers on the planet guard some of the fastest, truest greens in the world. The green complexes are spectacular—challenging the chipping skills of the best players in the world. A varied test of golf— especially your short game.”
“Augusta National challenges the best golfers in the world but remains playable and enjoyable for a wide variety of golfers. With wide fairways and low-cut green surrounds, recoverability is often an option, but strategic placement off the tee and into the greens is important to score. While most of the course allows advancement playing on the ground, Amen Corner requires aerial approach shots, so hopefully you are warmed up by then!”
“The greens roll pure and showcase Alister Mackenzie’s dramatic contouring and illusions within the green complexes. Despite the absence of ocean or mountain views, each hole stands out on its own, and the routing highlights the dramatic natural topography of the land effectively. The high-faced white bunkers offer a striking contrast to the turf and create an aesthetic that is hard to beat. Additionally, the backdrops provided by the native landscape and large loblolly pines throughout the course give ANGC its well-known southern charm.”
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Stephen Denton
“As close to a perfect golf course as you can get. It is not as challenging as Oakmont, especially when considering green speeds, fairway slants and fairway bunkers. It is perhaps very slightly less conditioned than Pine Valley, although I challenge anyone to find a weed at either location. But, on some many levels Augusta National is nearly the perfect golf course. There are tremendous elevation changes, and every hole has been designed with these elevation changes in mind. Each hole seems to be almost isolated from the rest of the golf course, even though it is interconnected and even the front and back nines occasionally come together. The Greens at Augusta National may be the best greens that I have ever played, with a perfect combination of difficulty and demanding shots be placed into the correct section of the green. The bunkers are perfect, and the caddies are well trained to keep them that way. When the caddy is finished, the bunker looks like no one has ever been in it. During the Masters, it is said that the tournament starts on the back nine. The same can be said for Augusta National as a golf course. The front nine is excellent, but the back nine is likely the best collection of nine golf holes on the planet.”
“No rough to speak of, but you must hit specific locations off tee to manage clean shots into greens. Must carry several elevation changes to greens. Challenging shot making on various holes like 2, 3, 5, 10, 12, etc. They require you to carry over some ravines and water/bunkers with height or you will not hold greens.”
“The golf course is an excellent mix of holes when you look at length variations (long and short), uphill/downhill, many risk reward options and with many different strategic shot options. Very well and strategically bunkered (both off the tee and around the greens), trees frame the holes very well and the green structures were especially challenging. The bunkers are very penal if you hit them in the wrong spot (both off the tee and around the greens)—if you short side yourself it is very challenging. The uniqueness of the green structures led to many different hole locations that make each hole play strategically different. Conditioning was impressive.”
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J.D. Cuban
“Much has been noted about the large elevation changes of the course, but the size and scale of the property contribute at least as much to the impression one gets playing the course. ANGC, as a former club chairman stated, is not your Saturday country club. It is an institution where everything good about the game is curated, celebrated, and constantly under review for improvement. Seen as elitist and hyper-stuffy by some, the interaction between members, guests, and employees is everything but that. Respectful, yes. Being mindful of one’s behavior, for sure. But it is obvious that those who play the course do so in a manner that should be the standard at our own Saturday club. How this reflects on the course, its architecture, maintenance, playability, fun and entire experience is profound and unmistakable. The approach if not the allocation of enviable financial resources should be aspirational. Though we are instructed not to give perfect ‘10’ scores as to save room for what might be more ideal, having played the vast majority of GD’s “Top 50,” I am doubtful that I will find a course or two which merit higher “grades” in Conditioning and Character.”
(Note: Comments have been slightly edited to correct grammatical and spelling issues.)
To explore more reviews of Augusta National, and to check out reviews of more than 17,000 courses, explore our Course Review section of GolfDigest.com here.
This article was originally published on golfdigest.com
