AUGUSTA, Ga. — One of the most iconic holes in golf, Augusta National’s 13th, has also played as one of the easiest in major championship history. But it certainly hasn’t been a pushover so far this week.
During Thursday’s first round, the famed par 5 played over par with a stroke average 5.032—a rarity for a hole that has historically played to a 4.774 average. And that opening-round number is approaching Azalea’s highest scoring average ever, which was 5.042 way back in 1976.
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“Yeah, really brutal,” Viktor Hovland said of 13 and the par-5 15th, which played to a stroke average of 4.916, playing more difficult than usual. “It’s like you have No. 2, that’s a birdie hole, but even that’s no joke with that left pin. You have to hit a good tee shot and a good second shot and probably still scramble to make a birdie. Then 3 with that pin placement, that’s also a fairly easy hole. But other than that, you don’t really—there’s really no reprieve after that.”
So what’s going on here? Well, there are a few reasons.
For one, there’s the fact the hole was lengthened from 510 yards to 545 yards ahead of the 2023 Masters. Never has a 35-yard change produced so many headlines.
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Another reason for 13 playing tougher on Thursday was a front-left pin position that made it difficult to hit second shots close. As a result, only two eagles were made on Day 1.
But then there’s a third, sneakier reason. Ahead of the tournament, there were rumblings the grass on 13 wasn’t being cut as much as normal, which has two effects. The obvious one being players get less roll on tee shots making the hole play longer.
Less obvious is that this prevents golf balls from rolling back down off the sloped right rough and fairway. That leads to some (more) awkward lies on second shots.
Photo by Stephen Denton.
“I had a 7-iron in my hand and I just made a bad swing. It’s kind of tricky here,” said Joaquin Niemann, who found Rae’s Creek with his approach there during the first round and made bogey. “Right where I was, it was kind of like a big slope where the ball was way, way on top of my feet.”
Niemann was far from the only player to stumble on the hole. Jordan Spieth, Will Zalatoris, and Fred Couples were among a large group of players who made bogey or worse there on Thursday.
We’re more likely to say some combination of reasons No. 2 and No. 3 are the main culprits due to the past two years. In 2023 and 2024, the first two years after 13’s much-talked-about lengthening, the hole still played to stroke averages of 4.758 and 4.738, respectively.
Anyway, it’s something to keep an eye on as the week goes on. Especially because it’s one of the most-watched holes already.
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This article was originally published on golfdigest.com
