We’re getting there, friends. We survived all four seasons rolled into one. We outlasted a couple variants, Tom Brady’s retirement, one war, Tom Brady’s unretirement, and whatever the hell price of petrol currently is. Now it’s almost time for our reward – the thing that makes all of our April-to-April suffering worth it:
The Masters.
In a matter of weeks, a full raucous gallery will flood the confines of Augusta National for the first time since 2019, and from the looks of things, the hallowed ground is more than ready for its return. Behold:
That was the scene at Augusta National as of Wednesday, a little more than three weeks out from the 2022 Masters. The fairways are just starting to glow. The pine straw is better combed than your hair. The grandstands are up and waiting. If this doesn’t get those saliva glands going, then what are you even doing here?
But there’s more than just beauty at play here. From this vantage point, you can also spot some of the anticipated changes to the 11th hole and 15th holes, notably the removal of several trees along the right hand side of the 11th fairway.
The tee box, lurking just outside of the frame, has also been pushed back 15 yards and repositioned slightly to the golfers’ left. There’s also a preview of the 15th’s new tee box – now moved 20 yards back and tucked between some hedges behind the 10th green. (Both fairways have also reportedly been recontoured, but if you can spot that from here, you have the eyes of a falcon.)
Needless to say, if an ordinary picture is worth a thousand words, this might be worth a thousand and one.
