Augusta National Hole by Hole: A Complete Guide to Every Hole at The Masters

Augusta National Golf Club is the most analyzed, most discussed, and most visually documented golf course in the world. Every hole has a name. Every significant tree has a history. Every contour on every green has been studied by the world's best players and dissected by television commentators for 90 years. What follows is the definitive hole-by-hole guide for the golf fan who wants to understand not just what happens at Augusta but why.

The Design Philosophy

Augusta National was designed by Alister MacKenzie and Bobby Jones on 365 acres of former plant nursery land in Augusta, Georgia. The nursery origin is visible in the flowering trees and shrubs that line the fairways: azaleas, dogwoods, magnolias, and camellias that give the course its distinctive visual character. MacKenzie and Jones shared a belief that courses should reward strategic thinking and penalize lazy play without being unfair, and Augusta's design reflects that philosophy in every hole.

The greens are the course's most demanding element. They are large, severely undulating, and maintained at speeds that turn straightforward putts into navigation problems when approach shots do not find the correct section. Understanding Augusta means understanding that pin position dictates approach angle, and approach angle must be planned from the tee. The strategic chain runs backwards from the flagstick.

Front Nine: The Setup

Hole 1 — Tea Olive (Par 4, 445 yards): The opening tee shot plays down a narrowing chute of pines from an elevated tee. The ideal line is down the right side of the fairway, opening the approach to a green that falls sharply away on both sides. The first hole at Augusta has humbled more confident players than almost any other opening hole in championship golf.

Hole 2 — Pink Dogwood (Par 5, 575 yards): The only par-5 on the front nine offers an early eagle opportunity but requires precise placement off the tee to leave an angle to the green. Water protects the left and bunkers the right. Most professionals play conservatively to the front of the green and take their chances with the downhill putt.

Hole 3 — Flowering Peach (Par 4, 350 yards): The shortest par-4 at Augusta is also one of its most dangerous. Drivers can reach positions that make the approach angle awkward. The correct play is a long iron or fairway wood to a specific fairway position that opens the small, severely contoured green.

Hole 4 — Palm (Par 3, 240 yards): A long, uphill par-3 where distance control on the tee shot is everything. The green is deep and narrow, and the right side falls into a bunker complex. Finding the correct section of green for whatever pin position is used is more important than simply making the green.

Hole 5 — Magnolia (Par 4, 495 yards): The longest par-4 on the front nine plays into a prevailing left-to-right wind. The approach must avoid the bunker that guards the left of the green and find a surface that is more generous than it appears from the fairway.

Hole 6 — Juniper (Par 3, 180 yards): The most visually dramatic par-3 on the front nine, playing from a highly elevated tee to a green set in an amphitheater of spectators. Club selection is critical because the wind swirls in the bowl and distances are deceiving.

Hole 7 — Pampas (Par 4, 450 yards): Typically plays into a left-to-right crosswind. The approach must be precise to a narrow green that falls steeply away on the left. Birdie opportunities exist but bogeys are equally available for any approach that misses the preferred section.

Hole 8 — Yellow Jasmine (Par 5, 570 yards): The second par-5 of the front nine is reachable in two by the longest hitters but only from a tee shot that avoids the fairway bunker on the right. The approach carries uphill to a green with severe back-to-front slope that makes the long putt for eagle one of Augusta's more difficult putting challenges.

Hole 9 — Carolina Cherry (Par 4, 460 yards): Plays dramatically downhill from tee to a green that falls away sharply. The approach is played to a blind green that requires precise distance control because the ball will release significantly from any shot that lands on the slope above the putting surface.

Back Nine: Where Legends Are Made

Hole 10 — Camellia (Par 4, 495 yards): The hardest hole on the back nine in terms of scoring average. The tee shot plays dramatically downhill through a chute of tall pines, and the approach climbs steeply back up to an elevated green that is nearly impossible to hold from the wrong side of the fairway.

Hole 11 — White Dogwood (Par 4, 520 yards): The beginning of Amen Corner. Water protects the entire left side of the approach, and the green is designed so that a shot played too far left finds the water while a shot played too far right leaves an almost unplayable chip down the slope. The safest play is short and to the right, accepting bogey as a reasonable outcome.

Hole 12 — Golden Bell (Par 3, 155 yards): The most famous par-3 in golf. The short distance is utterly deceptive because Rae's Creek fronts the green, the green is extremely shallow, bunkers lurk behind, and the wind in the hollow created by Amen Corner swirls in directions that are almost impossible to read from the tee. Players have won and lost Masters championships on this hole alone. The 2016 Masters saw Jordan Spieth hit two balls into Rae's Creek on Sunday, handing Danny Willett the championship in one of the most dramatic collapses in major championship history.

Hole 13 — Azalea (Par 5, 510 yards): The third hole of Amen Corner and one of the most strategic par-5s in professional golf. The tee shot plays around a left-to-right dogleg to a position in the fairway that determines whether laying up or going for the green in two is the correct choice. Rae's Creek guards the entire front of the green. Eagles here can change the entire direction of a tournament.

Hole 14 — Chinese Fir (Par 4, 440 yards): Widely considered the most overlooked hole at Augusta. No bunkers. No water. But the green is the most severely contoured on the course, with putts that can run 30 feet past the hole on a bad line. The absence of obvious hazards makes this hole's subtlety a trap for players focused on the spectacle of the back nine.

Hole 15 — Firethorn (Par 5, 530 yards): The short par-5 where generations of Masters have been decided. The pond that guards the front and right of the green creates a risk-reward decision that perfectly balances temptation against danger. Gene Sarazen's "shot heard round the world," a 4-wood holed for double eagle in 1935, happened on Hole 15. Jeff Maggert hit it in the water to lose the 2003 Masters here. Sergio Garcia eagled this hole to win in 2017.

Hole 16 — Redbud (Par 3, 170 yards): A mid-length par-3 over a pond to a green that can be used as a backboard, sending approach shots from the right side of the green spinning back down toward center pin positions. Tiger Woods's chip-in from the bank left of the green in 2005, where the ball balanced on the lip before toppling in, is one of the most replayed moments in golf television history.

Hole 17 — Nandina (Par 4, 440 yards): An underrated finishing stretch hole that requires accurate placement through the pines to a green that falls steeply away on the right side. Sandy Lyle's bunker shot that led to a birdie to win the 1988 Masters came on Hole 17.

Hole 18 — Holly (Par 4, 465 yards): Augusta's most celebrated finishing hole plays uphill through two fairway bunkers on the left to a green flanked by the famous leaderboard and the crowd in the grandstands behind. The final putt at Augusta on Sunday afternoon, under those tall pines with the pink azaleas in bloom behind the green, is one of the most famous views in golf.

FAQs About Augusta National

What is the hardest hole at Augusta National? Hole 11 carries the highest scoring average among professionals, followed closely by Hole 10. The back nine generally plays harder than the front nine in Masters competition.

What is Amen Corner at Augusta? Amen Corner refers to holes 11, 12, and 13 at Augusta National, the stretch along Rae's Creek where water hazards, wind, and strategic complexity combine to make the middle of the back nine the most critical passage of Masters competition.

Who designed Augusta National? Augusta National was designed by Alister MacKenzie and Bobby Jones, opening in 1932. MacKenzie died in January 1934, before the first Masters Tournament was held.