Par 4 – 350 yards
Flowering Peach
Of all the holes at Augusta National Golf Club, hole #3 is arguably the hole that remains the least changed or altered from its origins. Alistair Mackenzie believed this hole to be as fine a designed hole as any on the golf course. The length of the hole is unchanged from 1934 to present day. The treacherous green complex sits on a plateau with tilt from high right to low left. Players have been more inclined to hit their tee shots well past the cluster of bunkers that flank the left side of the fairway. Clifford Roberts, the club chairman, in 1933 suggested a deep cross bunker in the face of the plateau in front of the green and the idea was shot down by Mackenzie and supported by Jones. The ideal angle is to play from the left side and low area of the fairway and UP to the green with a short wedge. The green is so exacting regardless of which quadrant you are playing to and balls with too much spin can retreat all the way back down the steep slope fronting the green, and balls propelled over the green leave the player with a very stressful chip to a green running away from you. Although early in the round, this is a truly special golf hole and volatility is quite possible despite its short length.
