Players say course changes give long hitters distinct advantage

Change at Augusta National Golf Club has been the one constant since the first Masters Tournament was played in 1934.

The Bobby Jones-Alister Mackenzie collaboration has undergone numerous changes over the years. Some of the most important:

- The original nines were reversed in 1935 to the current configuration;

- The greens were converted from bermuda to bentgrass in 1981;

- Nine holes were altered and nearly 300 yards were added in 2002.

Change visits Augusta National again this year under the direction of course consultant Tom Fazio, as six more holes were lengthened a total of 155 yards, bringing the course to 7,445 yards.

In announcing the changes last summer, Augusta National and Masters Chairman Hootie Johnson drew on the original intent of Augusta's founding fathers in explaining the changes.

"Since the first Masters in 1934, this golf course has evolved and that process continues today," Johnson said in a prepared statement. "As in the past, our objective is to maintain the integrity and shot values of the golf course as envisioned by Bobby Jones and Alister Mackenzie. Players' scores are not a factor. We will keep the golf course current with the times."

But judging by the reaction of players who have visited the course in recent weeks, the intent has changed. To wit, long hitters will have a distinct advantage. The green at No. 7, a hole where 40 yards were added, was not designed to receive a shot from a medium iron or long iron. And the tee shot at No. 11, now a 505-yard behemoth, is even tougher because of trees added in recent years.

No less an authority than six-time Masters winner Jack Nicklaus has taken exception to the changes.

"They've totally eliminated what Bobby Jones tried to do in the game of golf," Nicklaus said in the April issue of Golf Digest. "Bobby Jones believed golf was primarily a second-shot game. He believed that you should have enough room to drive the ball onto the fairway, but if you put it on the correct side of the fairway, you had an advantage to put the ball toward the hole. He wanted to give you a chance to do that shot."

Augusta National has always been a long-hitter's paradise, with generous fairways and little rough. But under Johnson's watch, the introduction of a second cut of fairway and an emphasis on accuracy off the tee have changed the course.

In their writings, both Jones and Mackenzie emphasized that a minimum of trickery should be used in golf course design and that the best holes offer a variety of ways to be played by players of different skills.

Those basic principles are under fire.

"Now they've taken the creativity out of it and made it more of an execution-style course, where there's no question where you have to hit it off the tee and what club you have to hit," said Stewart Cink.

Others hold the belief that the changes will exclude a majority of the field from a realistic shot at victory.

"It eliminates a lot of guys," defending champion Tiger Woods said after seeing the changes up close last month. "If you hit the ball low and rely on your game that way to get the ball out there and hit your irons not so high, you're going to be struggling there."

The players seem to have forgotten recent history.

Woods was taken to the limit last year by Chris DiMarco, who is not known for his length off the tee. And in 2003, Mike Weir defeated fellow short-hitter Len Mattiace in sudden death.

Greg Norman, who tied the Augusta National course record in the first round of the 1996 Masters with 63, didn't totally buy into the long-hitters theory.

"I can see that argument, but there is now a far greater premium placed on accuracy, so the advantage that goes to long- hitters will only materialize if they keep it in play," Norman wrote in an article for Travel and Leisure.

Will Woods add to his collection of green jackets this year? Or will another short-hitter with a deft short game, like Jose Maria Olazabal or Weir, win again?