Augusta National layout rated best

Golf Digest has confirmed what many players already knew: Augusta National Golf Club is the greatest golf course in America.

Augusta National topped the magazine's list of the 100 greatest courses in the country.

A panel of 1,000 golfers ranked the courses based on difficulty, scoring values, variety, memorability and aesthetics such as landscaping and scenic backdrops. The panel also considered how well the courses were conditioned and their overall ambiance.

No course in America offers the kind of ambiance that Augusta National offers, players said Wednesday. The history of the Masters Tournament builds that ambiance even more.

"The history makes this course so, so special," said D.A. Points, who is playing in his first Masters. "I definitely think it's a great course. Is it the greatest in America? I haven't played all the courses on the list, but this one is definitely great."

California's Cypress Point Club at Pebble Beach, where Points scored his first PGA Tour victory earlier this year, is sixth on the list. Courses such as Pine Valley Golf Club in New Jersey and Pebble Beach often swap the top spot on Golf Digest 's annual list.

Those courses are beautiful, too, said two-time Masters winner Tom Watson.

"It's like picking out a beautiful woman," he said. "It's hard to pick the best."

Augusta National's layout is unique because a lot of professional golfers had their input in its evolution, Watson said. The staff listens to the players and makes changes accordingly.

"If there are issues about certain things on the course, the staff listens," he said. "They've been known to make changes for the better based on that feedback."

History cannot be taken out of the equation, Watson added.

"You can't disregard the history -- that's the beauty of this course," he said. "People who have played here and the stories that go around, that's what makes this place. Of course, there's not a weed on it."

Players who get lost in the beauty can lose a good round in a hurry, Stewart Cink said.

"This place is a psychological examination," he said. "It's a real chamber of horrors. It mixes in beauty -- it's a gorgeous place with all the azaleas and trees and that stuff -- but playing it is a real challenge."

Reach Joe VanHoose at joe.vanhoose@onlineathens.com.