Geoff Ogilvy talks about the toughest chips at Augusta

[cj3ap2]

I saw this excerpt in a golf.com article. Ogilvy talks about how the set up at augusta makes the course, specifically around the greens, so difficult. I thought it was fascinating.

Still, there’s more to it than mere appearances. Mowing the grass like that makes the course play longer because the ball doesn’t run as far as it might otherwise. When you look at footage from the Masters of maybe 20 years ago, you see balls bounding down fairways. The players got a lot of run out of their shots back then, far more than we do today. But that’s not all bad. Today’s slower turf does have the effect of making the landing areas play “wider.”

Actually, that slowness plays a much more significant role in the short game, especially chipping. Because the grass is always running against you, the fringes are much more passive than the putting surfaces. I’ll bet the speed differential between fringe and green at Augusta National is bigger than anywhere else in golf. All of which makes judging exactly where to land the ball unbelievably tricky. It’s why so many guys struggle from just off the greens at the Masters.

One of the toughest chips you can face on the course is from right of the 11th green, a spot where it seems at least one player in every group is playing from during the tournament. Bailing out away from the water is very tempting but no bargain. It is almost impossible to land a chip short on that green with any confidence; you just don’t know what the ball is going to do after it pitches. Then when it does get on the green it invariably races away. It’s such a subtle test, but one that gives the course much of its character.

The same is true behind the 15th green. It is so difficult to judge how much forward momentum the ball will have after it bounces and how fast it needs to be moving once it gets onto the sloping putting surface. And again, it is a shot that tends to come up a lot over the course of the tournament. Go for that green in two every day and you are likely to finish over the back at least twice.
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[Nate]

I actually like Geoff this year and I don't know why..............

 

[Chedster]

I actually like Geoff this year and I don't know why..............

He has all the tools to play well at Augusta. He hits towering iron shots and is plenty long off the tee. His short game is nothing to sneeze at and he has a pure putting stroke. He has a pretty good "golf IQ" as that excerpt indicates. The guy has a lot going on upstairs.

He has all the tools, it just seems he's either on or he isn't. If he's "on" he should definitely be in the hunt come Sunday afternoon.

 

[pjcedog]

His greenside bunker play is top notch also.

 

[ddxu]

He's a good pick for contention, but an Aussie has never won. It'll happen eventually, but if I were a betting man, I wouldn't put my $ on any Aussies. Awesome guy and stache tho.

 

[roggey]

He's a good pick for contention, but an Aussie has never won. It'll happen eventually, but if I were a betting man, I wouldn't put my $ on any Aussies. Awesome guy and stache tho.

If a left-handed Canadian can win it, an Aussie sure as hell can.

 

[MFAWG]

He's a good pick for contention, but an Aussie has never won. It'll happen eventually, but if I were a betting man, I wouldn't put my $ on any Aussies. Awesome guy and stache tho.

I'm pretty sure no Aussie will win until a dingo is ritually slaughtered on the 12th green, and then it's parts scattered about the place.

Norman put a hex on that place forever.