Hole 3 – Flowering Peach
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PAR 4 – 350 YARDS
For most it’s a 3-iron off the tee leaving a wedge in. If the pin’s back right, you might take a driver down into the swale leaving a chip up the green.
Tricky shot in because the wind swirls about and it’s longer to carry to the back left than the back right.
DENIS PUGH: “You would never start the hole without asking where the pin is. The second shot can be anything from 30 yards to 130 yards. It all depends on where the pin is and what the player is more comfortable leaving for their second shot. It’s a hole that can take a lot of recovering from if you make a fi ve because it’s really a par 3.5, but there have been a lot of occasions when players have been embarrassed by it.”
MARK ROE: “This is a fascinating little par 4. If you hit driver down the left then you’re a good 15 or 20 feet below the level of the green and you’re chipping to a very thin slither of green if the pin is on the left. It’s not so bad on the right because you’ve got more green to work with. Even if you hit iron or rescue club off the tee you’ve got no more than 100 yards in so it’s the perfect distance to hit a controlled spin shot, but if you hit driver you’re hitting a semi-blind lob shot up to the green. You pay your money and take your chance.”
BILLY FOSTER REMEMBERS: “Seve was the best on-course strategist of all the players I’ve carried for round Augusta, but then again he was a two-time winner and had lots of experience. I’ve caddied for Darren Clarke, Thomas Björn, Sergio Garcia and once with David Frost, but Seve was the best thinker.”
PETER ALLISS: “This is one of the most underrated holes on the course and has a clover-leaf green. It looks quite innocuous, but it’s really not. People can get complacent on this hole thinking they’ve just got a flick for the second shot, but with the way the green is contoured if you get a bit of spin at the wrong time you can end up with a near impossible pitch.”
