Hole 8 – Yellow Jasmine
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PAR 5 – 570 YARDS
Again, it’s now very hard to carry the fairway bunker, so you’re going to need two very good hits to get up there.
The second shot is about 20 yards uphill. Front right is a good miss, but left leaves a difficult chip because the slopes are severe on that side. Back left flags are birdie chances if you can get over the hog’s back in the middle of the green.
That’s Augusta. Those are the fine margins. It’s torture at times, but it’s the ultimate challenge and the top players often come out on top.
CHARL SCHWARTZEL: “A huge par five up the hill with a slight dog-leg right to left as you approach the green. It’s a birdie chance but as ever at Augusta you would take a par when standing on the tee. If you find the trees down the left your second shot is not easy off pine needles.”
ADRIAN BISHOP: “The tee shot on this hole is made difficult by the sprawling fairway bunker on the right. To find the fairway the right-hander needs to fade the tee shot. The way to play a controlled fade is to align your body at the left side of the fairway with the clubface aimed between your body line and your final target; then simply swing along the line of your feet and shoulders and allow the clubface to produce the desired shape. Once you have safely found the fairway you will be faced with an uphill shot to a green that is hidden. The secret to playing this type of shot well is to pick an intermediate target and swing freely. Though reachable in two, chances are you’ll be faced with a pitch. The ball spins a lot on this green because it slopes from back to front so you have to take that into account when playing the pitch. You want to play this shot with very little wrist action, plenty of club and a smooth rhythm so the ball releases and runs towards the pin when it lands.”
PETER ALLISS: “I don’t particularly like this hole. It just sort of wanders up the hill and they keep making the bunker bigger, although the fairway is still 40 or 50 yards wide. You don’t really know where you’re playing your second shot and with all the humps you can rely somewhat on luck – play an absolutely awful shot that gets the right bounce and it suddenly becomes very good.”
