New Headline: Masters 2026: Augusta Navigates Uncharted Golfing Waters
The only hole at Augusta National that was not designed by Alister MacKenzie and founder Bobby Jones, who created the course in 1932, is the par-3 16th. As we know it, the 16th is one of golf’s most recognizable holes, displayed vividly each year during the Masters in a colorful glade of pines across a beautiful reflection pond. However, this version wasn’t put into play until 1948, 14 years after the first Masters in 1934 and three years after the tournament resumed following a three-year hiatus during World War II.
MacKenzie and Jones’ original 16th, also a par 3, was shorter, continuing in the same direction as the previous hole, the par-5 15th. The tee was to the right of the 15th green and the 145-yard shot was hit over a small creek (the same Rae’s Creek tributary that crosses in front of the 13th green) fronting a green banked against a hillside behind it and cocked significantly so that the left side was closer to the tee than the right side. Any shot that came up short, to any part of the green, would be in the creek.
THE ORIGINAL 16TH HOLE Members who played the hole from about 120 yards enjoyed the 16th and thought it one of the most attractive on the course. Jones and Augusta National chairman Clifford Roberts, however, worried that it wasn’t sufficiently challenging for Masters competitors, and indeed the 16th surrendered the first holes-in-one, three of them in fact, in 1934 (Ross Somerville), 1935 (Willie Goggin) and 1940 (Ray Billows). Jones also thought it was too similar to the more respected par-3 12th.
Both had similar-length shots over water to angled greens, with right-hand hole locations more challenging than those on the left or middle, with the 16th lacking the intimidation and infuriating winds of the former. OLD POSITION: The first version of the 16th hole was built against the hillside to the left of the current green. Augusta National The club tried to give the 16th more teeth in 1937 by building a new Masters tee to the left of the 15th green, extending the hole to 170 yards.
This altered its character by shifting the angle of attack, so golfers were hitting more into the deeper axis of the green and placing the creek hazard to the right than directionally in front. That tee was extended to 190 yards in the early 1940s—it would have been located somewhere close to the current concession stand off the 14th tee. Augusta National, reviewed: Our course raters reveal their opinions on the Masters home A JONES COLLABORATION The wartime pause gave Jones and Roberts a chance to reassess the hole, and Jones brought in Robert Trent Jones to consult on a possible remodel.
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