Understanding Augusta National's insane elevation changes
Augusta National is known for its undulating topography - but if you've never set foot on property, it can be difficult to conceptualize.
Augusta National is known for its undulating topography — but if you've never set foot on property, it can be difficult to conceptualize. Getty Images Even the harshest critic would be hard-pressed to call a round at Augusta National “a good walk spoiled,” but the truth is, a round at the home of the Masters is definitely a good walk — a good, long walk. If you’ve only ever seen the course on TV, it’s almost impossible to imagine just how hilly and undulating (and we’re not talking about the greens here) the terrain can be.
Combine that with four consecutive days of tough, pressure-packed golf, and it’s easy to see why — at least as far as aerobic exercise is concerned — the Masters is a “tradition unlike any other. ” It also highlights just how impressive a Masters win is for players like Jack Nicklaus , Gary Player, Sam Snead, Mark O’Meara and Ben Hogan, all of whom won the tournament in their golf-rickety forties. Full disclosure: To fully illustrate the elevation changes, we charted the elevation at various points at ANGC using a tool that determines altitude on locations displayed by Google Maps.
The math used to calculate distances walked beyond the nominal course yardage jibes fairly well with the results from a casual experiment conducted at Royal County Down in 2018, in which a group of average golfers equipped with tracking devices played the course. A glimpse at the elevation levels on the front nine at Augusta National Golf Club. GOLF Magazine As it turns out, the members of the experiment group walked an average of 6.
6 miles, 69 percent farther than the course’s scorecard distance. The pros at Augusta, according to our calculations, can expect to walk only 29 percent farther, which makes sense when you consider the efficiency with which a Tour pro (accompanied by a Tour caddie) plays a round compared with an average weekend golfer. Of course, this calculation doesn’t take into account the calf-burning climbs that have to be made at various points around the course.