Amen Corner is longer.
The 11th hole, which inaugurates the iconic three-hole stretch at Augusta National Golf Club named by Herbert Warren Wind in 1958, has been lengthened by 15 yards. With the released of the annual media guide this week, the club announced the alteration to the 11th – nicknamed White Dogwood – as one of two “significant changes” to the course ahead of the 86th Masters on April 7-10.
The downhill, par-4 11th – which features a pond to the left and a deep bunker to the right guarding the green – will now play 520 yards. Historically, the hole is the second toughest on the course, trailing ever so slightly the 495-yard, par-4 10th.
“Masters tees moved back 15 yards and to the golfer’s left. Fairway recontoured and several trees removed on right side,” the media guide revealed about the 11th.
The other significant change to the course comes at the par-5 15th, which has been lengthened to 550 yards. Named Firethorn, the hole that features a shallow green protected by a pond in the front has played as the second-easiest hole during the Masters, trailing only the 510-yard, par-5 13th.
“Tees moved back 20 yards and fairway recontoured,” the media guide says.
The significant changes are the first since 2019, when the par-4 fifth was lengthened 40 yards.
Without calling it a significant change, the media guide also said of the par-4 18th named Holly: “Thirteen yards added to the back of the Masters tees without necessitating a change in length to the hole.”
No official changes were announced to the par-5 13th or to the heart of Amen Corner, the 155-yard, par-3 12th named Golden Bell.
For the 2022 Masters, the course will play to 7,510 yards with a par of 72.
