MASTERS PREVIEW
Augusta National course superintendent Billy Fuller developed the first type of bunker- liner system. During the summer of 1982, he and his crew rebuilt every bunker on the course. 1994-2025 The most notable work done at Au- gusta National during the mid-1990s was the continuing installation of more sub-surface heating and drain- age systems under the greens, and the addition of the second cut of rough in 1999. The club made Tom Fazio its consulting architect, though aside from the continuing improvements in course-wide drainage and subtle alterations around the greens, no ma- jor architectural projects were under- taken until 2002. These included the “Tiger-proofing” of select holes through lengthening, and the subsequent addition of new pines on holes like 11, 15 and 17. The club has continued to lengthen holes where it can and oc- casionally institutes more substantial changes like the remodel of the 11th hole for the 2022 Masters.
During this time, the appearance, number and placement of Augusta National’s bunkers has been relatively consistent, the detailing of their shape and edging now dialled in. The last sig- nificant changes have been the shifting of several fairway bunkers: on the first and eighth holes in 2002, when both were moved 15 yards further down the fairway; at 18 where the two left-side bunkers were expanded during the 2011 lengthening; and at the par-4 fifth where the two inside left bunkers were made smaller, deeper and pulled slightly closer to the tee after the hole was lengthened by 40 yards. It’s in these bunkers where Fazio’s group has slowly brought its own aesthetic to bear. Both the first and eighth fairway bunkers have been deep- ened and reshaped with a more curve- and-cape top line, not as ornate as MacKenzie’s bunker on 10 but with more unique character than most of the other bunkers at Augusta National. The bunkers have come a long way from the scrapes and scabs that MacK- enzie’s crews dug into the Georgia clay, but it’s important to note there was no unifying force guiding their changing forms. Through piecemeal remodel- ling by different architects, the passage of time and improvements in drainage, sand texture and other maintenance advances, they’ve evolved into an array of yawning shapes that take the form of oyster shells, bowls, deep amoebas and a few that make a faint nod to MacKenzie, though he might argue that notion. It would be sacrilegious to alter this aesthetic now, one that’s been en- trenched for over 50 years, far longer than the look that existed when the course debuted in 1933. While the course blooms and recedes around them, the 44 white sculptural forms efficiently control the playing strategies and de- fine how we think of Augusta National as much as any other element of the design. The bunkers might continue to shift and expand as needed, but their presence and presentation has, at last, moved from evolving to immutable. HI-RES By the late 1980s, the bunkers had the manicured, precise look that we now associate with all aspects of Augusta National.
of the bunkers, and each summer the sand had to be cored out and the drain- age repaired. To avoid this costly ex- penditure, Fuller developed the first type of bunker-liner system. During the summer of 1982, he and his crew rebuilt every bunker on the course, lin- ing each with five centimetres of gravel and covering that with a polymer mem- brane before replacing the sand. The system allowed water to pass through the sand and liner, then drain down behind the sand through the gravel. After rainstorms, 90 percent of the sand continued to adhere to the bunker face, eliminating the need to shovel it back up the slope or do annual repairs. Today, bunker-liner systems such as this, which later came to be called the Better Billy Bunkers, are standard throughout the industry. The last new bunkers at Augusta National were also added during this time, in 1983, when consulting architect Jack Nicklaus suggested the fairway bunker left of the third fairway would be a more effective hazard if it were broken into a series of bunkers (there was even talk of adding a small pond in that location). The single existing bun- ker became four, and the number and style of the bunkers has not meaning- fully changed since then.
68 GOLF DIGEST SOUTH AFRICA
MARCH/APRIL 2025
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