Ranking All 18 Holes at The Masters
Utilizing a point system, Rotowire.com assigned point values for each hole at Augusta National to develop a ranking of all the holes at The Masters. Here are the scoring attributes:
o Fan Ranking from Golf.com (18 points for highest rated to 1 point for lowest rated)
o 2024 scoring (18 points for lowest below par to 1 point for highest above par)
o 2024 GIR (18 points for highest % to 1 point for lowest %)
o Hole In Ones (5, 4 and 3 points for 3 best opportunities to see hole in one based on history)
o Seating On Green (2 points)
o Restroom On Hole (2 points)
o Concessions On Hole (2 points)
Ranking of The Masters Holes Based on Spectator Experience
Rank | Hole # (Name) | Par | Points |
T-1 | #16 (Redbud) | 3 | 51 |
T-1 | #13 (Azalea) | 5 | 51 |
3 | #8 (Yellow Jasmine) | 5 | 45 |
4 | #2 (Pink Dogwood) | 5 | 44 |
5 | #3 (Flowering Peach) | 3 | 42 |
6 | #14 (Chinese Fir) | 4 | 38 |
7 | #12 (Golden Bell) | 3 | 37 |
8 | #15 (Firethorn) | 5 | 36 |
9 | #6 (Juniper) | 3 | 35 |
10 | #9 (Carolina Cherry) | 4 | 34 |
11 | #10 (Camellia) | 4 | 32 |
12 | #18 (Holly) | 4 | 23 |
13 | #11 (White Dogwood) | 4 | 22 |
14 | #1 (Tea Olive) | 4 | 21 |
15 | #5 (Magnolia) | 4 | 20 |
16 | #4 (Flowering Crab Apple) | 3 | 19 |
17 | #7 (Pampas) | 4 | 17 |
18 | #17 (Nandina) | 4 | 12 |
Breaking Down The Rankings
It's no surprise to see the two holes at the top. No. 16 is the biggest source of crowd pops on the entire course. Anything that happens at that hole just seems to reverberate around the entire property, from the large hill to the left of the green where all the patrons sit. Sunday is always the best at 16 because they put the pin location in a place where players can take the big slope in the middle of the green and feed the ball close to the hole. We've seen eight aces in just the last decade at this hole, with the vast majority coming in the final round.
No. 13 is the most famous par-5 in all of golf. Players start on the tee with the most secluded shot on the entire course, but things open up on this big right-to-left dogleg with a big viewing section for patrons to the right of the fairway past the trees. Players are faced with "a momentous decision" as Masters co-founder Bobby Jones called it, as to whether or not to go for the green or lay up with their second shot. We've seen both heroic and devastating results on this hole over the years that have decided a lot of Masters Tournaments.
With a lot of this based on excitement, it probably shouldn't come as much of a surprise to see three par-5's and the short par-4 3rd hole slotted into the top-five rankings. Those are holes where the GIR percentage is going to be very high, and there's an excellent chance to see plenty of birdies and even some eagles.
To that point, I'm actually a little surprised to see the par-5 15th hole down at No. 8 in the rankings. It's usually the last good scoring opportunity and has large grandstands set up on both sides of the green. Firethorn is another big risk-reward hole with a pond fronting this very shallow green. If a player is forced to layup, that wedge shot over the water is one of the hardest on the entire course.
It is interesting that four of the bottom five ranked holes come in the first seven holes on the golf course. The par-4 1st, par-3 4th and par-4 5th are annually some of the toughest scoring holes on the course. There's usually more blowups than fireworks from the players on those three holes. The par-4 7th that finds itself second-to-last on these rankings is usually a pretty boring hole, with the exception of Sunday. Like the par-3 16th, the Sunday pin placement is right in the bottom of the bowl on the front right of the green. If players are able to find the narrow fairway, they will try to spin it back down the ridge close to the hole location. It's not always the easiest from a viewing perspective, but on Sunday a lot of players are thinking birdie.
There are no bad holes at Augusta National, but the par-4 17th is the one that doesn't really have any defining characteristic that sticks out. It's no surprise it finds itself at the bottom of these spectator rankings. While it comes during a key point in the round, the hole is hard to see much of given the dense trees that line both sides of the fairway. Things open up by the green, but because of the massive runoff areas, fans usually are quite far away from all the action here.
