SAY YOUR PRAYERS AMEN CORNER MAY BE MORE FAMOUS, BUT A STRETCH ON THE FRONT NINE'S MORE DANGEROUS Mike Tyson Search SAY YOUR PRAYERS AMEN CORNER MAY BE MORE FAMOUS, BUT A STRETCH ON THE FRONT NINE'S MORE DANGEROUS April 7, 1997 Golf Plus Golfers Special Commemorative Section Basketball NBA Extra Juice Books FACES IN THE CROWD 12 Environment Rodents Running Golfers The Final Fours Ability Pro Football Salary cap Pro Basketball Casinos Tennis Women's tennis Golf Journalism Hockey Hockey players Baseball Contracts Tickets [bonus Piece] Business Inside The NBA It is Thursday morning, April 10, and our hero, the Masters rookie, is off to a good start. With a solid par at the 1st hole and a birdie at the par-5 2nd, he stands on the 3rd tee knowing that if he can make another birdie or two on the next few holes, his name will go up on the giant leader boards scattered around the course. Poor fellow. Little does he know that immediately ahead lies the potential for disaster.

The next three holes, with the benign-sounding names of Flowering Peach, Flowering Crab Apple and Magnolia, were the most difficult three-hole stretch at Augusta National last year. Call it the Hot Corner. This is an article from the April 7, 1997 issue Original Layout For many years the first three holes on the back nine--the 10th, plus the first two thirds of the storied Amen Corner--played the hardest statistically. If you've watched the Masters on television, you know the holes well: the long, downhill 10th, its green surrounded by majestic pines; the 11th, where Larry Mize chipped in to beat Greg Norman in 1987; and the 12th, the short but dangerous par-3 over Rae's Creek, scene of so many disasters. "Three, 4 and 5 are every bit as difficult," says Sandy Lyle, the 1988 champion. Phil Mickelson agrees. "You just want to play for par and get out of there," he says.

If your only Masters experience comes from TV, you've never seen the 3rd, 4th and 5th, owing to Augusta National's absurd policy of treating the front nine like a leper colony. Why not join our Masters rookie as he prepares to hit his drive? The 3rd hole, at 360 yards, is the shortest par-4 (along with number 7) on the course and is deceptively easy-looking, but last year it was the sixth-most difficult hole. "It's at number 3 where the course starts to play mind games with you," says Ken Venturi, who twice came within a stroke of winning the Masters. "Here is a short hole with no water and just one greenside bunker. Yet it's so difficult." There are pines on the right, a cluster of bunkers on the left. "I've seen players use everything from a driver to a long iron off the tee," says Arnold Palmer. "The strategy is to leave yourself a full shot--wedge, nine-iron, whatever--to the green. Because the green's on a plateau and narrow, you must be able to stop the ball.

That's essential." Sounds easy enough, but the green is fronted on the left by an extreme upslope. "Leave it short and you're dead," says John Cook. "The ball will spin back off the green and roll all the way to the bottom." That happened to Nick Faldo last year in the third round. When his recovery chip was also short and rolled back 10 yards off the green, he wound up with a double-bogey 6. The green has a definite right-to-left slant, so when the pin is to the left, a shot played to the middle of the green will trickle down toward the hole. However, the pin is usually to the right on Saturday or Sunday, requiring a left-to-right cut shot, something that can be extremely difficult if the Augusta breezes are blowing from the left. Gary Player, a three-time winner, tells this story: Years ago he was sitting with Bobby Jones at the champions dinner. He told Jones that when the pin was to the left, the hole was almost impossible to birdie, since the green was only seven yards deep at that point. Jones leaned forward with a devilish grin and said, "You're not supposed to make birdie on 3.

The hole was designed for a 4." For the last two years the 4th, a 210-yard par-3, has been the toughest hole on the course, playing at an average of 3.35 strokes. In other words, every time three players tee it up, one of them will bogey. Jones, a co-designer of the course, wanted the hole to reflect the principles of the par-3 11th at St. Andrews, the High Hole, with its famous Strath and Hill bunkers guarding the front. It was there, in the 1921 British Open, that Jones, a still immature and volatile 19-year-old, did something he lamented the rest of his life. After 36 holes he was the leading amateur, but he shot a hideous 46 on the front nine and was about to triple-bogey the 11th when he picked up his ball, tore up his scorecard and withdrew.

When Augusta National was designed, the 4th was penciled in for a reasonable 180 yards, but it has played as long as 220 yards, depending on the location of the tee, which is behind and to the right of the 3rd green. For a number of years now, its length has been 205 yards. Because the tee is elevated, it's exposed to the swirling winds that make life so difficult for players. Most use a two- or three-iron off the tee, but it was with a four-iron that Jeff Sluman made a hole in one in 1992, the first ever on the hole. Until then, the 4th had been the only hole on the course never eagled. Player says he had long felt the 4th was Augusta National's most difficult hole and was delighted when recent statistics proved him right. "The wind here is fiendishly deceptive," he says. "Many years ago I was standing behind Ben Hogan on the tee.

He hit a three-iron and said, 'Perfect,' but the wind caught his ball and it fell in the front bunker." "That bunker is the most dangerous factor on the 4th," says Lee Janzen. "It's huge, and if you're in it, you're faced with one of the most difficult shots on the course because of the steep wall in front." The large, undulating green is about 20 feet below the tee, with a definite slope from back right to front left. Far to the right of the green, just inside the course's boundary, is a stand of bamboo, a relic from the days when the property was a nursery called Fruitlands. The last of the treacherous trio, the 435-yard 5th, a par-4, last year ranked as the fifth-most difficult hole. It is often called "the forgotten hole" because all but the most hardy spectators choose to skip it. From a position to the right of the 3rd green, one can watch play at number 4 without moving. From there it is only a short walk to the 6th green.

The 5th tee, along with the 4th green, is at the southwest corner of the course, as far as you can get from the clubhouse. The hole heads directly south from the 4th green, forming a sharp corner. It is an uphill hole--another reason spectators tend to avoid it--with the landing area for drives some 35 feet above the tee and the green 13 feet higher than that. In the earliest sketches of Augusta National, Alister Mackenzie, the principle designer, had the famous Road Hole at St. Andrews in mind when he plotted the 5th, except that it would be a dogleg left, not right. It was to be a par-5, just as the Road Hole was until the 1950s, but by the time course construction had begun in 1931, the 5th had become a par-4. A cavernous bunker penciled in to guard the front of the green never got beyond the design stage. The ideal drive hugs the left side of the fairway. "The key is the tee shot," says Fuzzy Zoeller, the '79 Masters champion.

"There are two bunkers at the crook of the dogleg you must carry and some trees to avoid, but it's a much shorter, therefore easier, approach to the green from there, especially if the pin is to the right." Disaster awaits the bold driver if he hits his tee shot a bit too far left. He can consider himself fortunate if his ball catches a bunker. To the left of that is a forest of magnolias and pines. "Hit in there," Jimmy Demaret once said, "and they might not find you for three days." In recent years the club has mercifully cleared out some of the foliage, but a shot in there still means bogey at best. Lanny Wadkins is more concerned with the approach, which generally requires a middle iron. "No hole on the course demands a more properly planned and properly executed second shot," he says. Wadkins says this because the 5th green is as dangerous as any on the course. A hump divides the green, and if the approach winds up on the opposite side of that hump from the pin, three putts are almost inevitable.

There is a small bunker behind the green, put there for the player's benefit, preventing approaches that overshoot the green from rolling down a steep embankment. Jones always suggested that the best way to play the hole was to let the approach land short and run onto the green. However, the first time he played the hole in competition he three-putted. One year Sam Snead, 45 feet away, saw his first putt catch the wrong side of the ridge, curl around and come right back to his feet. Having learned the line the hard way, he tried the putt again and sank it. In 1995 Jack Nicklaus proved the best way to handle the 5th green is to avoid putting at all. In the first round his five-iron approach landed directly in the hole. "For a second no one knew where the ball went, including me," he says. "Then everyone started cheering." Two days later he chose a seven-iron. His wife, Barbara, walking with a friend, said, "It's too bad you weren't here Thursday. You missed Jack's eagle." Whereupon Nicklaus's approach landed on the green and rolled into the cup.

"The scary thing about those three holes," says Nick Price, "is that you've got to play them early in the round, and you don't quite know what swing you've got to play with that day. By contrast, when you get to Amen Corner, you at least know how you're hitting the ball." Master 2013: What looms around Amen Corner at Augusta National - BBC Sport BBC Sport Master 2013: What looms around Amen Corner at Augusta National By Rob Hodgetts Read more about sharing. Augusta. Sunday afternoon. The back nine. The Masters. It is what golfers dream of, to be in contention as those famous roars reverberate around the pines. For the lucky few still in with a chance, the pressure mounts. But what looms is one of the hardest and most iconic stretches of holes in golf. Amen Corner.

The dreaded corner Hole 11: White Dogwood, 505 yards, par 4 Hole 12: Golden Bell, 155 yard, par 3 Hole 13: Azalea, 510 yards, par 5 The term, coined by sports writer Herbert Warren Wind in 1958, signifies Augusta's 11th, 12th and the tee shot on 13. It's that amphitheatre of azaleas, whirling winds, Rae's Creek and devilish dramas at the lowest part of the course. Many are inclined to add the 10th to the collective, given its status as statistically the toughest hole. "Having that opportunity to be in the thick of it and to feel that excitement, to feel that pressure, to grace Amen Corner knowing that you need birdies, and trying to win a Green Jacket, that is the greatest thrill a golfer can possibly experience," said Phil Mickelson. With the Green Jacket up for grabs, let's see what the players face. 10th, 495 yards, par 4.

All-time difficulty 1st; 2012: 5th The 10th takes first-timers at Augusta by surprise. It plunges away, with a huge drop in height between the tee and the green. Players try to hit a severe hook (or fade, for left-handers) around the corner to chop off the distance remaining and try to secure a flattish lie for the second shot. But beware. Remember what happened to Rory McIlroy in the final round in 2011. He overdid it, caught the overhanging trees and ended among the cabins. Meltdown followed. "If you don't hit the ball left you're in trouble," said Gary Player. "Bubba Watson went right in the play-off last year, and OK he hit a miracle shot, but Louis Oosthuizen also went right and needed a four iron to the green. If you hook it, you've got an eight iron." "The 10th tee shot is something I specifically work on, trying to hit a three wood and moving it more than I would. The reward is getting right down on the flat," said Graeme McDowell.

Landmark moment: The right-to-left sloping green is deceptive, too. New Zealand amateur Danny Lee six-putted here for a nine in 2009. 11th, 505 yards, par 4. All-time difficulty 2nd; 2012: 2nd The start of Amen Corner proper, and a hole that has been changed significantly over the years. The tee was moved back 30 yards in 2002 and another 15 in 2006. Dozens of trees have been added to the right side of the fairway over the last decade, directing drives more to the left. "I remember playing with the likes of Seve and Raymond Floyd and they always said to just hit it over where the gallery is, that's the angle you want to come from," said Tiger Woods. "Well, you can't get over there anymore, the hole is playing to the left. "It's a much different hole.

A good drive will leave me somewhere between an 8 iron to a 5 iron in there, whereas before it was a driver and a sand wedge, pitching wedge." The Augusta switch At the first ever Masters in 1934, Augusta's front nine was the back nine. The layout was reversed a year later. Horton Smith won the 1934 Masters with a 20-foot birdie putt at Yellow Jasmine - then the 17th hole, now the 8th. The American won the event again two years later, making him the only person ever to have won on both course layouts. Coming over the hill as you walk down from the tee, you see Amen Corner spread out before you. The vast crowds on the grass, the grandstand, the 11th green and its pond to the left, the 12th tee and the 12th green beyond Rae's to the right. "When I first played 11, I couldn't believe how expansive [it was]," said Woods. "TV doesn't do it justice how expansive it is from that whole open area on 12 and 13.

And certainly, the commentators try and give it justice, but I don't think they really can, of how much it swirls." The second to 11 needs to be pin-point. Left is wet, right is tight, leaving a tricky chip onto a fast, sloping green with water lurking beyond. "By the time you get to the top of 11 you're looking at the flags on the 11th green and the 12th green, trying to judge the wind," said McDowell. Landmark moment: The 11th will long be remembered for Larry Mize's chip-in to win the 1987 play-off. 12th, 155 yards, par 3. All-time difficulty tied 3rd; 2012: 13th The short 12th, just a few strides to the right of the 11th, is one of the most revered holes in golf. Backed by rows and rows of patrons in their Augusta green chairs with a grandstand behind, it is the quintessential Masters experience. In the final round, it is packed. The tension is palpable.

The 12th is famous for the fickle winds that dance and dart about above the trees, making club selection tricky. Stories are legion of players choosing wrong, or the wind changing as they hit, and either coming up short and finding Rae's Creek (or the front bunker if you are lucky), or going long into the back bunkers or azalea beds. Guan Tianlang, the 14-year-old Chinese amateur making his Masters debut, crosses Rae's Creek "You hear guys trying, saying, don't pull a club on 12 until you see both flags on 11 and 12 are moving the same direction. They are never, ever moving the same direction," laughed Woods. "I've played it so many times where I've played 11, 12 and 13 either all downwind or all into the wind. How does that work? You know, you get down there and Bobby Jones has turned this fan on and it swirls." Ben Crenshaw's veteran caddie Carl Jackson, in his 52nd Masters, says: "You've got to think about the wind direction, whether it's a sunny day, is it consistent, whether you got to lean on something?

It will fool you, because the wind circles in those trees. The caddie's got to have some idea of the type of shot his player is thinking about hitting and make suggestions from that. Sometimes he might just want to hit a little fade or play it down a little bit. "It can go from a nine iron to a four iron. Some strong guys will even hit a pitching wedge these days." Landmark moment: Fred Couples came to the 12th with the lead in 1992 but misjudged his approach to Sunday's traditional right-side pin position and saw his ball trickle agonisingly towards the water. Amazingly, it stayed up and Couples salvaged par before beating Floyd by two. 13th, 510 yards, par 5. All-time difficulty 17th; 2012: 16th Still on the far side of Rae's Creek, you walk from the 12th green up to the 13th tee, which is back up in the woods beside the neighbouring Augusta Country Club's ninth hole, just over the fence. This is the furthest you've been from the crowd all day. A chance to take a deep breath and hear your heart beating.

Technically part of Amen Corner, the 13th offers the chance of an eagle if you get it right, but there are dangers on all sides. Mickelson's miracle shot helped him win his third Masters title in 2010 Most opt for a draw (or fade for a left-hander), but some just nibble at the corner with a straighter one. Left is trees and a creek, too straight and you end up in the pine straw. Not that it bothered Phil Mickelson when he conjured his miracle shot in 2010. The second shot throws up a dilemma - gamble and try to fly the ball over the tributary of Rae's Creek and onto the green to set up a possible eagle, or lay-up and hope your pitching is good enough to grab a birdie. It could define your tournament. Mickelson says it is his favourite hole. "It's the risk/reward opportunities," he said. "I've made eagles there to move up. I've made mistakes there to move back. "I just think that the shot value that's required there, the lie that is challenging, takes creativity.

It's hard to understand, especially on TV, but even in person, how much above your feet that ball is for a right handed player and how much below it is for a left handed player. Looks simple enough, big greens, just knock it on; it's a tough shot." Landmark moment: Plenty of hopes have faded in the creek, or with a tame par on the vast, multi-layered green when others are forging ahead with birdies or eagles. Just ask Japan's Tommy Nakajima. He took a 13 here in 1978. Decision time Whether you are still in contention to win the Masters depends on how you have fared at the start of the back nine. "Those holes are monsters," said Player.

"Amen Corner - what an appropriate name." Watch live final-round coverage from Amen Corner on the BBC Sport website (from 18:00 BST) and the BBC Red Button (18:15-19:55, 21:00-00:00) on Sunday Share this page The Golf Club at Castle Hills: A Hub of the Metroplex's Northern Golf Corridor - Texas Golf Guide The Golf Club at Castle Hills: A Hub of the Metroplex's Northern Golf Corridor By David R. Holland , Senior Writer LEWISVILLE, TX -- The North Texas pioneers were making wagon tracks in the early 1850s through a corridor that now links the flat land and rolling prairie above Fort Worth on Highway 114 through Byron Nelson's home of Roanoke and continues on Highway 121 through Grapevine , and north of Dallas through Flower Mound , Lewisville , Frisco , McKinney and Plano . When the pioneers gazed toward the endless horizon they saw land dotted with creeks, oaks and mesquites and they settled here. They raised cattle and grew cotton.

Today, as you look out over The Golf Club at Castle Hills , on ranch and farm land that was once owned by H.R. "Bum" Bright, the Texas Aggie who also once owned the Dallas Cowboys, you see a part of the burgeoning golf corridor that is accompanying a population explosion, just north of the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex. Jay and Carter Morrish designed The Golf Club at Castle Hills , which opened in June 1999. It's a par-72 with 7,152 yards of rolling hills, Tillinghast-like fingered bunkers, moderate breaking bent-grass greens, 419 bermuda fairways, ponds, creeks, mesquites and oaks and 60 feet of elevation changes. You will face a pond or lake carry on three holes and a creek comes into play on 10 holes. In order to score stay out of the punishing bermuda rough and the deep bunkers. And Morrish claims you will have a better angle to the greens if you target tee placements close to the fairway hazards. "I think golfers like the rolling hills and that the nines contrast," said Butch Stewart, General Manager.

"You won't find a lot of terrain like this in North Texas. Another thing the players like is that it is a very playable golf course. The fairways are plenty wide." Castle Hills' No. 7 will catch your attention. This par-3, 208-yarder, forces you to carry a pond that is fronted by stacked rock. The signature hole is No. 11, a 372-yard, par 4, which has five sets of tees. Your drive angles over a huge lake and it's risk/reward all the way. How much you cut off determines the length of the green approach. The par-5 12th, measuring 601 from the back, has an old windmill and concrete holding tank to the left front of the green, a relic left from the ranch days. Metroplex's North Golf Corridor: Early beginnings of this golf corridor included standout private layouts such as The Trophy Club near Roanoke, designed in 1976 by Ben Hogan and Joe Lee. In 1984 they added a second course designed by Arthur Hills. Stonebridge Country Club, designed in 1988 by Pete Dye, is in McKinney.

The Grapevine Municipal Golf Course, designed by Byron Nelson and Joe Finger in 1979, has reported hosting as many as 80,000 rounds in one year. It's in remodeling mode currently with a goal of 27 holes when finished. But the list of recent openings is even more impressive. The Trails of Frisco Golf Club opened in October. Just south of the Texas Motor Speedway at I-35 and Highway 114, is The Creeks at Beechwood, and just up Highway 121 in Frisco is the Westin Stonebriar Resort -- both opened in November 2000. (Watch for a review of both courses in the near future.) Other new courses to the area include The Tribute at The Colony, a layout with British and Scottish replica holes, and Tour 18 Dallas, located in Flower Mound, replicating famous American golf holes including Amen Corner of Augusta National. Also in Flower Mound is Bridlewood Golf Club. Highly-ranked Stonebriar Country Club is right next door to the new Westin Stonebriar Resort Fazio Course. Coming soon to the corridor -- Grapevine's The Dallas Cowboys Golf Club.

Also, in Collin County new layouts will be Panther Creek Ranch and Heritage Ranch Golf Resort. "It's really wonderful that we have so many great new golf courses to pick from," said Rick Sullivan of nearby Frisco. "The growth in this area is unreal and the traffic is awful. So when you have so many daily-fee courses north of the Metroplex, that means you don't really have to drive clear across Dallas or Fort Worth. You can stay right here at home and enjoy lots of variety." Castle Hills is a major building block in that variety. You may never see a more impressive practice area, which is part of the Arnold Palmer Golf Academy. The driving range is massive measuring 500 yards from one end to the other -- there's even a three-hole practice course featuring a 610-yard par 5. For more information look up The 25,000-square foot clubhouse is Hill Country all the way -- limestone rock and tin roof. It houses the pro shop, restaurant, meeting facilities and the 19th Hole Grill. The future? Castle Hills hopes to start construction on another nine holes and a resort hotel by the second quarter of 2001.

The Golf Club at Castle Hills 699 Lady of the Lake Blvd. Lewisville, TX 75056 Internet: E-mail: Thegolfclubch@msn.com Directions: From Dallas, go north on Dallas Tollway to Route 544, (W. Park Blvd., which turns into Hebron Pkwy), then west on Josey Lane, then north 0.5 miles to King Arthur Blvd., then left to Lady of the Lake Blvd., then right to the course entrance. From DFW Airport: Lewisville is nine miles northeast of the airport. Go north on Hwy 121 to Lewisville. Follow signs to Hwy. 121 Business and continue east to FM 544. Turn right on FM 544. Continue on FM 544 to Josey Lane, to King Arthur Boulevard (Castle Hills entry). Right on King Arthur Blvd. to Lady of the Lake Blvd. (second stop sign). Right on Lady of the Lake Blvd. Jay Morrish & Associates, Ltd. Since the golf-course design association with Tom Weiskopf ended, Morrish's son Carter has become a key ingredient in the business.

Morrish said Carter is mostly responsible for the bunkering work at Castle Hills. For a close look at Morrish's impressive work through the years check out: Jay Morrish, a graduate of Colorado State, was voted Architect of the Year in 1996 by Golf World Magazine. Castle Hills Property History: There's a definite sports connection to the property that's now home to The Golf Club at Castle Hills. It was previously owned by H.R. "Bum" Bright, the Texas A&M Hall of Fame philanthropist. Remember that dismal Dallas Cowboys team Jerry Jones purchased in 1989? Well it was Bright and 11 others who owned the Cowboys, having acquired the team in 1984 from long-time owner Clint Murchison. Bright was also the guy responsible for hiring Jackie Sherrill (now head coach at Mississippi State) for the Aggies after the 1981 football season and Sherrill subsequently got A&M in hot water with the NCAA for rules infractions. Would You Believe? In August 1969, Lewisville was the site of the Texas International Pop Festival, a three-day event that featured such stars as Janis Joplin and B. B.

King and drew a total attendance of 120,000. The course: Par 72, 7,017 yards from the back tees The cost: $180, which includes range balls, food and nonalcoholic drinks. Who should play it? Serious golfers with serious money; fans of the Dallas Cowboys. Why play it? This is the ultimate golf experience for a golf nut/Cowboys fan. The course, near Lake Grapevine, has won numerous awards, including Golf Digest's "Four Star Rating" and honorable mention in the "Top Ten Courses You Can Play in America" from Golf magazine. The clubhouse wall features a Hall of Honor with a display of the franchise's five Super Bowl trophies and memorabilia of Dallas Cowboys legends past and present. Local knowledge: While this is the first and only NFL-themed resort-style golf course, it is still all about golf. The practice facilities are top notch, and the par-72 layout is as an oasis of elevation changes and tree-lined fairways. Water comes into play on 13 holes, which makes it challenging. Details: 1600 Fairway Drive, Grapevine.

817-481-7277; . Old American Golf Club The course:Par 71, 7,200 yards from the back tees The cost: $150-$175 Who plays it? Those willing to shell out $150 (Sunday-Thursday) to $175 ( Friday-Saturday) at an amazing venue that skirts Lake Lewisville and conjures images of classic courses like Shinnecock Hills. But it offers five sets of tees for all skill levels. Why play it? The Old American, in its first year, was the only DFW course in the top 10 of Golfweeks 2011 Best Courses You Can Play in Texas list. Designed by Tripp Davis and Justin Leonard, it features natural contours and hazard styles, native grasses and challenging greens. Local knowledge: No. 18 is a reachable par-5 to so you might end your round with a birdie. Old American is currently open to the public with memberships available. Details: 1001 Lebanon Road, The Colony. 972-370-4653.

Tour 18 Dallas The course: Par 72, 7,088 from the back tees The cost: $75-$95 Who plays it? Any golf fan, because Tour 18 features "replicas" of some of the most famous holes in golf, such as 'Amen Corner' from Augusta National and the infamous island green from No. 17 at TPC Sawgrass, home of The PLAYERS Championship. (Be warned: the island green is Tour 18's No. 9, meaning you'll have a gallery in the clubhouse watching to see if your ball clears the water hazard.) Why play it? Because all the most storied courses are represented here: Pine Valley, Muirfield Village, Doral and Riviera Country Club to name a few. Tour 18 sits among the rolling hills of Flower Mound in Denton County and features some of the biggest mansions you will ever come across on a golf course. Local knowledge: While Tour 18 is legendary for its slow pace of play and sometimes not so ideal golf course conditions, the last few times I have been out it was smooth sailing. Details: 8718 Amen Corner, Flower Mound.

The Tribute Golf Club The course: $99-$129 The cost: Par 72, 7,100. Who plays it? Anyone who dreams of playing in Scotland or thinks the British Open is the greatest of the four golf majors. It's still cheaper than traveling across the pond to play St. Andrews. Why play it: Located in The Colony, just 23 miles from DFW Airport, the Tribute Golf Club is a true links course. Designed by renowned golf architect Tripp Davis (Old American Golf Club), The Tributes 18 holes simulate some of the most famous and challenging holes of the Scottish links. Golf Digest named the Tribute as the No. 1 Public Golf Course in the Dallas area and one of Americas 100 Greatest Public Courses for 2005 - 2006. Local knowledge: The Tribute was once referred to as "The Old Course," a tribute to St. Andrews, with its neighboring Old American being called "The New Course." Details: 1000 Lebanon Rd, The Colony. 972-370-5465.

Texas Star The course: Par 71, 6,936 yards from the back tees The cost: $57 weekdays; $77 weekends, includes range balls. Who should play it? Anyone with handicap below 20 and a wallet full of 20s. Why play it? It is, by far, Euless' best golf course. But it might also be Tarrant County's best public course that you can play for less than $100. Regularly ranked among the top 100 in the Lone Star State, Texas Star is tucked into a sanctuary of wooded bliss a few miles from Airport Freeway. The generous fairways and lush trees give the course a secluded, private feel. Watch out, though, because you'll be Titleist hunting in the woods if you can't drive it straight. Local knowledge: Texas Star has a terrific practice area and immaculate conditions. It also features several tell-your-friends holes, like No. 13, Coyote Bluff, which demands a 250-yard drive to the crest of a hill, between bunkers, and then a perilous shot downhill to a narrow green guarded by a bunker in front and out of bounds in the back.

Make par here, and you'll be ready for the Nationwide Tour. Details: 1400 Texas Star Parkway, Euless. 817-685-7888; . Waterchase Golf Club The course: Par 72, 7,006 yards from the gold tees The cost: $54-$69 Who should play it? Aquaman, because there is water on 15 of the 18 holes. But there are also six sets of tees -- which means scratch golfers, seniors and midhandicappers should all feel comfortable here. Why play it? Waterchase is a test of nerves, with all that darn agua. But it can also yield low rounds because it features five par 5s and five par 3s. Designed by Steven D. Plumer, this course just off Interstate 30 in east Fort Worth also makes you play strategically with two split fairways holes. The cascading waterfall between the ninth and 18th holes is beautiful; just be careful with your approach shots or you'll be fishing. Local knowledge: If No.

17 is playing into wind, as it almost always does, hitch up your big boy pants if you plan to carry the 210-yard pond. Details: 8951 Creek Run Road, Fort Worth. 817-861-4653; . Tierra Verde Golf Club The course: Par 72, 7,000 yards from the back tees The cost: $49-$65 Who should play it? Nature lovers. Tierra Verde was the very first golf course built in Texas, and the first municipal course in the world to be certified as an Audubon Signature Sanctuary. Located just off U.S. 287 on the way to Mansfield, the course is relatively close but still feels miles away from the big city. Why play it? It will make you feel at one with nature, especially when you hit the ball a few yards out of the fairway and end up in an environmentally sensitive area. Tierra Verde will test your ability to play target golf. Local knowledge: Owned partially by the city of Arlington, Tierra Verde has a three-hole practice facility and a lighted driving range, so it's a good place to fine-tune your game.

Details: 7005 Golf Club Drive, Arlington, 817-478-8500; . Golf Club at Fossil Creek The course: Par 72, 6,875 yards The cost: $45-$60 Who should play it? Business travelers staying in Fort Worth; it's only 15 minutes north of downtown. And locals who enjoy the challenging layout and favorable twilight prices ($29 after 4 p.m.). Just beware the traffic nightmare at Loop 820 and Interstate 35W. Why play it? Opened in 1987, this course was designed by none other than Arnold Palmer. It winds its way through 1,150 acres of natural Texas terrain -- and also the Fossil Creek subdivision. (Watch out for windows!) The course gives you some wide-open holes and then some unbelievably unnerving shots over water, especially if the wind is blowing, which it always does in Texas. And keep an eye out for creeks cutting through the fairways where you'd least expect them. Local knowledge: No.

8, the tough 537-yard par 5, is a links-style risk/reward hole, and one of our favorites in the area. The green is shaped like an hourglass and is guarded by the creek. Hit it short, you're in the drink. Hit it long, you've got a lightning-quick putt from the top of the two-tier green. Details: 3401 Clubgate Drive, Fort Worth. 817-847-1900; . Coyote Ridge Golf Club The course: Par 72, 7,003 yards The cost: $49-$69 Who plays it? Golfers who enjoy a wide-open links-style game and appreciate smooth greens. The course is owned by Sam Moon, so this could also be your best bet of tricking your wife or girlfriend into playing. Why play it? Coyote Ridge is nicer than many of the area's country clubs, with a clubhouse that features a library, a wine room and Grill 19 restaurant. The front nine plays like a links course, with open fairways and water in play on many of the holes.

The back nine is tighter, with trees, environmentally sensitive areas and the Trinity River gravel quarry to watch out for. Local knowledge: The Playboy Golf Scramble has been played here the past two years, and the May 2011 Avid Golfer Cart Girl of the Month, Taylor, is from Coyote Ridge. Details: 1640 W. Hebron Parkway, Carrollton. 972-395-0786; . Hawks Creek Golf Club The course: Par 72, 6,847 yards from the back tees The cost: $45-$60 Who plays it? Retired military guys, west Fort Worth players who don't belong to Shady Oaks or Ridglea country clubs, and anyone who appreciates well-kept greens. Why play it? Known to many as the former Carswell Golf Club, Hawks Creek was renovated in 2000 and reopened in 2002. Unlike so many courses, it doesn't demand you hit the ball long off the tee, but its tight layout requires accurate and well-shaped shots.

The back nine is a little more open and provides a genuine eagle opportunity on the short par-5 11th hole. Local knowledge: Watch out for the deceptively long par-5 ninth and 18th holes, both of which can ruin a good round coming into the lovely Scottish Castle-style clubhouse. Details: 6520 White Settlement Road, Fort Worth. 817-738-8402; . Glen Garden Golf & Country Club The course: Par 71, 6,166 yards from the back tees The cost: $25-$32 Who plays it? Anyone who wants to walk the fairways where legends Byron Nelson and Ben Hogan learned the game as caddies back in the 1920s, and who cannot pull off Colonial or Shady Oaks. Glen Garden is semiprivate, so it has members but also allows public play. Why play it? Glen Garden's length may not challenge you, but Nelson was quoted many times as saying the back nine was the most unique golf layout in the world.

Local knowledge: In the early 1920s, a caddie could earn $1 for a round of golf. This attracted Hogan and Nelson, who, at age 15, played their first head-to-head tournament here. Nelson defeated Hogan on the final hole to win the annual caddie championship. Details: 2916 Glen Garden Drive S., Fort Worth. 817-535-7582. Pecan Valley Golf Course The course(s): The River, Par 70, 6,609 yards; The Hills, Par 72, 6,577 yards The cost: $30-$40 with cart Who plays it? Everyone. It's a municipal golfer's playground, with two 18-hole courses in the shadow of Lake Benbrook. It's also the course of choice for members of Shady Oaks, River Crest and Mira Vista when their clubs are closed Mondays. Why play it? The River Course is a bit longer, but if you can par the 15th and 18th holes, across a huge ravine, consider yourself ready to challenge tougher courses.

The Hills Course lives up to its name, with several fun elevation changes. But it is mostly wide open, so you can score here. Local knowledge: In the Pro Shop, PGA head golf pro David Fowler likes to call people by name and make them feel as if they are at their own country club. The River Course actually borders Mira Vista Country Club's course. Details: 6400 Pecan Valley Drive, Fort Worth. 817-249-1845; . Private Colonial Country Club The course: Par 70, 7,204 yards from back tees Who plays it? Members and their guests. Or a big-time celebrity who happens to be in DFW. Simple as that. Initiation fee is reportedly $40,000, plus $450 a month. Why play it? Colonial, established in 1936 by famed Fort Worthian Marvin Leonard, to this day remains a true shotmaker's course, requiring players to shape the ball off the tee and demanding precision on most every shot. In addition to hosting the 65th edition of its annual PGA Tour event this week, Colonial has hosted the U.S.

Open in 1941, Tournament Players Championship in 1975 and the 1991 U.S. Women's Open. The treacherous "Horrible Horseshoe," holes 3-5, has often been compared to Amen Corner at Augusta National. Past Colonial champions include Ben Hogan, Jack Nicklaus, Arnold Palmer, Phil Mickelson, Lee Trevino and Tom Watson. Local knowledge: Colonial was the first golf course in Texas with bent-grass greens. Details: 3735 Country Club Circle, Fort Worth. 817-927-4200 Shady Oaks Country Club The course: Par 71, 6,453 yards Who plays it? Golfers who can shell out the $60K initiation fee and more than $400 in monthly dues to belong to one of the nicest courses in Texas. Why play it? Home of the legendary Hogan, and built by Leonard, Shady Oaks is an exclusive club often mentioned in the same breath as nearby Colonial. Robert Trent Jones designed the course for the average golfer, and the signature feature is the large bent-grass greens that can be unbelievably fast.

Distance isn't the overwhelming factor here, but two par 3s play around 230 yards from the back tees, and the par-5 eighth hole goes 618 yards! We are partial to the scenic No. 5, the 192-yard par 3. Local knowledge: Nike golf club manufacturer Tom Stites, a Fort Worth resident and Shady Oaks member, has handcrafted clubs for Tiger Woods and David Duval. Tiger has been spotted on the range trying out some of Stites' creations. Details: 320 Roaring Springs Road, Fort Worth. 817-732-1271; . Dallas National Golf Club The course: Par 72, 7,326 yards from the Texas Tees Who plays it? The richest of the rich golf hacks, as well as serious golfers who want to be pushed to their wits' end by the difficulty of this beautiful monster of a golf course. Initiation is a whopping $200K, plus $950 per month.

Members include Dallas Cowboys Hall of Fame quarterbacks Roger Staubach and Troy Aikman, Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban, Mavs point guard Jason Kidd and nationally syndicated DJ Kidd Kraddick. Why play it? The $30-plus million golf enclave in South Dallas is a Tom Fazio design that was built with hopes of attracting the next major championship to Dallas -- something that hasn't happened since the 1963 PGA at Dallas Athletic Club. The course features elevation changes of more than 170 feet. Local knowledge: Eight huge wooden bridges connect the deep canyons to their respective plateaus, making you feel as if you are in Austin -- with a view of downtown Dallas in the background. Details: 1515 Knoxville, Dallas. 214-331-4195; . Vaquero Club The course: Par 71, 7,064 yards from the back tees Who plays it? More like, who is filthy rich enough to play Vaquero? The initiation is said to be $175,000, plus about $1,000 a month -- and you must own a lot in the ultra-exclusive gated community in Westlake.

Lots start at around $1 million. Members include The Players Championship winner K.J. Choi, Tiger Woods' former swing coach Hank Haney, Brant Jobe, Harrison Frazar and Justin Leonard. Why play it? Tom Fazio's design features narrow fairways lined by thick, high coastal Bermuda rough. The pro-style bent-grass greens can be slick. The Vaquero Club also includes Titleist Pro V1 driving-range balls and caddies. First class, all the way. Local knowledge: Neighborhood residents include the Jonas Brothers, former Texas Rangers CEO Chuck Greenberg and New Orleans Saints head coach Sean Payton. Details: 2300 Vaquero Club Drive, Westlake. 817-746-6000; vaqueroclub.com . TPC Four Seasons The course: Par 70, 7,166 yards Who plays it? Those who want to play where the PGA players play. Although it is technically private, you can play this course without having to know somebody. For $195, guests at the Four Seasons have access to the same Tournament Players Course on which the Byron Nelson Championship will be played May 26-29. Why play it?

The par-70, 7,166-yard TPC course is one of two 18-hole layouts on the property -- the other is Cottonwood Valley. The TPC was recently redesigned by D.A. Weibring's Golf Resources Group with several dramatic improvements, notably on the par-4 18th. Local knowledge: Depending on the wind gusts and directions, the 198-yard par-3 17th hole tee shot can range from a 7-iron to a 3-wood. Details: 4150 N, MacArthur Blvd., Irving. . Ridglea Country Club, South course The course: Par 72, 7,200 yards from the championship tees Who plays it? Ridglea has two courses. The North course is considered the family course. The South is designated For Men Only. (What are we, living in an episode of Mad Men?) Ridglea has nearly 2,000 members and initiation is $15,000, plus $380 a month. Why play it? Designed by Ralph Plummer, the South Course is a shotmakers' track.

Accuracy off the tee is key on this tree-lined course with small greens. Local knowledge: Not that you care, but the South Course was the first course on which one of your humble correspondents (Jay) broke 80, so it's playable. Details: 3901 Ridglea Country Club Drive, Fort Worth. 817-236-3400; . Mira Vista Country Club The course: Par 71, 6,849 yards. Who plays it? Members of the ritzy Southwest Fort Worth club and their guests have access to this great course near Benbrook Lake. It is the only private, gated golf-course community in Fort Worth. Why play it? As you make your way around this Tom Weiskopf-Jay Morrish designed masterpiece, you will encounter some of the biggest houses you will ever see. Three lakes enhance the course layout as it meanders through the scenic hills and valleys. The 335-yard par-4 18th hole is our favorite, a picturesque hole with a split fairway and the multilevel clubhouse in the background.

Local knowledge: Mira Vista hosted the 2000 Texas State Mid-Amateur Championship and annually hosts the prestigious Kathy Whitworth Invitational. Details: 6600 Mira Vista Blvd., Fort Worth. 817-294-6666; miravista.clubhouseonline-e3.com . | The Kansas City Star “Meeting adjourned,” Roberts declared, according to one version of the story. The loblolly pine — which would soon become known as the Eisenhower Tree — was staying put. More than 57 years later, a winter storm accomplished something that even a president could not. Here at Augusta, of course, they clutch to traditions like strands of pearls. When the gates opened this week for another tournament, the pimento cheese sandwiches were still going for $1.50, packaged in the customary green wax paper. The club still holds firm to the idea of calling fans “patrons.” And the members will go to great lengths to keep things as is. If a warmer winter causes the famed azaleas to bloom before the tournament, Augusta National will reportedly dump massive amounts of ice on the roots to slow the blooming process. And nearly everything here gets a name.

There’s Rae’s Creek, and Amen Corner, and there was the Eisenhower Tree, estimated to be nearly 120 years old before its demise. On the grounds of Augusta National, sometimes a tree isn’t just a tree. Sometimes it’s a tragedy. “The loss of the Eisenhower Tree is difficult news to accept,” Augusta chairman Billy Payne said in a statement in February. One year later, Payne was still talking about the tree. Soon enough, part of it will be in Kansas. To reach Rustin Dodd, call 816-234-4937 or send email to rdodd@kcstar.com . Follow him on Twitter: @rustindodd . The Greatest Succession Of Holes Ever Created The Greatest Succession Of Holes Ever Created The Greatest Succession Of Holes Ever Created Even before Herbert Warren Wind penned that soon-to-be immortal phrase in the opening sentence of his recap of the 1958 Masters for Sports Illustrated, it was evident that the 11th, 12th and 13th holes at Augusta National Golf Club were among the greatest succession of holes ever created.

But with eloquent simplicity, Wind captured the timeless appeal of the trio of holes located at the far end of the property from the clubhouse. Set against a majestic backdrop of towering pines, vivid azaleas and more shades of green than seems possible, the long, difficult par-4 11th, the short, maddening par-3 12th, and the tantalizing risk/reward par-5 13th collectively have been referred to as a cathedral. But Amen Corner has been more theater than place of worship, a stage for some of golf's most dramatic scenes: immortal holes-in-one, round-lifting eagles, deus ex machina turns of fate, disappointments and dream-crushing disasters. Over the years, this long-running show has provided countless chapters to the history, tradition and lore of the Masters. More than seven decades of changes, triumphs, disasters, ancedotes, stats and trivia from a three-hole stretch that is the heart of Augusta National. The world's most famous sports venues have an aura to them - Wimbledon is not just tennis; it's strawberries and cream.

The old Yankee Stadium was not just a ball field; it was memories - some say ghosts - of Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig. But Augusta National Golf Club in Georgia may top them all. It is a place so perfect in its beauty, so steeped in history and tradition. The golfers say it's special because, unlike other major tournaments, the Masters is always held at the same place. That builds history over the years - you compare your game to the greats who walked those same fairways and greens. Ben Hogan, Gene Sarazen, Byron Nelson, Sam Snead, Arnold Palmer. Amen Corner White Dogwood the 11th, par4, 505 yards 1950 - The club built the pond that guards the left side of the green. Prior to the change, Rae's Creek, which now runs behind the green, had snaked in front of it. More so than the creek, the new pond dictated the approach shot. "If you see my ball on that green in two you'll know I missed my second shot," said Ben Hogan, who used to deliberately miss the green to the right to avoid the possibility of double bogey.

1979 - In the Masters' first sudden-death playoff, Fuzzy Zoeller made an eight-foot birdie putt to defeat Tom Watson and Ed Sneed, who bogeyed the final three holes in regulation. Zoeller became the first first-time player to win since Gene Sarazen in 1935. 1987 - Augusta native Larry Mize faced the two best players of the day, Greg Norman and Seve Ballesteros, in a sudden-death playoff. Uncharacteristically, two-time champion Ballesteros bowed out after the first playoff hole, the 10th. After missing the 11th green, Mize holed a 140-foot chip to stun Greg Norman. It was the second consecutive major that Norman lost to a final-hole hole-out from off the green - Bob Tway had made a greenside bunker shot on the 72nd hole of the 1986 PGA Championship at Inverness Club in Toledo, Ohio. 1989 - Nick Faldo won the first two of his three Masters on the 11th hole in sudden-death.

After Scott Hoch missed a two-foot putt on the first playoff hole, the 10th, Faldo made a 25-foot birdie putt in near darkness to win. The following year, Faldo became the second player (after Jack Nicklaus in 1965-66) to repeat when playoff opponent Ray Floyd dunked his approach into the pond on the 11th hole. 2002-06 - Motivated in part by a Phil Mickelson drive down the right side that bounded along the closely mown turf and left a wedge into the green, the club lengthened the hole from 455 to 490 to 505 yards, shifted the tee to the right and the fairway to the left to create a dogleg, and added trees to narrow the landing area. The club has since removed some of the trees it had planted. 2006 - Rory Sabbatini became the fourth player to make an eagle on No. 11, joining Jerry Barber (1962), Brad Faxon (2002) and K.J. Choi (2004).

Golden Bell the 12th, par 3, 155 yards 1763 - The creek that runs behind the 11th green and in front of the 12th green and 13th tee was known as Kenyon's Creek until it was renamed for John Rae, a trader who settled in the area in the 1730s. Maps first referred to the stream by the new name in 1763. Located at the lowest point on the course, Rae's Creek has flooded several times over the years, most notably during the 1936 tournament, causing play to be completed on a 36-hole Monday, and in October 1990, which damaged the 12th green and destroyed the 11th green and the 13th hole's front tee. 1947 - With a 7-iron, Claude Harmon made the first hole-in-one at the hole. Mention of the ace is usually accompanied by an anecdote about playing partner Ben Hogan, who played before Harmon and hit a shot to 10 feet.

Hogan didn't say a word until he had made birdie and started walking to the 13th tee. Instead of congratulating Harmon, Hogan said, "You know, Claude, I think that's only the second time I've birdied that hole." William Hyndman (1959, 6-iron) and Curtis Strange (1988, 7-iron) also have aced the hole. In 1988 Strange made 1-2-3-4, although not in sequence. 1958 - The club dedicated the Ben Hogan Bridge, which crosses Rae's Creek. In the final round, Arnold Palmer felt his tee shot had embedded. Denied relief, Palmer made double bogey. He appealed, playing a second ball with a drop; he made par. Palmer then attacked the 13th hole, making eagle. Two holes later, the committee ruled that Palmer had been entitled to relief, giving him an unexpected two-stroke boost that helped him win his first Masters. 1960 - The club raised the entire hole by two feet to avoid flooding. It also rebuilt the Hogan Bridge at a different angle and added flood-control gates.

1964 - With Bobby Jones watching, Jack Nicklaus shanked his tee shot on the hole and made triple bogey. 1980 - Tom Weiskopf hit five balls into Rae's Creek and made 13, the highest score on the hole. The difficulty of this short hole comes from the green, which is both small (3,000 square feet) and shallow (just 30 feet deep at one spot), and the wind, which swirls and gusts unpredictably amid the pines. 1992 - Defying the law of gravity, Fred Couples' tee shot landed short of the green and started rolling down the shaved bank before inexplicably stopping several feet from the water's edge. He made par and won his first major. 1996 - Greg Norman started the day six shots ahead of playing partner Nick Faldo, but they were tied standing on the 12th tee. Norman hit a shot that was similar to Couples'- but the ball rolled down the bank and into Rae's Creek. Norman made double bogey, Faldo took the lead for the first time and won by five. "It's the toughest short par 3 ever," says Gary Player.

"For excitement, drama and heartbreak, there's never been another like it," 2000 - The 12th hole may have kept Tiger Woods from the Grand Slam. In the first round, he hit his tee shot into the water and made triple bogey. He shot 75 and finished fifth. Azalea the 13th, par 5, 510 yards 1937 - In the last round, Byron Nelson went birdie-eagle on the 12th and 13th holes to make up six strokes on Ralph Guldahl, who made double bogey-bogey. Nelson went on to win, and his feat is marked by the Nelson Bridge, which connects the 13th tee with the fairway. 1954 - Prior to the tournament, the club changed the contours of the green and re-arranged the bunkers. But it was neither change that did in amateur Billy Joe Patton, who had a one-shot lead as he played the 13th hole in the final round. Going for the green, he found the tributary of Rae's Creek that cuts in front of the green and made double bogey.

1982 - In a tournament known for eagles on the back nine, first-time player Dan Pohl became the only player to make back-to-back eagles, on the 13th and 14th holes in the third round. Pohl ended up losing to Craig Stadler in a playoff. 1985 - After shooting 80 in the first round, Curtis Strange fought back and had gained the lead in the final round when his 4-wood from 208 yards found the tributary. Strange had a decent lie in an inch of water and tried to play out. The ball nearly climbed the bank before rolling back in. He got out on his second try and made bogey, but wound up losing the lead and the tournament. The following year, the club installed a dam that raised the water level in the tributary, preventing the opportunity to play from the hazard. Another change in 1995 lowered the water level, once again allowing for random lies and recovery chances. 1994 - Jeff Maggert made the only double eagle on the hole, holing a 3-iron from 222 yards.

The highest score on the hole is Tommy Nakajima's 13 in 1978. The iron-fist rule by the people who run Augusta National guarantees the look and feel of the grounds. For its annual one week in the world spotlight in April, nary a blade of grass nor an azalea bush is out of place. And so when you arrive at Augusta the first time - walking, since running isn't allowed - it's special. It's hair standing up on the back of your neck magical. It can even be annoying. But it will always be that first time. It's the pilgrimage within the pilgrimage. Step on the grounds at Augusta National, and you have to make a beeline - remember, no running - to golf's most famous three holes, which make up Amen Corner. The latter part of 11, all of 12, and the first part of 13. They create a V-shaped corner that veteran player Greg Norman, also a course designer, calls the most natural golf holes you can ever have. It got its name after Arnold Palmer hit a series of shots there on the way to his first Masters championship in 1958.

Amen Corner is the place buzzing, quietly, with fans snapping photos or simply staring at the kaleidoscope of colors and shapes: the deep green of the fairways, the white sand of the traps, the purple and pink bushes that ring the par-3 12th green. Oops, did I say fans? I meant "patrons." That's what they're called at Augusta. Who better to speak of a place that inspires religious awe than men of the cloth? "It just reminds me of how the Scripture says the heavens declare the glory of God; not just the heavens but the Earth, too. It's amazing, the beauty of the place." "It's not just the visuals, but the other senses [here], the smell of the pine straw. There's a sweetness to it. And a calmness. I think a whole lot of people here today are probably a whole lot calmer than they'd be at many, many other venues." After shaking hands one of the men said, kindly, "I'll pray for you." That's probably not the first time that's been uttered at Amen Corner - albeit from caddie to golfer.

At a tournament known for gallery roars that pinpoint what is going on where almost as clearly as the math on the giant leader boards, one location during the Masters stands apart. "It's immensely, almost alarmingly, quiet," two-time Masters champion Ben Crenshaw says of Augusta National's 12th green. "The only thing you can hear is your heartbeat and the heartbeats of your fellow players and the caddies. There is no spot like it in major-championship golf." The eerily calm atmosphere that greets golfers once they reach the putting surface of the 155-yard par 3 is a reward for having solved one of the trickiest tee shots in the sport, where the wind is forever fickle and Rae's Creek is always accepting deposits. "You know you're going to need good fortune, and occasional prayer, to get through those holes when you're in contention," Crenshaw says. "It's a beautiful expression. It just sounds right." Amen Corner was defined as the second half of the 11th, the short 12th and the first half of the long 13th to purists.

Amen Corner certainly was a more magical name for the 11th, 12th and 13th holes than "the water loop" - which, according to author David Owen's club history, was what early Augusta National members sometimes called the trio - but it did not immediately become common usage. In 1966 several mentions of Amen Corner were in Sports Illustrated (the first time it appeared in the magazine since Wind's 1958 mention), and the newsweekly Golf World used it for the first time as well. Golf Digest followed in its 1967 Masters preview. "You sure it wasn't Tony Lema?" Tom Watson says when asked who popularized the term. "They asked Tony, after you get through 13, what do you think when you get through there, and he said, 'You say amen.'" "I don't recall there was any specific time it became a general term used by everybody," contends Furman Bisher, the 89-year-old Atlanta sportswriter who has covered every Masters since 1950. "Once it became a popular term, everybody jumped in and started using it.

That's about as fanciful a juncture of golf you can find anywhere. It's the perfect label." Though Amen Corner gradually gained acceptance as a description for that part of Augusta National who named it and how it came to pass remained a mystery to most people. That changed when Wind addressed the topic in a 1984 Masters preview story in Golf Digest. Admitting he was proud to be linked with the course and the event in such an everlasting way, Wind said he sheepishly told two young reporters at the 1981 Masters he had introduced the phrase. Other than that, Wind wrote, he previously had told only one other person, Ross Goodner, a longtime Golf Digest editor and friend who was a fellow jazz buff, of Amen Corner's origin. Three holes define nature of Augusta National. Amen Corner is the most famous stretch of real estate in golf. It's probably the most photographed, too. The three holes at Augusta National Golf Club - Nos. 11, 12 and 13 - are known as much for their beauty as their difficulty. Amen Corner is more, however, than the swirling wind and Rae's Creek, which have combined to produce some of the most memorable moments in golf history.

The 11th hole, known as White Dogwood, gets its name from the dozens of trees that line the left side of the fairway. The 12th, Golden Bell, has plenty of the distinctive flowers behind the green. The 13th is named Azalea for the colorful plant that lines the left side of the fairway from tee to green. More than 1,500 azaleas make a stunning backdrop for the par-5 hole. Mother Nature deserves much of the credit for Amen Corner's splendor, but she received a helping hand long before the Masters Tournament was ever held. The property was an indigo plantation until 1857, when Belgian Baron Louis Mathieu Edouard Berckmans purchased the land. He and his son, Prosper Julius Alphonse, formed a partnership a year later to start a nursery. Operating under the name Fruitland Nurseries, the baron and his son began to import many types of trees and plants from other countries. The business thrived for more than 50 years but ceased operations a few years after the death of Prosper Berckmans in 1910.

With a good foundation already in place, Augusta National founders Clifford Roberts and Bobby Jones enlisted the help of Louis Alphonse Berckmans, son of Prosper. Berckmans returned to Augusta during the construction of the course in the early 1930s and helped decide where the varieties would be located on each hole. According to club records, a few were already in the right location, but most had to be planted. There really is no Amen Corner at Augusta National. Just like there is no Hot Corner in baseball, no real national championship in college football or no real city of Tampa Bay. Amen Corner is the figment of New York golf writer Herbert Warren Wind's imagination, which is why he lifted the line from an old African-American jazz tune called Shoutin' Around Amen Corner to describe the emotions of the players and spectators while overlooking the 11th green, 12th hole and 13th tee box. Amen Corner has very precise mythical coordinates. It has a beginning, a middle and an end: Holes number 11, 12 and 13. There are mysterious vagaries of Augusta National, written in the winds that swirl down there on Amen Corner.

Even if it's not really there. Geoff Ogilvy / Michael Arkush. Masters vs. U.S. Open / Amateurs' Finest Hour. LINKS Magazine, the Best of Golf . Issue Date: April 2008. Coffin corner: Holes 4 through 6 lack the star power of Amen Corner - Sports - Daytona Beach News-Journal Online - Daytona Beach, FL Coffin corner: Holes 4 through 6 lack the star power of Amen Corner Wednesday Apr 6, 2016 at 10:33 AM Apr 6, 2016 at 10:33 AM Collectively, these three holes are no match for Amen Corner's scenery, but strategically, they're an important early-round test. By Ken Willis ken.willis@news-jrnl.com The most famous stretch of holes at Augusta National comes early on the back nine — the 11th, 12th and 13th, collectively known as Amen Corner.

On the front nine, holes 4 through 6, like the Amen Corner trio, also butt up against a geographic corner of the property — the fourth green and fifth tee are each within a chip shot of Berckmans Road on the west side of the course. Statistically speaking, the three-hole stretch on the front nine is more demanding overall than Amen Corner. Not so much that you should officially label it “Coffin Corner,” but still, offer a golfer 12 pars there for the week, and he’ll gladly take them and move along to the seventh tee. A quick tour of the front nine’s mid-section. No. 4: Par-3, 240 yards “Flowering Crabapple” Second hardest hole in 2015, averaging nearly 3.3 strokes. Lengthened by 30-35 yards in 2006. The rakes alongside the two fronting bunkers get a lot of work. Augusta National is all about pin placement and the small areas within the giant greens where a ball must be hit for a birdie chance. At 240 yards, with tricky winds, imagine the difficulty. Trivia experts know No.

4 as the place where Augusta National’s lone palm tree lives. No. 5: Par-4, 455 yards “Magnolia” Eighth toughest last year, averaging 4.14. The old joke says there really isn’t a fifth hole at Augusta since relatively few people ever see it — many skip the long walk up the fairway to one of the course's highest spots, partly because No. 5, comparatively speaking, is no “looker.” The challenge involves two huge fairway bunkers on the left, and a massive green that slopes hard from back to front. With property changes on the course’s western perimeter, this hole figures to see changes soon. No. 6: Par-3, 180 yards “Juniper” Ranked 10th toughest last year at 3.08 strokes. The property between the fifth green and sixth tee offers perhaps the most underrated scenic view on the course. From that high vantage point, shaded by giant pines and overlooking the azaleas, you can look down on the par-3 16th, and watch players come up to the par-5 15th green. The tee shot on No.

6 is downhill and, depending on what side of the green’s shelf the pin is placed (and the corresponding accuracy), players face a definite birdie chance or potential 3-putt bogey. Ken Willis will be reporting all this week from Augusta. About Us

Question: Amen Corner is a three-hole section on the back nine of which famous American golf course?
Answer: AUGUSTA NATIONAL