What makes Augusta a great course?

The irony, if that’s the right word, about Augusta National is that for most golf fans, although it’s one of the courses they are least likely to visit, let alone play, it is also one with which they are most familiar. The reason, of course, is that it is the venue for the only Major that never moves, so we have all become hugely familiar with it, especially since finally being granted live televisual access to the front nine early this century.

We know the final nine holes in particular like the back of our hands – where to go, where not to go; what is a good approach, what is almost certain three-putt country; when to go for it, when not to on 13 and 15; and perhaps most of all, that the tournament is never over until the water holes have been successfully negotiated.

The back nine, which originally played as the front nine, has become