5 holes that make Augusta National special

1. 12th hole (“Golden Bell”)

In 1958, Arnold Palmer stepped to the 12th hole in contention for his first Masters title. His tee shot at the par-three came up short and became embedded in the bank of Rae’s Creek. Palmer played his ball and make a double-bogey, but then decided to take a free drop with a second ball and made par. Palmer went on to win that Masters by one shot.

Herbert Warren Wind was covering the tournament for Sports Illustrated. It was Palmer’s dilemma on the 12th that led Wind to first coin the term Amen Corner. “I felt that I should try to come up with some appropriate name for that far corner of the course where the critical action had taken place,” he explained years later.

Palmer’s troubles show there is more to this hole than there seems. At first glance, it’s a short par-three, measuring just 155 yards. A second look, though, reveals that the 12th is one of the trickiest holes at Augusta National. The target for approach shots is small, with the green measuring just 3,200 square feet, less than half the size of the average green on the course. At its narrowest point, it’s only 30 feet wide. The trees that surround the hole can make the wind hard to judge.

Come up short, and the ball will roll down the bank and into Rae’s Creek. Or at least it should. In 1992, Fred Couples had his shot miraculously stop short of the water. He managed to save par and go on to win the Green Jacket. Jordan Spieth wasn’t as lucky. With a three-shot lead on Sunday in 2016, Spieth put his tee shot into the hazard. Then he did it again, making a quadruple-bogey seven that cost him his second straight Masters title.

The beauty of this hole, with Hogan’s Bridge crossing Rae’s Creek and the flowers blooming behind the green, belies how treacherous it can be. The 12th historically is the fourth-hardest hole at Augusta National.