Get to know the Masters Par 3 Contest at Augusta National
All truly great golf clubs have a short course for casual rounds that can be played by all ages and abilities, and Augusta National is no different.
Augusta National's Par 3 was added to the club in 1958 by Clifford Roberts and George Cobb. The Masters Par 3 Contest was added to the week's events in 1960 and was won by Sam Snead. The course measures just 1,060 yards, with the longest hole, no. 6, playing 140 yards. The layout features two ponds in play, Ike's Pond and DeSoto Springs Pond. In 1987 the course was altered, adding a new no. 8 and 9 and removing the original first and second holes. In 2008 the event, held Wednesday before the first round of the Masters, was first televised by ESPN.
Today, the Par 3 Contest is informal and most players have their wives, girlfriends or children (or all the above) caddie for them. In recent years, Tiger Woods has brought then girlfriend Lindsey Vonn along, and Rory McIlroy had then-fiance Caroline Wozniacki on the bag, both of which created plenty of buzz.
Honorary invitees are invited to compete in the contest, and this includes all past major champions, British Amateur and U.S. Amateur winners, not just Masters winners.
Past winners who choose not to compete in the Masters will still compete in the par-3 tournament. Jack Nicklaus, Gary Player and Arnold Palmer have been a grouping for a number of years until Palmer bowed out of the contest. In 2015 Jack Nicklaus sent the Masters crowd into a tizzy with an ace at the fourth hole. 2016's group was Player, Nicklaus and Tom Watson.
The winner of the contest receives a crystal bowl, but few players in contention want this award. No player who has ever won the par 3 has gone on to win the Masters. As a result, some of the top contenders of the week have been known to dunk a golf ball in the water or let a little kid hit their putt for them.
The course record for contest is 19, set by Jimmy Walker in 2016.