Augusta National Pays Augusta CC $20 Million for Land to Extend Tee

[Golfingdad]

38 minutes ago, iacas said:

And they might not even use it more than two weeks per year?

That's what I'm curious about as well.  It looks like they'll be in the fairway of a roughly 400 yard par 4, about 75 yards short of the green.  So does ANGC permanently build a fence around their new property and force ACC to redesign that hole (there appears to be plenty of room to push the fairway to the left if they want to), or does ANGC temporarily fence off the area for the Masters and then allow ACC to continue to use it as their fairway the remainder of the year?

EDIT:  Whoops, should have read @Hardspoon's link first:

Quote

Currently, Augusta Country Club's ninth hole sits just behind Augusta National's 12th green and 13th tee. In addition to paying for the land -- a price tag believed to be $27 million -- Augusta National would offer to hire someone to redo Augusta's ninth hole, according to Golfweek's report. The move is also being done to add a service road back there and more of a buffer between the two courses.

[mvmac]

3 minutes ago, Golfingdad said:

That's what I'm curious about as well.  It looks like they'll be in the fairway of a roughly 400 yard par 4, about 75 yards short of the green.  So does ANGC permanently build a fence around their new property and force ACC to redesign that hole (there appears to be plenty of room to push the fairway to the left if they want to), or does ANGC temporarily fence off the area for the Masters and then allow ACC to continue to use it as their fairway the remainder of the year?

Nah, they'll keep the 9th the way it is. On Masters Sunday when Rory McIlroy is teeing off on 13 he'll have to watch out for Mr. and Mrs. Havercamp playing through.

 

[Groucho Valentine]

1 hour ago, Hardspoon said:

Here's a satellite view of the 13th tee, showing a 50-yard expansion.  It would protrude into what is now the fairway of the 9th hole at Augusta Country Club.

I wonder how much buffer area they are purchasing.

I was curious about the approximate value of the land.  Assume they need a 30-yard wide driving "alley", 50 yards deep, and then also purchase a 10-yard buffer on all (three) sides.  That's 50 yards by 60 yards...3,000 sq.yd, or about 0.6 acres.  If it's a $27 million dollar purchase, that equates to...

...$45 million per acre.

Yikes.

For comparison, I did some quick research on land prices in Downtown Manhattan.  I couldn't (quickly) find much current research, but there were studies pegging vacant land downtown at around $9 million/acre in 2006 (10 years ago).

The most expensive empty lot overall in New Jersey is $4 million/acre.  #2 on the list actually comes close at $44 million/acre (asking price), for a quarter-acre beachfront lot south of Atlantic City.

http://www.nj.com/entertainment/index.ssf/2016/02/most_expensive_empty_lots_in_new_jersey_alpine.html

Considering the how much revenue the masters tournament generates, 20+ mil might only be a drop in the bucket for them. Im sure a large portion of that money will be put to use by Augusta CC re-building and rerouting that portion of their course to accommodate the intrusion.  

Edited November 3, 2016 by Groucho Valentine

[mvmac]

1 hour ago, Groucho Valentine said:

Considering the how much revenue the masters tournament generates, 20+ mil might only be a drop in the bucket for them. Im sure a large portion of that money will be put to use by Augusta CC re-building and rerouting that portion of their course to accommodate the intrusion.  

From the link @Hardspoon shared in another post.

http://www.golfdigest.com/story/report-augusta-national-close-to-deal-to-lengthen-iconic-13th-hole

Quote

Currently, Augusta Country Club's ninth hole sits just behind Augusta National's 12th green and 13th tee. In addition to paying for the land -- a price tag believed to be $27 million -- Augusta National would offer to hire someone to redo Augusta's ninth hole, according to Golfweek's report. The move is also being done to add a service road back there and more of a buffer between the two courses.

 

[natureboy]

15 hours ago, RussUK said:

I read this last month and cant help but think its a crazy idea. Isnt the land they are buying part of the neighbouring golf course?

It just seems that golf course owners/designers think that the solution to reigning in the long hitters is to throw money at the problem and make the course longer. I agree with Jack Niclaus, he said in an interview a while back that the ball needs to be changed fron the pro game and that it would be cheaper to modify a £20k mold than keep changing courses. Rant over....i'll go and calm down a bit.

Well, officially the 'problem is solved' because average driving distance (on measured drive holes) has tapered off after driver and ball restrictions were applied. However, now fairway woods are increasingly 'hot' and clubmakers have developed thin-faced irons. I don't want to sound conspiracist, but isn't it odd that the distance category for all drives gathered under shotlink is no longer available on the PGA site?

I'm not against club makers earning a buck, but I agree in terms of cost to the consumer (us) that larger courses as the norm will tend to increase the cost of the game (if courses are concerned about defending par) and loses some nice connection to history with 'old classics' in the rota for Majors.

 

I was surprised by the post. I thought they announced this during this year's Masters. Only just concluded the deal?

Edited November 4, 2016 by natureboy

[iacas]

7 minutes ago, natureboy said:

I don't want to sound conspiracist, but isn't it odd that the distance category for all drives gathered under shotlink is no longer available on the PGA site?

Uhm, this? http://www.pgatour.com/stats/stat.317.html

[natureboy]

Here's a 2002 view of the area with a bit less shadow:

[Lefty-Golfer]

On ‎11‎/‎3‎/‎2016 at 3:16 PM, Groucho Valentine said:

Considering the how much revenue the masters tournament generates, 20+ mil might only be a drop in the bucket for them. Im sure a large portion of that money will be put to use by Augusta CC re-building and rerouting that portion of their course to accommodate the intrusion.  

it looks tom me like the new hole is going to be a pretty hard dogleg left...into large area of trees. The hole may not be great but for 25 or 30 it will be fine...just saying.

[Buckeyebowman]

On 11/3/2016 at 1:38 PM, iacas said:

I doubt they need 10 yards on all sides, or 30 yards width. So that's probably closer to $60M/acre or something. And they might not even use it more than two weeks per year?

True that! It's not like the members will be teeing off back there!

[Wally Fairway]

Mike O'Malley tweeting that AGNC has purchased (the) land from ACC

 

[b101]

12 hours ago, Wally Fairway said:

Mike O'Malley tweeting that AGNC has purchased (the) land from ACC

 

Every time I see the aerial view it staggers me how much of a dogleg that tee shot is. It would scare me stiff trying to hit driver there...

[iacas]

I'll post this in the 2020 Masters topic, too, but they're not adding a tee farther back.