Designing Golf The Original Augusta National (feat. Brian Schneider and Josh Pettit)
Apr 2, 2026
Brian Schneider, a golf architect who learned the game through hands-on maintenance at elite courses, and Josh Pettit, founder of the Alister MacKenzie Institute and expert on McKenzie’s templates, unpack how early Augusta drew from Old Course ideas. They trace Eden, Road Hole and Redan echoes, debate maintenance-driven design lessons, and explore how original width, mounding and bold greens shaped strategic play.
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Road Hole Strategy Reversed On The Fifth
- The 5th at Augusta borrows Road Hole strategy but mirrored and adapted it to local landforms instead of copying visuals.
- McKenzie used a raised plateau green and tee-angle reversal to recreate the Road's strategic tension without the road bunker.
Sixth Hole As A Redan Variant
- The 6th par three was inspired by the Redan, using a front-left bunker and a back-right mound to allow shots to feed toward back-left pins.
- McKenzie valued aesthetics too, calling their version more beautiful even if not strictly better.
Adapt Templates To The Site Not Copy Them
- When land lacks natural features, manufacture strategic templates by adapting proven hole concepts.
- McKenzie developed template ideas in South America and then applied them creatively at Augusta to make an 'inland St. Andrews.'