Augusta National is widely considered one of the best golf courses in the world and Maverick McNealy has admitted to being left really surprised by some elements of it when he made his debut.
McNealy is one of the rising stars on the PGA Tour and made his Masters debut just this year, making the cut and finishing a very respectable T32 for his first ever taste of Augusta National.
The American got his first PGA Tour win ever in 2024 and at just 29, he has time on his side to really make a fist of things in future majors.
Of course, winning The Masters is a difficult task but one many players relish.
One of the main attractions of the whole event is getting to play Augusta, with it still very much holding a mystique and charm that many will never experience.
And just like anyone who takes on the course for the first time, Maverick McNealy was caught off guard.
Why Maverick McNealy was surprised by Augusta National
Every year we hear of the treacherous and slippery greens at Augusta while some of the famous holes around Amen Corner put paid to even the best golfers.
However, for McNealy, it was none of those things that caught him out.
Instead, it was actually all about when the ball was in and around the greens that caught him off-guard more.
“It was like drinking from the firehose to be honest. It’s amazing how much local knowledge there is around that golf course vs any other. The first time I played it, where the course brings your eye is not where you want to hit the ball. A lot of the times you are playing the ball to an area which looks bad but actually plays okay,” McNealy admitted on the Fore Play Podcast.
“The lies around the green were very different to what I expected. I expected super firm, tight turf. What we got was slightly into the grain, a little bit ball sitting down lies, where you kind of didn’t have that high, spinny option. You had to play a back of the stance bumper into the hill.
“I think it was the first time that I went for the green on 13 and I missed it left to that front right hole location and putting it through that into the grain rye grass is so slow. I never could hit a putt hard enough through the fairway but I was worried if I chipped it and it ran through the green it was going straight into the creek.
“So the shot I want to learn for next year is that bump and run seven wood, so it has a bit more energy through the grass. The best guy I have ever seen at that shot is Charley Hoffman, that guy is deadly with a five wood around the greens.”
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What Maverick McNealy said about Augusta National’s greens
Of course, it wouldn’t be a chat about the Masters without the greens getting a mention.
They are widely regarded as the toughest in the world and at times, they’ve ended many players’ hopes of winning the event.
Indeed, for McNealy, there was one particular green that really shocked him.
“Seeing how some of the greens firmed up and others didn’t. Some were faster and some putts were kind of slow, was pretty eye opening. That 17th green is one of the fastest greens I have ever putted on. I don’t know if it’s because it’s up top and dry and a little firmer. If you go back and watch some of the coverage this year there were a lot of three putts on that 17th green, where they would six or seven feet by,” McNealy explained.
“The 12th green historically is a little slower. The 15th green was rock hard. That thing was so firm, it was one of the new greens this year, which that area shrinks up so much when you are slightly into the grain, downhill lie, with a lob wedge trying to land it on this little table top.”
Going into the 2026 event, McNealy will be all the better for experiencing things already.
Nevertheless, he’ll need to have his absolute best if he’s to get anywhere near winning.
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