The Masters gets underway this week as the eyes of the world descend on Augusta for one of golf’s biggest tournaments.
The quest to win the green jacket gets underway on Thursday as a number of big names try and make their bid to be the winner.
As we know, winning at Augusta National has a mystique and sense of achievement about it not felt anywhere else in golf.
Indeed, it’s nigh on impossible to play at Augusta unless you are a pro or happen to be one of the exclusive members afforded access through having deep pockets or friends in the right places.
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Of course, for us mere mortals, the idea of ever playing at Augusta is just a pipe dream.
But one man who has played the course is popular YouTuber, Rick Shiels.
Shiels has played some of the best courses around, including the likes of TPC Sawgrass and St Andrews.
And when presented with a list of top courses in the world – that ranked Augusta down in 12th – Shiels was adamant that the list was out of order.
Rick Shiels shares which is the better golf course…St Andrews or Augusta National
Speaking on an episode of his Rick Shiels podcast last week, Shiels admitted that the Augusta experience is something else.
And when discussing St Andrews, Shiels actually hinted at the course not being as good as is made out, with the history of the actual place being the main attraction.
“With all due respect, in my opinion, Augusta National is better than the other two golf courses I’ve played on that list. If it didn’t hold the Masters, would it go down the list? But is it not all wrapped up in the package?,” Shiels said.
“The Old Course, would definitely not be as high (if you took away the history). If you removed, if you lifted the footprints of the old course up and moved it somewhere else and it didn’t have the history and it didn’t hold The Open, it would not be ranked. I’ll be careful what I say but it won’t be ranked as high as it is on the list. I think for players, if they’ve played The Masters a few times, then the more times you play it the less special it becomes.”
Of course, playing the Old Course up in Scotland is something a lot of people can do. It’s still a hard course to book onto but it is feasible.
Augusta National, meanwhile, is pretty much impossible to get on.
And as Shiels says, there is just something about the whole experience of being at The Masters venue that elevates it above everything else.
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