Hole-by-hole guide to Augusta National

(Key to rank: 1=hardest, 18=easiest)

1st (Tea Olive), 435 yards, par four:

Lengthened last year, the fairway bunker on the right is now a 300-yard carry, but the main trouble comes on and around the green. Go long or left and you are immediately happy to make par.

2002 - average: 4.15. Rank: 10. Eagles: 0. Birdies: 24. Pars: 179. Bogeys: 60. Double bogeys: 2. Others: 0

2nd (Pink Dogwood), 575 yards, par five:

Two big hits now to get on. Long or left are bad again - far more birdies come from laying up short or going in the guarding bunkers. Nick Faldo once holed a 100-foot eagle putt on this treacherous green.

2002 - average: 4.79. Rank: 17. Eagles: 1. Birdies: 81. Pars: 155. Bogeys: 28. Double bogeys: 0. Others: 0

3rd (Flowering Peach), 350 yards, par four:

Shortest par four on the course and a real teaser. Some try to get as close to the green as they can off the tee, but the slick pear-shaped green allows some wicked pin placings.

2002 - average: 4.03. Rank: 13. Eagles: 0. Birdies: 34. Pars: 191. Bogeys: 38. Double bogeys: 1. Other: 1

4th (Flowering Crab Apple), 205 yards, par three:

Wind is a big factor in this corner of the course. Short and you can be buried in the bunker, long and it is a delicate chip to a green that slopes away. Jeff Sluman (1992, four-iron) scored the only ace here in Masters history.

2002 - average: 3.13. Rank: 11. Eagles: 0. Birdies: 27. Pars: 179. Bogeys: 56. Double bogeys: 3. Other: 3

5th (Magnolia), 455 yards, par four:

Jack Nicklaus twice holed his second shot here in 1995. The fairway bunkers down the left have been enlarged and extended into the fairway this year. More of a dogleg as a result, it will play longer and harder.

2002 - average: 4.15. Rank: 7. Eagles: 0. Birdies: 27. Pars: 174. Bogeys: 59. Double bogeys: 5. Other: 0

6th (Juniper), 180 yards, par three:

A vast green, but the slopes mean that putting the ball on the correct level is critical, especially when the flagstick is on the plateau back right. There have been three holes-in-one, but Jose Maria Olazabal took seven in 1991 - and ended up losing by one to Ian Woosnam.

2002 - average: 3.15. Rank: 8. Eagles: 0. Birdies: 33. Pars: 163. Bogeys: 63. Double bogeys: 6. Other: 0

7th (Pampas), 410 yards, par four:

What used to be a birdie chance is now 45 yards longer and much more demanding both off the tee and with the approach to a narrow, raised green surrounded by sand. Most second shots tend to be short because everyone is afraid of flying the green.

2002 - average: 4.2. Rank: 6. Eagles: 0. Birdies: 22. Pars: 173. Bogeys: 66. Double bogeys: 3. Other: 1

8th (Yellow Jasmine), 570 yards, par five:

No eagles last year tells its own story. The challenge is the blind uphill second shot. The enlarged right bunker, about 300 yards out, demands an accurate drive and the further left of that you go the harder it is to find the undulating green.

2002 - average: 4.93. Rank: 15. Eagles: 0. Birdies: 59. Pars: 170. Bogeys: 30. Double bogeys: 6. Other: 0

9th (Carolina Cherry), 460 yards, par four:

Another beefed-up hole, with the tee pushed back 30 yards. Most approaches are now played off a downhill lie to a green which tilts so sharply from back to front that it's possible to run off 60 yards back down the fairway.

2002 - average: 4.22. Rank: 3. Eagles: 0. Birdies: 32. Pars: 151. Bogeys: 73. Double bogeys: 8. Other: 1

10th (Camellia), 495 yards, par four:

A huge drop from tee to green and a big right-to-left shot required to get the ball running the maximum distance down the hill. Any drive right means a sloping lie, a longer second and a smaller target.

2002 - average: 4.24. Rank: 2. Eagles: 0. Birdies: 20. Pars: 167. Bogeys: 72. Double bogeys: 6. Other: 0

11th (White Dogwood), 490 yards, par four:

The start of Amen Corner. Much longer now and the fun comes with the second shot to a green guarded short and left by water and a green that tilts towards it. Scene of Larry Mize's chip-and-run into the hole to win his play-off with Greg Norman - and Nick Faldo's first two victories.

2002 - average: 4.15. Rank: 9. Eagles: 1. Birdies: 26. Pars: 174. Bogeys: 58. Double bogeys: 6. Other: 0

12th (Golden Bell), 155 yards, par three:

Probably the most famous par three in golf. Narrow target, water in front, trouble at the back, it has seen everything from a one to Tom Weiskopf's 13. The wind plays tricks and the relief a player feels when his ball finds the green is nearly audible.

2002 - average: 3.03. Rank: 14. Eagles: 0. Birdies: 47. Pars: 175. Bogeys: 35. Double bogeys: 5. Other: 3

13th (Azalea), 510 yards, par five:

Massive dogleg left where Jeff Maggert had an albatross two once and Ernie Els took eight on the final day last year when still in the hunt. That is still five fewer than the worst score on the hole by Tommy Nakajima. Rae's Creek runs down the left and then in front of the green.

2002 - average: 4.8. Rank: 16. Eagles: 4. Birdies: 83. Pars: 133. Bogeys: 35. Double bogeys: 7. Other: 3

14th (Chinese Fir), 440 yards, par four:

No bunkers, but the green's undulating contours make approach shots and putts as challenging as any on the course. Course record holder Nick Price also holds the record for the hole with an eight.

2002 - average: 4.20. Rank: 4. Eagles: 0. Birdies: 35. Pars: 146. Bogeys: 478. Double bogeys: 6. Other: 0

15th (Firethorn), 500 yards, par five:

The easiest hole according to last year's statistics, but still a potential card-wrecker. Ask Vijay Singh - he took nine. In range for the entire field off a good drive, but there's water to carry and the front of the green tilts towards it.

2002 - average: 4.55. Rank: 18. Eagles: 8. Birdies: 136. Pars: 196. Bogeys: 18. Double bogeys: 6. Other: 1

16th (Redbud), 170 yards, par three:

More water and inevitably more drama with a green that slopes significantly from right to left. Four years ago Davis Love chipped past the hole, rolled up the slope, nearly stopped, then rolled back down into the cup. 2002 - average: 3.05. Rank: 12. Eagles: 0. Birdies: 45. Pars: 172. Bogeys: 36. Double bogeys: 12. Other: 0

17th (Nandina), 425 yards, par four:

Eisenhower Tree is the infamous pine in front of the tee Jose Maria Olazabal tangled with when he won in 1999. He still made par amazingly, but others will hit two good shots and still bogey or worse because the green holds its own terrors.

2002 - average: 4.20. Rank: 5. Eagles: 0. Birdies: 26. Pars: 162. Bogeys: 73. Double bogeys: 4. Other: 0

18th (Holly), 465 yards, par four:

The plan to toughen this up last year certainly worked - it became the toughest hole. The tee is back 60 yards and is played through an avenue of trees that would frighten the high-handicapper. Steeply uphill, the fairway bunker from which Sandy Lyle got up and down to win in 1988 is now 300 yards away.

2002 - average: 4.32. Rank: 1. Eagles: 0. Birdies: 15. Pars: 158. Bogeys: 84. Double bogeys: 8. Other: 0