What Is The Course Record At Augusta National?

 Nick Price and Greg Norman during the 1986 Masters
Nick Price and Greg Norman during the 1986 Masters

Augusta National is one of the most famous golf courses in the world and notoriously one of the most difficult, too.

The iconic Masters venue is home to some of most testing greens that the world's best encounter and course knowledge pays around Augusta. It usually takes years to truly learn Augusta National's intricacies and disaster zones of where to hit it and where not to.

The course is a par 72 with ten par 4s, four par 3s and four par 5s. So what is the course record?

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In The Masters, the course record is 63 and nine-under-par. That's the same low score as both the PGA Championship and US Open, with The Open the only men's Major that has seen a 62 scored.

Only two men have shot 63s in Masters history. Nick Price set the course record in 1986 - the 50th Masters and the year that 48-year-old Jack Nicklaus rolled back the years and won his sixth Green Jacket and final Major.

Nick Price plays an iron shot during the 1986 Masters
Nick Price plays an iron shot during the 1986 Masters

Price carded a 63 in the third round, with a front nine of 33 and a back nine of 30. The Zimbabwean, who won three Majors, never won The Masters but did record his best ever finish that week with a 5th place.

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Greg Norman, another player to have never won The Masters, matched Price's course record of 63 ten years later at the infamous 1996 Masters. Norman opened the week with a 63, where he also went out in 33 and came home in 30, and held a six stroke lead heading into the final round.

Greg Norman hits an iron shot during the 1996 Masters
Greg Norman hits an iron shot during the 1996 Masters

Norman posted a 78 and was caught by Nick Faldo, who carded a 67 to win by five and slip on the Green Jacket for a third time. Norman ended the week in second-place, his third runner-up finish at Augusta.

A number of players have shot 64 during The Masters, most recently Rory McIlroy in 2022. The Northern Irishman holed a bunker shot on the 18th to shoot 64 and finish in 2nd place, his best Masters finish to date.

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The amateur course record at The Masters was set by Ken Venturi in the first round of the 1956 tournament. Venturi carded a 66, which no amateur has beaten to this day. The American held a four stroke lead into the final round but closed with an 80 to finish 2nd. He finished 2nd again in 1960 and went on to win the 1964 US Open. No amateur has ever won The Masters.

The non-Masters course record at Augusta National is said to have been scored by Jeff Knox. Knox, the former Masters non-playing marker, reportedly holds the course record of 61, 11-under-par.