#1
#2
#3
#4
#5
#6
#7
#8
#9
#10
#11
#12
#13
#14
#15
#16
#17
#18

 
Tea Olive
Dogwood
Peach
Crab Apple
Magnolia
Juniper
Pampas
Jasmine
Cherry
Camellia
Dogwood
Golden Bell
Azalea
Chinese Fir
Firethorn
Redbud
Nandina
Holly

Hole #4

A long par 3 requiring a long iron, and is often made difficult by deceptive wind. Two greenside bunkers, front right and along the left side, guard this green which slopes to the front.

Very wide green is about 20 yards below tee, but even long hitters may need a wood. Large bunker front-right.

Very wide green is about 20 yards below tee, but even long hitters may need a wood. Large bunker front-right.

A fine one-shot hole that can require a wood shot from even the long hitters. The green is wide. A shot sent to the wrong side of the green can leave a putt as long as 75 or 80 feet.

Jack Nicklaus says: Wind again here is a big factor. You never know if it's going to come into your face down the slot, or stop. Probably the most difficult of the par-3s on the golf course. Certainly the toughest of the greens to putt.

The fourth hole has given me more trouble through the years than any other par 3 on the golf course—and that’s saying something. You’ve got three things to be wary of: the swirling wind, the difficulty of the putting surface and the danger of the front bunker. All of these elements combine to make this arguably the toughest of the par-3 holes. Because of the wind, which can be just as puzzling as down in Amen Corner, I’ve hit everything from a 7-iron to a 1-iron. I’ve hit shots I thought were on the stick that ended up falling short of the bunker and others that appeared to be perfect but carried long into the bamboo behind the green. I play the hole based on what distance I have over the bunker. I try to hit the ball over the bunker, pretty much into the center of the green. Again, I favor the section of the green where the flag is located. Last year the fourth hole was ranked the most difficult on the course and that doesn’t surprise me. A birdie here goes a long way toward erasing any mistakes you’ve made up to this point. On the other hand, a bogey can cost you dearly as you head to the tough par 4 ahead.

Fuzzy Zoeller says: This hole plays anywhere from 185 to 220 yards, with players hitting anything from a 5 to a 2 iron. Wind is a big factor on this hole. It's a very severe green with a 3-foot mound in the middle.

Tiger Woods says: You play two different tees, a back tee and a front left tee, depending on the pin location. For me, normally it's a 4- or 3-iron from the back tee, and from the front tee, a 6- or 7-iron. It's probably the hardest par-3 on the golf course because it's long and the wind swirls, and you don't have a place to bail out. The green has two shelves, and they aren't very big at all.

Fred Couples says: It's a great par-3. It's normally about 200 to 210 yards. It's a hole I've struggled on until the last few years. I've tried to play a little smarter, aim to the left of the green and try and two-putt and not get too cute. That's basically what you're trying to do on a lot of holes, especially one as long as No. 4.

Bernhard Langer says: For several reasons, No. 4 is the hardest hole on the course to this point in any round. From its elevated tee, players face a swirling wind and a green that slopes severely from back to front and right to left. The hole plays close to 200 yards and sometimes more, so it's a 3- or 4-iron most of the time. Carrying the front bunker is critical, but when the green is hard, it's very tough to stop the ball. The wind can come down the fifth fairway and then have nowhere to go but right at you. I've played this hole with guys who hit the ball the same length as I do and they'll fly a 3-iron over the green, then I'll hit a 4-iron and come up 20 yards short. You have to be aggressive here because there's no real safety shot. In the final analysis, unless you hit the ball close to the flagstick, you're going to have to make a difficult putt, chip or bunker shot to record a par. When I played my first Masters in 1982, I missed the cut by one and had 11 three-putt greens. This hole has tripped many of us, but if you're able to get by it successfully, you know you've already played three of the five toughest holes on the course.

Hole #4

These flowering crab apples, Malus hybrida, are Far Eastern varieties which have a more prolific flowering habit than native forms. The trees bloom in late March and early April with light pink to deep rose flowers followed in the fall by colorful one-inch apples, a popular food for many wild birds.