Hello, friends. It's officially Masters Week.
The annual Masters Tournament, held at the historic Augusta National Golf Club in Georgia, is set to officially launch golf's 2025 major season this week when it tees off on Thursday and wraps up on Sunday.
The pristine par-72 course is often a doozy, with the famous—or infamous, depending on how you look at it—Amen Corner both making and breaking players' rounds year in and year out.
What is Amen Corner, you ask? Here's a look:
What Is Amen Corner?
Amen Corner is the nickname for holes 11, 12, and 13 at Augusta National Golf Course. The three-hole stretch—a par 4, a par 3, and a par 5—brings quite the challenge to golfers with its water hazards, creeks, and vicious doglegs, and has been pivotal in both helping and hurting players' scores in past Masters Tournaments.
Here's a diagram of the bend:
And here's a closer look at each hole:
Hole 11 – White Dogwood (Par 4)
White Dogwood is a 520-yard par 4 with an average score of 4.3. As written on the Masters' website, wind is often a factor on this hole, which plays downhill and left-to-right.
Prior to 1950, Rae's Creek—which we'll get to with Hole 12—ran in front of the green. It was replaced with a different hazard: a lard pond directly to the left of the green.
Hole 12 – Golden Bell (Par 3)
Golden Bell is the third, and shortest, par 3 at Augusta National. The 155-yard hole with an average score of 3.27 is set up with it's tee shot looking directly at not only Rae's Creek—a water hazard directly in front of the pin—but also three bunkers surrounding the green.
Following a (hopefully) successful approach, players walk across Ben Hogan Bridge to reach the green before finishing Amen Corner with a par 5.
Hole 13 – Azalea (Par 5)
Azalea, par 5 with an average score of 4.77, finishes off Amen Corner with a bang. With Rae's Creek once again in front of you, though hardly an issue with 545 yards to the pin, players must once again cross over Ben Hogan Bridge before taking on a sharp dogleg left to the hole.
Four bunkers and a much smaller creek surround the green before you're out of it and onto Augusta National's final five holes.
How Amen Corner Got Its Name
The name Amen Corner was first used by Sports Illustrated's own Herbert Warren Wind in an April, 1958 article about that year's Masters Tournament. The golf writer used the term—which he derived from a jazz song title "Shoutin' in that Amen Corner"—to describe Arnold Palmer's play throughout the three-hole stretch. The King, as he was nicknamed, won his first of four career Masters that year.
Wind later said in a 1984 article with Golf Digest that he wanted to give the tricky trio a catchy nickname like the "hot corner" in baseball or a "coffin-corner" kick in football. The nickname quickly stuck and has since been synonymous with Augusta National and The Masters ever since.
Famous Moments at Amen Corner
Amen Corner has produced some tournament-changing moments at the Masters over the years, but none may be more notable than these four:
Jack Nicklaus's Charge in 1986
The legendary Jack Nicklaus roared back to win the Masters, his sixth and final, in 1986 while tallying an incredible score of 30 on Sunday's second nine.
Shooting just one-under through the first nine holes of the final round, The Golden Bear put on a masterful, six-under performance to finish that included birdies on 11 (White Dogwood) and 13 (Azalea).
Though he bogeyed Golden Bell in between, Nicklaus' final score of -9 was one stroke better than Greg Norman and Tom Kite's -8, giving him his 18th major victory—still the most in history.
Tiger Woods's Miraculous 2005 Chip-In at 16
While Augusta's 16th hole, named Redbud, is not a part of Amen Corner, it's Tiger Woods's performance on the three-hole run that made his incredible chip-in that much more special.
Two strokes ahead of Chris DiMarco heading into White Dogwood, Tiger parred 11, 12, and 13 to maintain his lead before birding 15 and setting up this epic chip-in from the second cut for another birdie.
“IN YOUR LIFE HAVE YOU SEEN ANYTHING LIKE THAT?!”
— Brad Galli (@BradGalli) April 6, 2025
Tiger Woods chips in at 16 at the Masters. Chills. Glory. The best. https://t.co/INrDUS5fib
Despite bogeying his final two holes to fall into a tie, Woods outlasted DiMarco in a playoff to win his fourth Masters.
Jordan Spieth's Epic 2016 Collapse
Entering 2016's tournament as the defending Masters champion, Jordan Spieth put together a three-under first three rounds and held a one-stroke lead heading into Sunday.
To start the final round, the then-23-year-old tallied a -3 on the first nine holes and was up a comfortable four strokes over Danny Willett heading into Amen Corner. Then? Disaster struck.
After bogeying 11, Spieth quadruple-bogeyed (!) 12—a score that likely cost him a second-consecutive green jacket—before a too-late birdie on 13. By then, he was already two shots behind Willett and never recovered.
Here's a look at how quickly Spieth's win probability tanked following this three-hole performance:
Spieth's win probability after going through Amen Corner in 2016 pic.twitter.com/q2uN3xQJqb
— Joel Beall (@JoelMBeall) April 7, 2025
Amen Corner is no joke.
Phil Mickelson's Daring Dagger on 13
While Amen Corner can be a heartbreaker, it can also be a lifesaver if you're willing to go for it—and that's exactly what Phil Mickelson did in 2010.
Up just one stroke on Lee Westwood heading into No. 11, Lefty birdied No. 12 before his tee shot on No. 13 found him in the rough and between two trees.
Deciding to risk it all, Mickelson took one of the more aggressive shots in Masters history, and it paid off. His approach went directly through the trees and over the creek, before stopping just a few feet shy of the hole.
Here's a look:
Probably Phil Mickelson’s greatest shot ever. 2010 Masters #MastersRewatchMoment pic.twitter.com/AR6lM5Cros
— Kirk Haston (@KirkHaston35IU) March 26, 2020
What a shot. After a second consecutive birdie, Mickelson won the tournament, his third at the Masters.
How Amen Corner Impacts The Masters Tournament
Needless to say, Augusta's three-hole stretch on the second nine has a profound impact on the Masters tournament. It's where dreams are made—and die—and essentially has to be played correctly for four consecutive days if you want to win a green jacket.
Whether players play it safe or risk it all, the pressure of Amen Corner is no joke—especially on Sunday. How will the field fare on holes 11 through 13 this weekend in Augusta? We'll have to wait and see.
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This article was originally published on www.si.com as The Naming & History of Amen Corner at Augusta National Golf Course.
