A Tweak Of Rae's Creek

Let the guessing game end before it begins. Each year before the Masters, players and aficionados amuse themselves speculating about what possible surprises the lords of Augusta National might have up their sleeves. We're not talking major construction. At the National the details are everything. Most years the membership will decide to shave a bank here, let the water level drop there or, like last year at the par-3 6th, add a small ledge to one of the greens.

The thing is, no one knows what they've done until it's almost tournament time, so don't expect to see any press releases explaining that for the 1996 Masters, Augusta National has restored Rae's Creek in front of the 13th green so that shots can be played from it. In 1989 former Masters chairman Hord Hardin, who felt that players hitting from the creek bed slowed play, had the creek turned into more of a pond by raising the water level and shaving the bank.

Give Masters officials credit for listening. This past spring SI polled players and golf course architects, asking: If you had a chance to make a change at Augusta National, what would it be? Almost all of them wanted to restore the creek at the par-5 hole. More important, so did Masters chairman Jack Stephens. This summer the club brought in Tom Fazio to do the work.

Now it is once again possible to go for the green in two, not make it and still catch a lie in the creek bed and have a chance to wedge on and make birdie; or try to wedge out, as Curtis Strange attempted to do in 1985 while in the lead during the final round, and make a big number. "I think it will re-create the excitement that used to be generated when you'd see an Arnold Palmer, or any player with his ball half-submerged, take off his shoes, climb in the creek and try to get it out," Stephens says. "That was fun. Maybe it will encourage more people to take the risk of going for the green."

The 465-yard 13th has been among the easiest holes at the Masters. This year it played to a 4.668 stroke average, virtually the same number as in 1985 when Strange hit a four-wood second into the creek, donned his rain suit and slashed his way to a bogey 6.

"I think the players will enjoy it and appreciate it," Stephens says. "They might not enjoy it in the creek, but it's better than an automatic penalty."

Jack Gives Up

A few years ago when he was asked what he thought about Jack Nicklaus's getting into the sports management business, Mark McCormack couldn't resist taking a shot at one of his original clients at International Management Group ( IMG). "That's like me entering the Masters," McCormack said. Turns out he was right. Golden Bear Sports Management, formed in 1992 with Steve Nicklaus, Jack's second son, as general manager, will go out of business in January.

Mike Schmidt, Julius Erving and Dorothy Hamill were among Nicklaus's first clients, but after the 1993 NFL draft—when the only Nicklaus client selected was Virginia Tech's Jim Pyne, in the 11th round—Nicklaus decided to stick with golfers. U.S. Open winner Lee Janzen was the biggest name in the Golden Bear stable, and when he bolted last summer, Nicklaus knew it was time to fold his tent. The problem? Getting the players out of Nicklaus's considerable shadow. "Working for Jack opened a lot of doors, but it also closed a lot of doors," says Ken Kennedy, who headed the management business.

The Nicklaus news, however, is not all bad. Golden Bear International, Jack's course-design business, is booming. Nicklaus has 24 courses, with design fees of about $1 million each, either under contract or under construction. Four of the projects are in South Africa, where the end of apartheid has resulted in a golf boom. And Nicklaus also unloaded his spec home at Loxahatchee Golf Club in Jupiter, Fla. Brent Musburger bought it for $1.345 million.