1st Hole at Augusta National: Tea Olive

• Par: Par 4
• Length: 445 yards
• Name: Tea Olive

The first hole at Augusta National Golf Club begins right next to the clubhouse. The drive is uphill and there's a slight doghill to the right. Trees on the left will catch drives that stray too far. The approach is to an undulating green.

When Augusta National first opened, this was the 10th hole. The nines were flipped in 1935, making Tea Olive the No. 1 hole.

Tea olive (scientific name osmanthus fragrans) is an evegreen shrub that can be shaped into a small tree. As the scientific name makes clear, its small white flowers, which bloom from December through March, are highly fragrant.

Here is an animated flyover of the first hole produced for Golfweek:

Scoring Stats on Augusta National Hole 1

Hole No. 1 hole has played to an all-time average of 4.24 strokes over the tournament's history. That ranks it as the sixth-toughest hole on the course during tournament play.

The easiest the first hole has ever played for a single tournament is 4.0082 strokes during the 1974 Masters. The highest stroke average it's had is 4.47 during the 2007 Masters.

All-Time Best and Worst Scores on Augusta's 1st Hole

Highest score ever on No. 1: The worst score ever on the first hole is 9, a quintuple bogey, and it's happened only once. Ernie Els is the golfer who did it, during the 2016 Masters.

Lowest score ever on No. 1: An eagle 2 is the best score ever recorded on the first hole. Five golfers have holed-out on the opening hole for that score:

• Frank Moore, 1940
• Roberto De Vicenzo, 1968
• Takaaki Kono, 1970
• Scott Verplank, 1987
• Retief Goosen, 2011

Best tournament score ever on No. 1: What about cumulative score on No. 1 during a single Masters? No Masters golfer has ever birdied the first hole all four rounds. But several have come close. These golfers played No. 1 in 13 strokes, 3-under-par, during a single Masters:

• Gary Player, 1961 (4,3,3,3)
• Artie McNickle, 1979 (3,3,4,3)
• Curtis Strange, 1984 (3,3,3,4)
• Jose Maria Olazabal, 1991 (3,3,4,3)
• Curtis Strange, 1992 (3,3,3,4)
• Nick Taylor, 2020 (3,4,3,3)

Worst tournament score on No. 1: The highest cumulative score on No. 1 during a singles Masters is 6-over-par 22. It has happened three times:

• Charles Kunkle, 1956 (5,5,5,7)
• Skee Riegel, 1956 (5,6,6,5)
• Jeev Milkha Singh, 2007 (4,5,5,8)

See more: Augusta National scorecard and hole names

Photo credit: "First hole, Augusta National Golf Club" by danperry.com is licensed under CC BY 2.0