Jones would be delighted with added length, beauty of Augusta National

If somehow you had been dropped off blindfolded on this secluded tee box, you might be thoroughly disoriented.

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In the middle of the most famous 365 acres in Georgia is a place even the most frequent Masters Tournament patron is not familiar with. It is a wide, sun-splashed grassy oasis in the middle of trees dense enough to mask a maintenance shed all these years.

Here - almost a full football field from where players planted their pegs in the shadows only four years ago - is the new seventh tee of Augusta National Golf Club. Some 450 yards away through a narrow gap in the trees is the heavily bunkered green that only looks vaguely familiar from this far-off, foreign perspective.

This strange place is just one of the significant differences players will have to orient themselves to when they show up for the 2006 Masters. In all, six holes - 1, 4, 7, 11, 15 and 17 - underwent length-enhancement surgery this summer to the tune of 155 yards.

That brings the sum total of distance augmentation to 520 yards since 1998 and 750 yards since the original Masters in 1934.

Added yardage, however, is only a piece of the evolution of Augusta National. Trees have been moved, removed or added. Fairways have been realigned and/or tightened. A bunker has been reconfigured to include a second lip right through the middle of it.

All of the alterations emphasizing accuracy and retroactive shot values - whether greeted warmly by Masters

participants or not - fit into the original philosophy of course founder Bobby Jones.

"The perfect design should place a premium upon sound judgment as well as accurate striking, by rewarding the correct placing of each shot," Jones said in 1932. "Mere length is its own reward, but length without control ought to be punished."

Given one word to describe the most recent changes to the host course of the Masters - stunning.

Stunning in magnitude of its scope. Stunning in magnificence of the execution. Stunning in impact for players and patrons alike.

As with most things Augusta National does, alterations that are only 5 months old have an instant air of maturity about them, as if they've been there since Jones first commissioned construction. Building a new tee box involves much more than leveling off a mound of dirt and planting seed. Great lengths are taken to make sure changes blend into the landscape naturally, and it shows by hardly showing a mark at all.

If that means moving a 75-foot tall pine or ancient magnolia, so be it. The end result is visually striking.

While the intent is, as club chairman Hootie Johnson said, to "keep the golf course current with the times," this year's changes will offer a variety of new perspectives and experiences for tournament badge holders. No matter how many times you've walked the course and think you've seen everything, this year's alterations offer new places to explore.

While several popular viewing areas might have more restrictive access (behind the back right bunker on No. 16 green and behind the first tee), the additions more than outweigh any subtractions.

For the first time, fans can get elevated looks from behind the tee boxes on Nos. 7 and 11 - dazzling fresh perspectives on two of the tightest driving holes. The seventh tee box is entirely virgin territory and should be accessible from nearer the fifth hole.

The best change from an outside-the-ropes vantage point is the 15th tee, which was moved 30 yards back and 20 more to the golfer's left. The area around the old tee that restricted viewing options on the 10th green has been regraded into an amphitheater capable of giving hundreds of additional fans a chance to view one of the two potential playoff holes.

What matters most, in the long run, is the playability of the course, and Augusta National has been proven wise in recent years by staying ahead of the curve. Even players wary of too much change concede that point.

"I don't see Hootie falling behind on anything," said Charles Howell, an Augusta native.

If there is one change that has players scratching their heads more than any other, it's the par-3 4th. Stretched to 240 yards to its rear limit, what was already one of the toughest par 3s in golf could be brutal. But it jibes with Jones' original intent, as he stated in a 1959 Sports Illustrated story, for the hole to be played "with a strong iron or even a four- or three-wood."

The fourth hole traditionally yields the fewest birdies of any hole on the course. In the 20 years since Jack Nicklaus' monumental victory, the fourth has held the distinction of being the least birdied hole 11 times - including twice (1994 and 96') when it yielded single-digit birdies and triple-digit bogeys or worse.

Even so, the new tee has been tucked far back into the trees, left of the grandstand location, with wide expanses of grass tying it in with the third hole. It can be played as short as 215 yards from the front of the tee, and Masters officials are likely to use the forward "member's" box as a shorter option for one day.

To maintain the rhythm of the course that has endured through the years, two of the hardest par 4s were made a little harder - 1 and 11.

The tee box on No. 1 was pushed so far back (20 yards) that 5 feet of the practice putting green had to be shaved off to accommodate its new neighbor. Patrons will no longer be able to roam behind the tee, with a new crossover created in front. The box is back far enough that views from the balcony of the main clubhouse will no longer be obstructed by the massive oak.

From the players' perspective, the hole that ranked hardest on the course as recently as 2004 will require a little extra skill and shape off the tee to sling a drive up the left side where a few more pines were added. It will take 327 yards to carry the fairway bunker, which is dissected by a new fingered wedge of turf to create a secondary lip for anyone unfortunate enough to hit into it.

No. 11 - the toughest scoring hole two of the past three years - underwent its third significant alteration since 2002 in its quest to restore the relevance of the greenside pond. In addition to stretching the length to 505 yards, more trees were added to the young grove that hugs the right side to force the golfers to play left and deal with the pond using longer clubs on their approach. Attacking a rear left pin will not be for the faint of heart.

The seventh hole has changed dramatically since 2002. Ninety total yards were added in two stages to what was once a short hole protected only by a tight landing area and its small elevated green surrounded by five bunkers.

Now No. 7 grabs your attention and demands even finer accuracy with a few more pines added to both sides. The green - which should be attacked with fewer sand wedges and more 7- and 8-irons - was tweaked as well, to allow new hole locations on both the back right and left to bring the two rear bunkers more in play.

The par-5 15th tee was moved back, left and lowered 3 feet. It will require more of a right-to-left shaped drive to earn the option of going for the green on what is traditionally one of the best scoring opportunities for longer hitters.

While the 17th tee was pushed back 15 yards. within close proximity to the back right bunker of the 16th green, the impact on the hole is mostly aesthetic. Clearing some towering pines and trimming another on the left side has accentuated the beauty and impact of the 65-foot tall Eisenhower tree, which stands out more prominently 210 yards from the tee. While the famous loblolly pine can still be carried, additional pines on the left and a narrower fairway await in the landing area.

How the supersized 7,445-yard course will treat participants in the season's first major remains to be seen. Dire predictions in recent years have proven unfounded, and the massive driving stats at this week's Tour Championship for Tiger Woods make you wonder if Augusta National hasn't gone far enough.

Final judgment will require depth of experience. But on the surface, the initial reviews are nothing but spectacular.

Reach Scott Michaux at (706) 823-3219 or scott.michaux@augustachronicle.com.