Ask sports viewers about the most famous holes at this week’s Masters Tournament, and they’ll probably point to Amen Corner (Holes 11, 12, 13). But for sheer TV excitement, there’s nothing better than the 16th Hole at Augusta National Golf Club.
The famous par-3 has generated some of the most legendary golf moments and sports TV calls ever. Sports history has been made, careers launched, and legacies burnished on No. 16. With its history of back-nine birdies and the famous roar of the Masters crowd, it’s an enclosed, watery amphitheater made for melodrama as sure as any Broadway stage.
Officially named “Redbud,” the 170-yard, par-3 looks easy on TV. But those in the know recognize it as the ultimate hell-for-leather challenge on Augusta’s fabled grounds.
Forget the short length; No. 16 is played entirely over water to an undulating green protected by three bunkers. The green is severely pitched from right to left. Miss your spot, and the ball rolls downhill, requiring a dangerous putt. But players can also use the severe slope to funnel the ball toward the pin position, making it a model in risk-reward strategy.
Consider: There have been 24 holes-in-one recorded on 16. That’s more than any hole at Augusta. But the water also serves as a magnet for errant shots. Herman Barron scored an 11 at the 1950 Masters. Billy Casper, the 1970 Masters champ, unofficially recorded a 14 in 2005. It’s the only hole at Augusta National not designed by famed architect Alister MacKenzie and founder Bobby Jones.
A 26-year old Jim Nantz launched his career at CBS Sports at No. 16 while calling an aging Jack Nicklaus’s victory in 1986. Similarly, CBS’s Verne Lundquist cemented his legendary status after calling Tiger Woods’s miracle chip-in in 2005. Lundquist ruled over CBS’s 16th hole TV tower like a pasha for 25 years.
With Masters Week having officially arrived, here are my three best TV calls ever at No. 16:
- Jim Nantz, 1986: The young Nantz was working his first Masters tournament when a 46-year-old Nicklaus, who’d been left for dead by many, made a thrilling Sunday charge to win his sixth green jacket. Trailing the late Seve Ballesteros by two shots in the final round, the aging warrior drilled his tee shot on 16 to within three feet. The inexperienced Nantz wisely “laid out,” or stayed silent, as the fan roars practically knocked over the Georgia pines. After Nicklaus calmly knocked in his birdie putt, Nantz finally intoned: “And there’s no doubt about it. The Bear has come out of hibernation.” Simple, direct, perfect. When it was over, the grizzled Ken Venturi predicted Nantz would be the first announcer to call 50 Masters Tournaments. This week, Nantz will call his 41st.
- Verne Lundquist, 2005: Tiger Woods’s incredible chip-in for birdie on No. 16 was called “maybe the greatest shot in Masters history” by Golf Digest on Monday. After Woods banked his shot off the back of the green, then eagerly watched his ball drift backward to the hole, Lundquist provided the perfect narration. “Oh my goodness,” he breathed as Woods’s Nike ball inched its way to the hole. The ball hung agonizingly on the lip–before finally plopping into the cup. “Ohhhh wow!! In your life, have you seen anything like that?” asked Lundquist. During his last Masters in 2024, Woods went out of his way to shake Lundquist’s hand.
- Henry Longhurst, 1975: In one of the most legendary duels in Masters history, Nicklaus was tied for the lead with fellow Hall of Famers Johnny Miller and Tom Weiskopf. Nicklaus hit a poor 5-iron on No. 16, ending up 40 feet from the hole. Longhurst set the stage: “Here’s Nicklaus. He’s got a putt up a hill….35 to 40 feet… Been standing over it for a long time.” To the amazement of Longhurst and on-air partner Ben Wright, Nicklaus rammed his ball uphill. When the putt dropped, and Nicklaus leapt into the air, Longhurst could only chuckle in appreciation. “Up the hill. Ho, Ho, have you ever seen one like that? I think that’s maybe one of the greatest putts I’ve ever seen in my life.” Eleven years later, Weiskopf summed up the challenge of beating the Bear. When Nantz asked him what Nicklaus could be thinking before his tee shot on No. 16, Weiskopf memorably replied, “If I knew the way he thought, I would have won this tournament.”
As usual, No. 16 —and golfers who made it famous—will get plenty of coverage this week.
The 86-year-old Nicklaus will join Amazon Prime Video’s maiden Masters coverage as a special guest alongside play-by-play announcer Terry Gannon. Coverage of holes No. 15 and 16 will be available to Amazon Prime subscribers on all four days of the tournament.
On ESPN, No. 15 and No. 16 will be featured on the ESPN App from Thursday to Sunday. Over on broadcast network CBS, Frank Nobilo will take over from Lundquist in the 16th hole TV tower hole for the second straight tournament. A look back at Nicklaus’s 1986 victory will also be one of five Masters specials offered by the network. Dubbed 1986, it will air at noon E.T. this Sunday on CBS.
