When Bobby Jones tasked golf designer Alister MacKenzie with creating AUGUSTA NATIONAL, he had no way of fully comprehending how the course would come to define championship golf decades into the future. And it continues to evolve, challenge, and intrigue every golfer.

Just ask Mike Weir, Golf Town Ambassador and 2003 Masters winner. Weir is preparing his game for his annual challenge¬—finding a way to attack the devilish greens of the course, which has been tweaked significantly over the decades. Having played at Augusta for more than a quarter century, Weir knows the course as well as anyone. And since the Canadian was never one of the longest in the game, he’s always played it strategically, plotting his way around to determine where he must play conservatively and where he can attack with his world-class short game. “It can get away from you [at Augusta] really quickly,” Weir explains.

IT IS ALL IN THE GREENS

While there are plenty of reasons Augusta is among the most famous courses, Weir points to the greens as a key to unlocking the course. After playing it last year, Weir used the Masters app to watch how he putted each hole.

“You look through that and you got to think, ‘Man, look at that wasted little putt there,’ and you look back and it’s like, you know, five, six, seven shots left out there over two rounds,” he says. “It is the difference of being out of the cut line or in the Top 15 and going into the weekend.”

For much of Weir’s career, his goal is to effectively lag putt over the wild slopes at Augusta, and just get up-and-down. But he admits the game has changed with the new generation of golfers who regularly carry the ball 300 yards or more.

“I think the big difference for today’s player from maybe 20 years ago is that the guys hit it so long they are looking to just attack on those holes,” he said. “They’re still attacking every hole.”

FIND SUCCESS OF THE PAR-5S

You don’t have to be super long off the tee to score on the par-5s at Augusta, Weir points out. After all, he, alongside the likes of Zach Johnson, are good examples of using a strong wedge game to attack those holes and score well. But what Weir says many don’t recognize is how important positioning is if a player is trying to put it close with a wedge for their third shot on these key holes.

“If you don’t hammer one, positioning your layup on the par fives to the right angle to be able to attack is key,” he says. Weir points to the 8th hole as an example of how important it is to position your approach. “If I lay it up too far down there, no matter what I do, that ball is going to kind of skip away because I’m playing away from that back hole location and on the angle, it’ll just kind of skip to the left and leave you with a 20-foot putt,” he says. “On the other hand, if I’m back 20 yards and at a different angle, I can go right at it and the ball won’t bounce left.”

The opportunity, Weir says, is in learning the parts of Augusta that only reveal themselves over time. “Paying attention to those little details around there is super important,” he says.

FINISHING WITH A BANG

Those who only witness Augusta on television can’t quite comprehend just how narrow and challenging the course’s 18th hole is, Weir explains. The tee shot, struck between an ever-expanding group of trees on both sides of the hole, is “claustrophobic.”

“To finish off a round with that hole is daunting, and it might be 310 yards to that bunker on the left side,” Weir says.

In recent years, as participants have gotten longer off the tee, many are choosing to approach the hole with a 3-wood, which leaves a longer approach, but means they’ll miss the bunker. That’s not how Weir has ever played the hole.

“They’re hitting three wood and cozying up close to that bunker,” he says. “I just have to unleash it and hopefully get it out there to 285 to 290 on a really good one. That leaves me with a 5-iron or something up the hill.”

What Weir says many don’t recognize is the elevation to the green. “It is 12 percent uphill, and then you add 12 to 15 yards to a back pin, and you can’t see anything,” he says. “It is a super demanding hole, that’s for sure.”