At Augusta National, Nos. 3-4-5 are an early, worthy trio of holes

As difficult as it is to imagine now, when the Masters was inaugurated at Augusta National Golf Club in 1934, the front and back nines were flipped.

The current 10th hole opened the tournament, so the brilliant stretch of the 11th, 12th and 13th was merely the early part of the front nine. Had it remained so, would Herbert Warren Wind have been inspired enough to dub the collection “Amen Corner” in 1956?

Probably not.

It’s possible that three of the most fascinating holes on the current front nine — an unseen mystery to television viewers for the first 60 years of the Masters —would have earned their own nickname.

Collectively shaped like a horseshoe, the short par-four third, the monstrous par-three fourth and the dogleg par-four fifth with the crazy green don’t stir much poetic prose. They don’t have nearly the bounty of flowers or include the intriguing hazard that is Rae’s Creek.

The fourth hole’s signature plant is bamboo, for goodness sake.

Still, they are workhorse holes that have as much influence in deciding who pulls on the green jacket come Sunday as any other place on the grounds.

“I always thought that 3, 4 and 5 were the most important holes on the front nine,” said former U.S. Open champion and ESPN commentator Andy North. “It’s an amazing three holes in a row.”

Masters have surely been lost in the stretch. Look no further than Phil Mickelson in 2012.

One shot off the lead Sunday heading into No. 4, Mickelson aimed to catch the left edge of the green with his tee shot from 240 yards. The left-hander pushed it and then got enormously unlucky — his ball ricocheting off the rail of the grandstand and into the bamboo grove left of the green.

Mickelson tried two right-handed whacks amid the dense bamboo shoots and eventually made a triple-bogey 6. He finished two shots out of the playoff won by Bubba Watson. A par at No. 4 that day might have secured Mickelson his fourth green jacket.

At least those watching on television had context for Mickelson’s collapse. It wasn’t until 2003 that the full front nine was televised, though as CBS lead anchor Jim Nantz pointed out on a conference call last week, some shots by the leaders were shown as early as Tiger Woods’ historic victory in 1997.

The third hole is intriguing because it has changed so little since Alister MacKenzie designed it. The fourth always challenged the 12th as the toughest par-three on the course, and it has been made only stronger with lengthening. The fifth — arguably the most underrated hole on the entire course — has undergone numerous alterations and is noteworthy for what looks like buried elephants under the putting surface.

“I’d be very happy going through there today in 4-3-4,” said three-time Masters champion Nick Faldo, CBS’ lead analyst. “If you did that all week you’d be gaining on the field.”

At 350 yards, the third hole has played at the same length since the first Masters. The club selection off the tee depends on the pin position. The Sunday cup placement is on the shallow left side of the heart-shaped green. An imprecise shot can come rolling back at you off the front or skip over the back — either position leaving the need for a delicate chip.

“If you miss that green, it’s incredible to watch,” Nantz said.

Nantz recalled how his former broadcast partner, Ken Venturi, spoke with pride about going 3-3-3-3 at No. 3 in 1960.

“He’d say, ‘Jimmy, no one is ever going to break that record. No one can do better than that,’” Nantz said.

In the 55 years since, only K.J. Choi (2003) has matched Venturi.

Woods birdied the third three times en route to his 2002 Masters win. He had more trouble in his ’97 victory, when he blasted a driver only 15 yards short of the green, hit a chip over the back and made bogey.

“I thought it was as dangerous a short hole as you ever played,” North said.

Compared to the next two holes, the third is a pushover. Through Masters history, No. 3 has played as the fifth-easiest hole. The fourth has been the fourth-most difficult and No. 5 is the fifth toughest.

The fourth has always been a beast, and advanced ball and club technology hasn’t made it any easier. Augusta officials ensured that when they moved the tee back 35 yards in 2006. Short shots are swallowed by a massive front bunker and anything long leaves a touchy downhill chip.

Much is made of how much the wind swirls at No. 12. It’s just as tricky at 4.

“Four, to me, is not a good hole from 245 yards to that green,” said Chris DiMarco, who is working this week as a studio commentator for Golf Channel. “It’s kind of crazy. I know these guys are still hitting three-irons and maybe some hybrids in there, but 245 yards is too long.”

He’ll get no sympathy from old-timers. On a windblown day in 1956 Jackie Burke needed a driver on the hole playing 205. In ‘62, Arnold Palmer chose one-iron and ballooned the shot so badly it traveled only 120 yards.

In 1977, Tom Weiskopf got a better break than Mickelson. His pulled tee shot bounced off the head of a spectator and onto the green.

In a testament to how tough the fourth is, Jeff Sluman is the only competitor to get a hole in one there, making an ace in 1992 with a four-iron.

Farthest from the clubhouse than any other hole, the fifth often goes unvisited even by spectators on the grounds. To not see it is to miss a demanding dogleg and its fantastical green.

The fifth has been altered significantly. When modern players were able to blow tee shots well over the left fairway bunkers, they were moved 80 yards closer to the green and the fairway was extended to the right to create a sharper dogleg.

Today’s players have short irons into the green, but they have to be sharpshooters. With huge mounds defending the first third of the green, any shot short gets rejected to the front. Flying the green brings a back bunker or the woods into play.

“One of the most demanding iron shots in the world,” Faldo said of the approach.

Perhaps no one has cursed the fifth more than Lee Trevino.

At last contending on a course he didn’t believe suited him, Trevino was tied for first after two rounds in 1978. He was one under par for the third round when he arrived at No. 5.

What a disaster.

He flew his second shot into the back woods, could only punch into the bunker, left his first shot in the sand and missed a 3½-foot putt to make triple bogey.

“I think,” Trevino muttered to his caddie as he walked off the green, “my green jacket just flew the hell out the window.”

tod.leonard@sduniontribune.com