Augusta National completes tunnel to state-of-the-art compound ahead of 2020 Masters

Augusta National may ultimately lengthen its iconic 13th hole, but that change won't be made ahead of the 2020 Masters. Nevertheless, the National will unveil its latest modernization to the property come spring.

Last year Augusta National chairman Fred Ridley announced the addition of the Global Broadcast Village, a state-of-the-art television and digital compound. The space, almost 40 acres, was previously occupied by a Big Tree shopping center, the Savannah West apartment complex and Lakemont Presbyterian Church.

The area, located outside club walls (near the Par 3 course) and separated by the busy Washington Road, necessitated the installation of a tunnel. Connected to the golf course to Gate 1, Ridley introduced this endeavor as the “Washington Road Underpass Project.”

"This project is the first of its kind in the state of Georgia," Ridley said in 2019. "Thanks to modern engineering, we will be able to excavate under Washington Road without any impact to the flow of traffic above."

With the 2020 Masters to begin in eight weeks, MetroSpirit.com was able to capture some photos of the tunnel from its development to its completion.

The tunnel is 26 feet deep and 120 feet long, with an interior 16 feet high and 26 feet wide. Additionally, the blueprints submitted to the city last year detailed the club adding over 200 pines, oaks and holly as landscape to the renovated area. More photos of the tunnel can be found on Metrospirit.com.

Augusta National has been active in buying surrounding real estate to expand the club's footprint. In the past few years the club's purchased a 28-acre strip mall, a Pep Boys and music store, and a part of neighboring Augusta Country Club.