Masters in bloom: More than azaleas and dogwood make up golf's most beautiful garden

AUGUSTA, Ga. (AP) — Azaleas and dogwoods are as synonymous with the Masters as Jack Nicklaus and Tiger Woods, which is a little unfair — not to the other 55 Masters champions, but to the other 350 species of flora that make Augusta National a golf course unlike any other.

The par-3 16th is famous for Woods hitting that pitch that made a U-turn at the top of the slope, hung on the edge of the cup and dropped during his 2005 victory. No eyes were on the beautiful Redbud shrub with its vibrant pink blooms.

The par-3 12th hole is associated with its name on the scorecard, “Golden Bell,” a yellow bloom native to Asia. Ask just about any player at the Masters if they've ever seen a Golden Bell and it's doubtful. It blooms in late winter. The Masters is golf's rite of spring.

“I’ve played the 12th enough. I’m sure I’ve seen one somewhere,” Rory McIlroy said.

Pebble Beach is the felicitous meeting of land and sea. Augusta National is the greatest garden in golf, because that's what it was before Bobby Jones went looking for land to build his golf course and found the 365-acre Fruitland Nurseries.

“Perfect! And to think this ground has been lying here all these years waiting for someone to come along and lay a golf course on it,” Jones said when he first laid eyes on the property.

He took out an option for $70,000.

Augusta National doesn't speak in numbers — from the size of the gallery to how fast the greens are running on the Stimpmeter — but the course is believed to have some 80,000 flowering plants and trees on its immaculate landscape.

The flora is such an integral part of Augusta National that each hole is named for a tree or a shrub that can be found on that hole.

“I know azalea is one of them,” Dustin Johnson said.

Good guess. It took him a few seconds to associate “Azalea” with the iconic par-5 13th, which has approximately 1,600 azalea bushes, many of them surrounding the back of the green.

Remarkably, Johnson knew the seventh hole was named, “Pampas,” a grass bush native to Argentina that grows about 12 feet high and blooms in late summer. The hole used to be 340 yards with no bunkers. Now it's 450 yards, straight and narrow and tough.

“Perfect name,” Johnson said, “because it is an ass of a hole.”

Johnson also knew there was a dogwood or two on the scorecard without knowing exactly where (Pink Dogwood for No. 2, White Dogwood for No. 11). And there's no shame in that.

Two-time champion Scottie Scheffler — the No. 1 player in the world, and with a degree from Texas in finance, not horticulture — paused under the live oak next to the clubhouse when asked how many plants he could name associated with each hole.

“Magnolia for 5?” he asked. He hit one of his purest shots on the fifth hole when he won in 2022. He didn't have to venture into the magnolia trees behind the tree.

He also named Azalea and Golden Bell — “I got more than I thought,” he said — but whiffed on Holly, the red-berry bushes found on both sides of the 18th tee.

McIlroy, the defending champion, has a greater appreciation of history and heritage than most golfers. He didn't think he could get the names on all 18 holes before rattling off Firethorn (15), Azalea, Golden Bell, Pink Dogwood ... and then he stumbled.

“White Dogwood, 10?” he said.

No. The 10th hole is Camelia, another one that typically blooms well before the Masters.

The beauty of Augusta National cannot be overstated, and its history of flora is rich. Fruitland Nurseries dates to 1858, a partnership between a Belgian baron named Louis Berckmans and his son, Prosper. They imported trees and plants from all over the world. The nursery ceased operations in 1918 after they died. What remained were a long row of magnolias that had been planted before the Civil War, and the azalea bush that Prosper Berckmans popularized.

A word about the famous azaleas at Augusta National.

No, the club's horticulture staff does not pack them in ice to keep the blooms from bursting before the Masters. There have been the occasional “green” Masters without many blooms, and that almost was the case this year. The blooms are fading but still colorful.

The staff will get to work two days after the Masters is over, fertilizing and pruning. And it takes great care — the azalea bushes are pruned by hand, a project that can take three months.

There is one palm tree at Augusta National, just to the right of the green on the par-3 fourth. The name of the hole later was changed from Palm to Flowering Crabapple with its red, pink and white blooms (they usually pop right after the Masters).

That tripped up Chris Gotterup, one of the 22 newcomers to the Masters this year.

“Is every hole named after a flower?" Gotterup said Monday. “Because we were playing 4 today. Is palm a flower?”

It all weaves together in a magnificent landscape, a deceptive beauty as the backdrop to intense pressure trying to win one of golf's grandest prizes. Jones might have summed it up best.

"Never was the iron gauntlet of challenge more skillfully concealed in velvet.”

AP golf: https://apnews.com/hub/golf

Patrons walk past a white dogwoods on the 11th hole during a practice round ahead of the Masters golf tournament at the Augusta National Golf Club, Wednesday, April 8, 2026, in Augusta, Ga. (AP Photo/Eric Gay)

File - Azalea backdrop Sungjae Im, of South Korea, as he chips onto the green on the16th hole during a practice round ahead of the Masters golf tournament at the Augusta National Golf Club, Tuesday, April 7, 2026, in Augusta, Ga. (AP Photo/Matt Slocum, File)

Justin Thomas hits from the fairway if front of the pink dogwood tree on the second hole during a practice round ahead of the Masters golf tournament at the Augusta National Golf Club, Wednesday, April 8, 2026, in Augusta, Ga. (AP Photo/Matt Slocum)

Flowering peach tree is seen on the third hole during a practice round ahead of the Masters golf tournament at the Augusta National Golf Club, Wednesday, April 8, 2026, in Augusta, Ga. (AP Photo/David J. Phillip)

Patrons walk past a holly bush on the 18th hole during a practice round ahead of the Masters golf tournament at the Augusta National Golf Club, Wednesday, April 8, 2026, in Augusta, Ga. (AP Photo/Ashley Landis)

Patrons walks past azaleas on the 16th hole during a practice round ahead of the Masters golf tournament at the Augusta National Golf Club, Wednesday, April 8, 2026, in Augusta, Ga. (AP Photo/David J. Phillip)

Pink dogwood blooms right of the second fairway are seen during a practice round ahead of the Masters golf tournament at the Augusta National Golf Club, Wednesday, April 8, 2026, in Augusta, Ga. (AP Photo/Matt Slocum)

PITTSBURGH (AP) — Nick Castellanos hit a two-run double, Jake Cronenworth added a two-run homer and the San Diego Padres beat the Pittsburgh Pirates 8-2 on Wednesday.

Castellanos’ double began a four-run seventh inning that broke open a scoreless game and helped San Diego clinch the three-game series.

Michael King (1-1) allowed two runs on four hits over six innings while striking out four and walking three for San Diego. Justin Lawrence (0-1) took the loss after giving up four runs on three hits in one inning for Pittsburgh.

The game remained scoreless through six innings as Mitch Keller and King matched each other early. Keller worked six scoreless frames, allowing three hits and striking out four, while King limited Pittsburgh to two hits through the first six innings.

San Diego broke through in the seventh after Xander Bogaerts reached on a throwing error and Miguel Andujar doubled to put runners at second and third. Castellanos followed with a double to left field that scored both runners and gave the Padres a 2-0 lead.

Luis Campusano grounded out before Cronenworth lined a two-run homer to right-center field, stretching the lead to 4-0.

Pittsburgh answered in the bottom half. Nick Yorke singled and Nick Gonzales doubled to start the inning before Konnor Griffin hit a sacrifice fly to score Yorke. Joey Bart later added an RBI single that cut the deficit to 4-2.

The Padres pulled away in the ninth, though, as Campusano doubled home Bryce Johnson. Fernando Tatis Jr. added an RBI single and Jackson Merrill drove in a run on a fielder’s choice before Merrill stole second and Tatis stole home to make it 8-2.

Kyle Hart and Jeremiah Estrada each worked scoreless relief innings before Mason Miller struck out two in a perfect ninth. Miller extended the longest active scoreless streak in the majors to 26 2/3 innings.

Earlier Wednesday, the Pirates announced they signed Griffin to a nine-year contract worth at least $140 million.

RHP Carmen Mlodzinski (0-0, 4.00 ERA) opens the series against the Cubs on Friday for the Pirates, while RHP Randy Vásquez (1-0, 0.75 ERA) takes the mound for the Padres against the Rockies.

AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/mlb

Pittsburgh Pirates pitcher Mitch Keller delivers during the first inning of a baseball game San Diego Padres in Pittsburgh, Wednesday, April 8, 2026. (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar)

San Diego Padres pitcher Michael King delivers during the first inning of a baseball game against the Pittsburgh Pirates in Pittsburgh, Wednesday, April 8, 2026. (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar)

San Diego Padres' Ramón Laureano (5) gets into third ahead of the tag by Pittsburgh Pirates third baseman Nick Yorke during the sixth inning of a baseball game in Pittsburgh, Wednesday, April 8, 2026. (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar)

San Diego Padres' Jake Cronenworth, left, is greeted by Nick Castellanos (21) after hitting a two-run home run off Pittsburgh Pirates pitcher Justin Lawrence during the seventh inning of a baseball game in Pittsburgh, Wednesday, April 8, 2026. (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar)