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Masters will likely play without its signature azaleas this year

Former UGA golfer Erik Compton and his caddy walk past azaleas in full bloom at the 6th hole at Augusta National in 2015.
Former UGA golfer Erik Compton and his caddy walk past azaleas in full bloom at the 6th hole at Augusta National in 2015.
AJC
By AJC Sports

This year’s Masters Tournament at Augusta National Golf Club will likely be played without its most colorful player: the azaleas.

The golf club’s signature shrubs, with their varying hues of red, pink and white, began blooming more than a month ahead of the 81st edition of the tournament, which tees off April 6.

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It should be no surprise. Georgia's Gen. Beauregard Lee predicted an early spring.

This is, of course, not the first time the tournament will be played without its distinctive colorful landscape. Most recently in 2012, the more than 1,600 azalea bushes that brighten the 13th hole -- named “Azalea” -- from tee to green, were dull and wilting when the tournament began.