AUGUSTA, Ga. – Brandt Jobe recognized the drive down Magnolia Lane. The stately white clubhouse was a welcome sight, and he walked beneath the majestic live oak tree on his way to the first tee at Augusta National. Once on the tee box, however, he might as well have been in a foreign land.

It has been six years since Jobe last qualified to play in the Masters, and so much has changed, starting with the half-mile of turf added to the golf course to keep it current with today’s players and the equipment they use.

“It’s changed so dramatically,” Jobe said, his voice a mixture of awe and regret. “I remember on no. 1, if you hit a real good drive, you could get over the bunker.I played with Todd Hamilton today, and neither of us got to the bunker. It was like, ‘Wow! Welcome to Augusta.’ This is a big-boy golf course now.”

Even those who have made the Masters their annual rite of spring, who have seen 13 holes lengthened in the last five years, have that “wow” factor when they play practice rounds.

“Until you play it, you just can’t appreciate the difficulty,” Charles Howell III said.

The crash course for the 70th Masters began in earnest on Monday as players registered for the first major of the year and began finding their way along a course that now measures 7,445 yards – the second-longest in major championship history, and 460 yards longer than when Jobe last played.

Among those on the course was defending champion Tiger Woods, who played nine holes with Mark O’Meara and Sean O’Hair before heading to the practice range and chipping area.

Course changes figure to dominate conversation in the days leading to the start of the tournament Thursday, which is nothing new. For years, players would show up at Augusta National and look for subtle differences – a tee box moved 10 yards to the left, a shelf added to the back portion of a green – even if there had been no change at all.

Sometimes, it was all in their heads.

But not this year. Not with a walk from the putting green to the first tee that now is about 10 steps instead of the length of a basketball court. And not with a par-3 fourth hole that measures about 245 yards and left several players standing with their hands on hips, staring with disbelief, and ultimately removing the head cover from a fairway metal or a hybrid club.

Stephen Ames, who got into the Masters by winning the Players Championship two weeks ago, walked to the back of the tee and said to no one in particular, “Full driver, isn’t it?” And he reached for his driver, then smiled and shook his head before taking a hybrid.

The first one sailed to the left side of the green. He reloaded and hit this one closer to the flag. As the crowd applauded, Ames snatched his tee from the ground and said, “Thank God for technology, huh?”

Behind him came the European trio of Thomas Bjorn, Paul McGinley, and Colin Montgomerie. Bjorn furrowed his thick eyebrows before selecting a hybrid (21 degrees, comparable to a 3-iron) and finding the green.

Monty was next up, already looking dour as he selected a 22-degree hybrid.

“This might not make it,” he said to his caddie, and the way his face dropped indicated he was right.

Scott Verplank decided to play the hole from the very back of the tees, even though the markers for Monday’s prac tice round were about 15 yards farther up. He wanted to be sure he was ready in case the men in green coats were feeling extra cruel.Verplank had 251 yards to the hole and hit a 3-wood.

“And you know the beauty of it? They took out the old tees, so there’s no option,” he said with his typical dose of sarcasm. “You better have all the horses going under the hood out here.”

The popular place for tee shots on that hole was the front bunker, which led Hamilton to remark to one club official, “You’re going to need more sand.”

The par-3 fourth is only one example.

The greater fear is the 15 extra yards and 15 extra pine trees on the par-4 11th, which now measures 505 yards and still has that frightening pond left of the green.

“Best par-5 on the back nine,” Verplank said.

All the length, along with the mild rough that now frames the fairways, has led to some to question whether Augusta National will allow for the dynamic charges that have made this tournament famous over the years, especially with this being the 20-year anniversary of Jack Nicklaus shooting 30 on the back nine to win his sixth and final green jacket.

Jobe remembers his own fireworks, making birdie on five of the last seven holes in 1999 to shoot 71 and tie for 14th, earning an invitation back the next year.That was fun.

“Now, I put it up there with a U.S. Open or a PGA,” Jobe said. “Your driving has to be great. Your irons have to be awesome. And you have to putt and chip like a demon.You cannot have any weakness.”

Howell understands that better than most. He grew up in Augusta and has been playing the Masters every year since 2002, the first set of massive changes. Staring down the first fairway still takes his breath away, and probably would no matter how long it was because of the aura around this place.

He was asked if Augusta National was no longer fun.

“It’s a major. It’s the Masters,” he said. “I think that’s the way Bobby Jones would have wanted it. I don’t think he would have wanted guys strolling around out here laughing and smiling and having a big time. I think he wanted to see them grinding. Because it tests you. Because if you win, you beat the best on one of the hardest golf courses in the world.”