Augusta's Rae's Creek - Irish roots and a murky past

Irish interest at this year's Masters is particularly strong with four players in the field, but the famous Augusta course also has a major contribution from these shores in the form of the famous Rae’s Creek.

Those two words will be on the mind of Rory McIlroy, Shane Lowry. Seamus Power and Padraig Harrington as they plan their approach to today’s opening round in Georgia - and the famed hazard owes much to McIlroy’s fellow County Down man John Rae.

Rae's Creek is a main feature of Amen Corner and runs in front of the 12th green, has a tributary evident at the 13th and flows at the back of the 11th. The noted Hogan Bridge, which takes players onto the 12th green, crosses the creek and is one of the most photographed spots in all of golf. Nelson Bridge also travels across the body of water.

The creek was named after property owner John Rae, who emigrated from Ballynahinch in either 1729 or 1730 and was granted large swathes of land where he built Rae’s Hall. The Irishman lived just southeast of the creek's confluence with the Savannah River.

Rae, who referred to it as stony creek, was a powerful man on the Georgia land scene and owned some 8,000 acres at a time, and it was that influence that saw the slave owner pardoned in 1771 of the manslaughter of Savannah native Ann Simpson.

"All his friends petitioned in his behalf, stating that he had been in the province for nearly forty years and had an unblemished character and had filled many offices of public trust. He has also been a Member of the Georgia Assembly, which was a very highly respected position in the province," the book Colonial Georgians tells us.

On 18 December, 1771, two petitions were read out at the council in Savannah – one by members of the province and the