Muirfield Village
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Muirfield Village is an upscale golf-oriented community located in the Columbus suburb of Dublin, Ohio. Founded by Jack Nicklaus, the village contains a golf course that is home to the Memorial Tournament each year. A statue of the founder can be found along Muirfield Drive. It is most likely named after the course called Muirfield in Scotland, where Nicklaus won his first British Open in 1966.
Muirfield Village plays host to the nationally known Memorial Tournament each year on Memorial Day weekend. The tournament began in 1973.
The golf club officially opened in 1973 and homes began to be sold in 1974. Muirfield Village is one of the wealthiest and most notable neighborhoods in Central Ohio and is home to many local CEOs and celebrities including Jack Hanna and others.
Muirfield Village functions as its own taxing unit with power to raise money for street lights, landscaping, and other municipal-like functions, despite being with the city of Dublin, Ohio. It has its own neighborhood council for residents to participate in.
Two golf courses are located within Muirfield Village: The Country Club at Muirfield, which also has tennis and swimming, and Muirfield Village Golf Club, where the Memorial Tournament is held annually. Muirfield Village Golf Club has also hosted several national championships and international team competitions, including the 1992 US Amateur, 1987 Ryder Cup, the 1998 Solheim Cup and the 1986 US Junior Amateur.
Muirfield Village is controlled by Jack Nicklaus, and each fall he makes changes to the course in order to accommodate new technology, make the course more enjoyable for members and tournament spectators, or simply offer a tougher test for the pros. In recent years changes have included lengthening several holes, including the first, tenth, twelfth, and seventeenth, adding bunkers, particularly at the tenth and seventeenth, and re routing a stream on the eighteenth hole.
For 2007, it is rumored that the par three eighth will be lengthened, the par five 15th will be lengthened, and bunkers on number 1 may be re shaped and deepened, toughening the hole. It is unclear what impact lengthening the 15th will have on gallery traffic, as during the tournament this area of the course is congested and MVGC has historically been known as one of the best courses on which to watch a golf tournament on the PGA Tour.
Membership in MVGC is concentrated in Columbus and Ohio generally, however there is a substantial national and international membership as well. The club has sleeping quarters on the property for member use.
