Muirfield Village

Muirfield Village
Club information
Location Dublin, Ohio
Established 1974
Type Private
Total holes 18
Tournaments hosted Memorial Tournament
Muirfield Village Golf Club
Designed by Jack Nicklaus
Par 72
Length 7337
Course rating 75.8
Course Record 61 – John Huston (1996)
The Country Club at Muirfield
Designed by Jack Nicklaus
Par 72
Length 6875
Course rating 72.5

Muirfield Village is an upscale golf-oriented community located in the Columbus suburb of Dublin, Ohio. Founded by Jack Nicklaus, and named after Muirfield,[1] 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. Muirfield Village plays host to the nationally known Memorial Tournament each spring. The tournament began in 1976.

The golf club officially opened in 1974, the same year that homes began to be sold. Muirfield Village is one of the wealthiest and most notable neighborhoods in Central Ohio, with houses in excess of $10,000,000, and is home to many local CEOs and celebrities including Jack Hanna and others. The community master plan and site development was designed by Bassett Associates of Lima, Ohio[2].

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 U.S. Amateur, 1987 Ryder Cup, the 1998 Solheim Cup and the 1986 U.S. Junior Amateur. It and The Greenbrier in West Virginia are the only two places to have hosted both the Ryder and Solheim Cups. Muirfield Village has also been selected to host the President's Cup in 2013. When asked whether he would be interested in captaining the U.S. squad in the matches on his home course, Jack Nicklaus responded that although he would enjoy it, he believes captains should be more "current" with the players on the team.

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. In 2005, Golf Digest Magazine rated Muirfield Village as the number one rated golf course in Ohio, an honor which it retained for the next two years.[3] It has also consistently been among the top 25 courses in the United States.[4]

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.

References