Special Places - Muirfield Village

Following hard on the heels of consecutive tournaments in the backyards of all-time greats Ben Hogan and Byron Nelson, the PGA Tour visits the House that Jack Built in Dublin Ohio. Muirfield Village Golf Club is the fulfilment of a long-cherished dream of Jack Nicklaus, who bought the site in 1966. Construction began in 1972 and the course opened for play in 1974, with the first Memorial tournament following two years later. Named in honour of Jack’s first Open Championship victory in 1966 at Muirfield in Scotland, this layout in the suburbs of Columbus is consistently ranked inside the top twenty lists of America’s greatest golf courses and has hosted the US Amateur Championship. Along with the Greenbrier in West Virginia, Muirfield Village is the only club to have hosted both the Solheim Cup and Ryder Cup, and will go one better in 2013 when it will be the venue for the President’s Cup.

This immaculately conditioned 6700m par 72 parkland layout with bentgrass fairways and greens has many of Nicklaus’ design hallmarks and was considered a fearsome brute in the 70s and 80s. With constant updating and redesign Muirfield Village has matured into one of the most respected and admired courses on the PGA Tour, boasting Tom Watson, Greg Norman, Vijay Singh, Tiger Woods, Ernie Els and Jack himself on the roster of past champions.

The round begins with a 435m par 4 that has an elevated tee shot to a trademark generously wide fairway flanked by a creek and bunkers, and the green is the largest on the course. The 2nd is the most difficult on the outward nine, and like ten other holes water is very much in play. The visually stunning par 5 5th is reachable in two for the braver player but balances the rewards with a high level of risk. The 14th is a 330m downhill par 4 that will see the longer drivers going for the green especially if the tees are up.

With a creek in play and a long narrow green heavily guarded by bunkers, any score from two to eight is possible. This is the Kodak Challenge hole in the event, the season-long $1 million winner-take-all tournament within a tournament. Amphitheatre-style mounding and hillsides provide spectators with unimpeded views of the action on the closing holes, especially on the spectacular and difficult 18th where 25,000 will cheer loudly when Jack greets the winner on Sunday.

Golfweather Editorial