
Muirfield Village
Dublin, Ohio
Designer: Jack Nicklaus, 1973
JNSE Designer: Jeff Parsons


Home of the Memorial Tournament.


 ABOUT THE DESIGN
 ----------------

 I've played Lee Ritze's outstanding version of Muirfield for JNSE many times. 
 However, Lee decided to trick up the course and make it tougher for the 
 experienced player. He narrowed the fairways, made the greens smaller and 
 placed trees where there were none.

 I decided that some players might want to play a version that plays closer 
 to the real thing. 
 
 CREDITS:

 Lee Ritze - I used a tree that so far I've seen in Augusta and Seminole Wind.
             Also, I hacked up his background from Muirfield with Deluxe Paint
             to fit with my version. Furthermore, I think a small bush and a
             small tree can be traced back to Lee, however I'm not sure who 
             the original designer is.

 Terry Clark - Terry gave me several killer trees to use. Unfortunately, he 
               doesn't remember which ones he gave me. They could be his or 
               someone else or modified versions of someone else. Some
               of these I modified again myself <grin>. One tree looks very 
               much like one of James "Revery" Matthews trees and I know 
               Revery is one of Terry's favorite designers (also one of mine).
               
 The rest of the objects are mine, I hope.

 Thanks also to my course testers Bill "Jazzman" Rose and John "Bubba" Kaiser.
 Even if you think you've done alright it's nice to have someone else agree.

 Thanks to the designers of the original JNUG version. While this is a 
 complete revision of their work, It still helped to have the land plot 
 already in place.
 
 Thanks also, to Mark Adams for his suggestions on the original version 
 I did in 1992. 

 If you like this course you might want to try my other design:
   
                   Grand Traverse Bay 

 If you would like to make any comments or suggestions on this design,
 I can be found on CompuServe (75166,1136)


 AT THE MEMORIAL
 ---------------

 Muirfield Village is my favorite golf course. Probably because I'm from
 Columbus and have attended The Memorial many times. It not only is a
 beautiful course but has consistently been rated one of the best golf
 courses in the world.

 There's a great story I've heard several times while at the tournament.
 I don't know whether it's true or not, and I've heard several
 different versions. It seems that while playing a practice round on
 Wednesday, Jack heard some people partying a bit too loud in one of
 the houses near the course. He took time to walk over and kindly tell
 them to tone it down. They not so politely told him to "Take a HIKE!"

 The next morning when they awoke to watch the start of the tournament, they 
 found a huge mound of dirt ..... already sodded .... with several trees 
 planted on top, blocking their view of the course. You can still hear them
 saying ... "We're sorry Mr. Nicklaus!"

 --------------

 The next story is TRUE! I had the good fortune of attending a private party
 with my brother at the Bobby Jones cabin, just off the first tee. We spent 
 some of the day on the course, but most of it was spent in the cabin 
 drinking, eating and talking with friends. We noticed from the T.V. that 
 Jack didn't play well and would have to shoot a low number the next day to 
 make the cut. 
 
 We ended up staying long past the end of play and missed our bus back to the 
 parking lot. 
 
 As we started to make the long hike to our car, it was getting dark. When
 we reached the practice area there was Jack at the practice green hitting
 shots out of the sand trap. We stood behind him and quietly watched him hit
 15 to 20 balls until he finally chipped one in. Without thinking we both 
 roared and startled Jack. We apologized and started to leave. But with a
 smile, he said "You can stay and watch as long as you don't cheer." 

 When he was done he spent a few minutes talking with us ... 
 
 A high school friend who had met us at the party joined our conversation.
 He mentioned to him that his father had played with Jack a long time ago at 
 the Zanesville Country Club. Jack remembered and asked "How is your father
 doing these days?"

 My friend answered:  "I'm sorry, but he passed away ... I wish he was here
                       to see me talking to you."

       Jack replied:  "I wish he was here too ....."
 
 We talked for a few more minutes then headed on to our car. I still remember 
 thinking, " I just spent a moment with the greatest golfer of all time ...
 but I wasn't thinking about golf."

 The next day Jack shot a 69 and made the cut.

 (Just in case you were wondering ... when you're from Columbus, it's O.K.
  to call him Jack <grin>.)

 -------------------------------------------------

 Hope you enjoy playing the course,

 Jeff Parsons

