NOTES ON MUIRFIELD VILLAGE (REVISED) Course Name: Muirfield Village Golf Club, annual host to the Memorial Tournament. Location: Dublin, Ohio Length/Par: 3,603/36 - 3,503/36 - 7,106/72 Designer: Jack Nicklaus - 1974 Difficulty: Difficult from blue tees, Moderate from white and red tees Thanks to: Dale Somerfelt: for the background from his fine version of English Turn. Scott Chesney: for his pine, birch, and willow trees Accolade: for the land plot and course routing from the Muirfield Village version that comes packaged with JNUG. Rod Harris: for a valuable tip on how to place wide objects on hills without having them appear to be floating in air. The heavily wooded & hilly effects I was trying to combine would have been impossible without the "sinking" technique Rod taught me. JNUG Design: Lee Ritze (VIALEE on Accolade BBS, TKNK81A on Prodigy) Sources: The World Atlas of Golf Courses (ISBN 0-792-45284-4) Jack Nicklaus Unlimited Golf & Course Design Players Guide, Book III The Yardage Card: OUT IN HOLE PAR YARDS HOLE PAR YARDS 1 4 446 10 4 441 2 4 452 11 5 538 3 4 392 12 3 158 4 3 204 13 4 442 5 5 531 14 4 363 6 4 430 15 5 490 7 5 549 16 3 204 8 3 189 17 4 430 9 4 410 18 4 437 ___ _____ ___ _____ 36 3,603 36 3,503 Accolade's Muirfield Village has always impressed me as one of Accolade's best courses. The land plot and course routing are some of the most outstanding work I've ever seen. And the individual hole drawings are meticulously done, with the exception of tees and bunkers. Having been fortunate enough to attend the Memorial back in the 70's however, I've always felt that Accolade's rendition failed to capture the forested, heavily rolling landscape of the real coutryside just north of Columbus, Ohio. And those who know my work know how much I love to do forests and hills (even my flat courses are hilly!). I also felt that Muirfield Village deserved a treatment that was not filled with those generic, "bright and shiny" Accolade trees. As a second objective after creating the look I wanted, I also wanted to create a course that would be a tougher (yet still fair) challenge for the best JNUG golfers. I've tried to do this without making the course a miserable experience for those who like to play more casually. The Blue tees will call for for a number of very carefully aimed tee shots, often played with a fade or draw to stay out of trouble. The proper strategies for each hole will take a few rounds to learn. Expect it to take a few rounds (and some written notes) before you're ready to score your best. I traded off in realism of modeling the real Muirfield Village to increase the challenge, but still feel the course will give the essence of playing a round with Jack at his home course... and beating him if you keep your wits about you! The White and Red tees, however, were placed to allow good scores and less tension, although you'll still have to hit it fairly straight and putt well. Choose your poison. I hope I've created something you will enjoy. Thanks for downloading my Muirfield Village. If you find you enjoy it and haven't tried my other courses, here are other works of mine that you can find on the Double Eagle, Accolade and Gamesman BBS's: Durango Pines DURANGO.ZIP southern Colorado Feb 91 Devil's Thumb DEVILSTB.ZIP northern Colorado Mar 91 Useless Bay USELESS.ZIP Olympic Peninsula, Apr 91 Washington Whitehorse Pass WHITEHOR.ZIP northern British Columbia Apr 91 Bay of Rainbows RAINBOW.ZIP foothills of Jura May 91 Mountains, Moon FireWheel FIREWHL.ZIP Garland, Texas Near Dallas May 91 Seminole SEMINOLE.ZIP Palm Beach, Florida Jun 91 Gig Harbor GIGHARBR.ZIP Gig Harbor, Washington Jun 91 Shinnecock Hills SHINNCCK.ZIP Southhampton, Long Island Jul 91 St. Andrews STANDREW.ZIP St. Andrews, Scotland Aug 91 I like to think my courses have improved in technique over the past several months. If you don't have my other courses, I suggest you start collecting with my most recent. Then go back in time one-by-one, and stop collecting as soon as you find one you don't enjoy. At this time, I expect my next projects will be Ohio State's great Scarlet Course (designed by Alister Mackenzie), Royal County Down in Northern Ireland and Bremen Zur Vahr in Germany. Comments, criticisms and suggestions for new course settings are always welcome, through Prodigy, Accolade BBS, Double Eagle, Gamesman or mail. My address is: Lee Ritze 1207 Cannes Place Carrollton, TX 75006 (214) 245-0937