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 . 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 .) ------------------------------------------------- Hope you enjoy playing the course, Jeff Parsons