Nicklaus to completely renovate Muirfield Village

[Joel_Stewart]

Just watched a video of Jack Nicklaus talking with Dustin Johnson.


Jack said next year the players will see an all new Muirfield Village.  He tries to explain his changes through the years have been minor.


Lastly, the new course will be his last.

[JESII]

Is it April 1st?

[Jeff_Brauer]

Carrying on the tradition of ANGC.  When we had our ASGCA meeting in Columbus in 2004, he explained the renovations he was going to make that year after Memorial.  I would say those were a bit more than minor, so I wonder how much more he plans to do.


I had a bum thumb that year, so instead of playing I rode with Jay Morrish as Jack played with the Golf Digest armchair architect.  Jay explained a lot of stuff to me.  Even the creek holes, like 14, were in deep, steep valleys that had been raised 30, 40, 50 feet and softened out.  Regulations didn't seem to have been an issue when built in the 70's.

[Jim Sherma]

As his career is winding down it will be interesting to see how Jack's legacy as an architect plays out. Clearly he built a lot of courses that anchor well off clubs. His courses have hosted many significant tournaments over the years.


Many of his courses were seen as very difficult as built. They are likely well on their way to being seen as very playable for better amateurs in this day and age and moving forward. It's very plausible that a beast of a course built in the 1990-2010 era will be seen as a good club course in 2040 - just like very difficult tournament courses built in the 1920-40 era are seen today. Therefore, I could easily see his work being seen in a much better light 10-20 years from now. Also, there are many sun-belt and western cities where a Nicklaus course is the centerpiece of one or more of the elite clubs - this is good for being held in esteem through time.

[Michael Wolf]

Off the top of my head, the 6th, 7th, 14th and 16th holes are all dramatically different from when I caddied at MV in the early 90's. And the 1st, 3rd, 5th, 8th, 15th and 18th resemble their older versions, but they play much different.


I can't think of any other golf course that's had as many major do overs in recent decades. Maybe Quail Hollow or Congressional?


Makes me wonder what the fine print in the equity/voting rights are like for MV members...

[Matt_Cohn]

An article from last year included the quote, “Agronomically, we need everything buttoned up by August 15 so everything grows properly,” LaRocca (the GM) said. That doesn't leave much leeway!

[mike_beene]

There are a number of really good Nicklaus courses. I know Jack is from Columbus, but I don't get the fascination with a real estate course like MV. How is it one of his best 20 courses? Is it?

[MClutterbuck]

It is a fantastic course and the homes around it dont detract much from it. The best i have seen from him.

[Peter Pallotta]

There's something touching and elegiac about this. JN has seen what happened to the Nelson after Lord Byron was gone and to Bay Hill after Arnold's passing. He wants to keep MV relevant as a championship test for many years to come, and with the membership having been so accommodating for so many years, he's asking for their indulgence one last time. I think the changes will be so extensive and comprehensive that, after them, nothing more will need to be done to MV for another 25 years.

[Cal Seifert]

There's something touching and elegiac about this. JN has seen what happened to the Nelson after Lord Byron was gone and to Bay Hill after Arnold's passing. He wants to keep MV relevant as a championship test for many years to come, and with the membership having been so accommodating for so many years, he's asking for their indulgence one last time. I think the changes will be so extensive and comprehensive that, after them, nothing more will need to be done to MV for another 25 years.

Wouldn’t it be easier to just regulate the equipment? The endless arms race to re-do courses for the new tour pros just to keep a tournament has to end.


I know it’s not JN’s decision on what equipment is permitted but It just seems silly. Deep down he must know that no matter what changes to the course he makes, if nothing happens to the equipment they will be rendered useless sooner or later.

[Carl Rogers]

How many millions of $ have been spent on MV?


Is there a club history with figures?

[JMEvensky]

Makes me wonder what the fine print in the equity/voting rights are like for MV members...

I've wondered the same. Even if JN paid for the "improvements" personally, who'd want to have their golf course torn up almost every year?


Is MV mostly a second club for the members?

[Marty Bonnar]

Maybe they’ll make it look a bit more like a golf course - and a lot less like a Salvador Dali landscape.
F.

[John Kavanaugh]

Giving up a few rounds of golf is a small price to pay in the name of love. Sitting in judgement of the sacrifices the members of Muirfield Village are willing to make for Jack is cold hearted and small minded. Or, just so very modern.

[jeffwarne]

In the absence of regulating tech, I actually applaud this for MV.
A great tournament course but not a lot of charm at risk there.

Maybe instead of back to back events next year, they host a series of 5 or 6 events.
Then choose 4 or 5 other purpose built courses (TPC, the newest PGA debacle outside Dallas,and a few others)host a series and leave the rest of the courses alone.


Of course that eliminates all the good the PGA Tour does when it comes to town for local charities and economies.
So scratch my idea
and (actually meaningfully)regulate the f#@$%&ing equipment


and maybe we could see a few more classics as tests, not relics, and save 2000 steps per round.

[John Kavanaugh]

Or we could focus on protecting the world from members of elite clubs rather than protecting them from themselves. The value of new work in the failing golf course construction industry out weighs the harm of another set of tees.

[Jerry Kluger]

JN has been saying for quite a while that the ball needs to be dialed back as so many courses are overpowered by the pros but it would be a shame if the sole reason for this upcoming work is being done just so 20 under doesn't win the Memorial. I cannot imagine a member caring about how the course plays for the pros and would be much more enthused if it was being done for conditioning so the course can be green and still play firm and fast.

[Tom_Doak]

The members of Muirfield Village [or Crooked Stick, or, sadly, Merion] must put up with the inconvenience of constant changes as the price they pay for the bragging rights of hosting the TOUR on a regular basis.  It might have been a surprise to the founding members, but anyone who's signed up to be a member in the past 20 years would have had plenty of track record to understand that's what they do.


Does it send the wrong signal to other clubs?  Only if they have their eyes on that same prize -- and a consulting architect who needs something to do.

[Thomas Dai]

Cayman ball?
atb

[jeffwarne]

JN has been saying for quite a while that the ball needs to be dialed back as so many courses are overpowered by the pros but it would be a shame if the sole reason for this upcoming work is being done just so 20 under doesn't win the Memorial. I cannot imagine a member caring about how the course plays for the pros and would be much more enthused if it was being done for conditioning so the course can be green and still play firm and fast.

You cannot imagine a member of a high profile club, whose ENTIRE reputation is based on hosting a prestigious Invitational and created by the greatest player ever in the game, not caring how the course plays for the pros?
His model is ANGC-imagine them just focusing on the members and not the tunamint...
see Inwood

[Tommy Williamsen]

I have played MV half a dozen times in a variety of iterations. I have found it playable, fun, and exciting each time. I don't know if it is a top 20 course but it is exceptional.

[Kalen Braley]

When people ask, "Whats the harm of the pro's hitting it so far"...this thread is the poster child.

Not just for MV, but everyone else looking on and wondering how they must now tweak their otherwise perfectly acceptable courses..

Don't under estimate the power of all those eyes looking to the legendary front man in the spirit of keeping up with the proverbial  joneses'

[John Kavanaugh]

I am a member of two courses that host annual tour events. In both cases the changes the tour have made makes the course a more fun place to play. Mostly tree removal and drainage improvements. What's not to like?


Have any of you guys that hate seeing money being spent on golf asked yourself why you are here?

[Jeff_Mingay]

Just like TPC Sawgrass, I'd love to get in a time machine that could take me back to opening day at Muirfield Village. Crooked Stick, too.

[Ronald Montesano]

historicaerieals.com is your time machine