Muirfield Village

Muirfield Village played host to the 1987 Ryder Cup matches between the USA and Europe. Team Captains were Jack Nicklaus (US) and Tony Jacklin (Europe). Having never yet lost on home soil, the US Team, under the stewardship of Jack Nicklaus playing at his home club, seemed unlikely to falter. However, the “Spanish Armada” pairing of Seve Ballesteros and Jose Maria Olazabal had other ideas. The European lead after two days was an impressive five points, which the US Team tried to claw back in the singles, but came up short, allowing Europe’s first ever Ryder Cup victory on American soil. Europe 15 - USA 13. The Ryder Cup was played at The Belfry in 1985 and again in 1989.

No expense was spared in the construction of Muirfield Village with bold bunkering, water hazards and narrow fairways that require pinpoint accurate tee shots. The plan was for Muirfield Village to become Ohio’s equivalent to Georgia’s Augusta National and, in some ways, that objective has been achieved. The design is at once thrilling and thoughtful and the conditioning is normally immaculate.

In 1976, Jack inaugurated the Memorial Tournament which he hoped would develop into a fifth major and the event would be held annually at Muirfield Village. The tournament has not yet developed into a major, but it’s certainly a tremendous event that celebrates human golfing contributions and achievements. Bobby Jones was the first person to be honored and Betsy Rawls and Cary Middlecoff were awarded honors in 2005.

As most of us know, events do not always go to plan. The Ryder Cup was held here at Muirfield Village in 1987 and big Jack was the captain of team USA. Surely it would be apt and fitting for Jack to hold the Ryder Cup aloft on home soil and at his home club? Unfortunately for big Jack, Tony Jacklin had other ideas and Jacklin successfully marshalled team Europe to a narrow 15 points to 13 victory.

An extensive course renovation began immediately after the final round of the Memorial Tournament in 2020. Greens were reconstructed with bentgrass putting surfaces, new irrigation and Precision Air systems. Most of the green complexes were re-contoured with significant bunker modifications. All tee boxes were resurfaced and new tees added on five holes. Fairways were resurfaced and additional drainage installed on many of the holes. The 15th was completely re-built with new fairway bunkers and extensive grade changes.