Muirfield Village Golf Club in Dublin, Ohio, has hosted the PGA Tour’s Memorial Tournament since 1976, with course designer and founder – and Buckeye State native – Jack Nicklaus at the helm for that whole run.
Nicklaus acquired the land for Muirfield Village in 1966, and the course opened in 1974. The layout ranks No. 12 on Golfweek’s Best 2021 list for Modern Courses built in or after 1960 in the United States, and it is No. 1 in Ohio on Golfweek’s Best Private Courses list.
Even with those high rankings, Nicklaus wasn’t sitting still at Muirfield Village. Soon after the completion of the 2020 Memorial, his design firm tore into the course. The layout underwent a complete makeover with new greens, fairways and irrigation. Changes included pushing back the green 30 yards at No. 1, expanding No. 10 green, shifting numerous bunkers and lowering the fairway on No. 15 some 20 feet.
The biggest change came to the par-3 No. 16, where even Tour pros frequently had trouble holding their approach shots as the rear of the green sloped away from the tee. The green now tilts from back to front, giving players a better chance to keep their tee shots on the putting surface.
Thanks to yardage books provided by Puttview – the maker of detailed yardage books for more than 30,000 courses around the world – we can see exactly the challenges that players will face this week. Check out each hole below.