Nicklaus reflects on 35 emotional years of the Memorial

By Dave Shedloski
Courtesy of PGATOUR.COM

DUBLIN, Ohio -- Jack Nicklaus spent more than half of his hour-long pre-tournament press conference Tuesday morning talking about the changes he made to Muirfield Village Golf Club for the 28th Memorial Tournament. In the midst of his explanations, he paused to interject: "This is probably more than you want to know."

He was leaning forward in his chair, and his voice was filled with excitement. Anyone who knows Nicklaus understands that there are few things he is more enthusiastic about, or to which he has devoted more time, than Muirfield Village and the Memorial Tournament.

"I've poured most of my life for the last 35 years into what's happened in this golf tournament and? the golf course and everything else. It's been a fairly emotional thing for me," he has said numerous times. "I can't think of anything else that I've been more involved in more completely other than my family and my playing golf than Muirfield Village."

The club he founded and opened in 1974 represents the Golden Bear's vision for what a world-class golf club ought to be. It's a great golf experience both as a test of skill and an aesthetic delight (Muirfield is always among America's top-rated courses), not to mention excellence of service and amenities, and inclusion -- always welcoming members of all races and genders.

By the same token, the Memorial Tournament, which began in 1976, is a product of a parallel vision. Nicklaus wanted the event to be a first-rate experience for both players and fans, and he has never stopped seeking ways to improve it. That's why, when he discussed on Tuesday the dramatic alterations at the par-4 17th hole, he not only talked about how much more challenging it will be for the competitors, but he also proudly mentioned the improved spectator areas along the left side of the fairway.

Not surprisingly, it has been that way since the beginning. Nicklaus' wife, Barbara, has shared equally in her husband's vision and in seeking improvements. In the early years she would make a list of items that needed upgrading both on the golf course and in the clubhouse.

Nowadays, the projects aren't as monumental, but each detail, no matter how small, is treated with equal importance.

Muirfield Village -- named after Muirfield, the course of the Honourable Company of Edinburgh Golfers in Scotland, where Nicklaus first played abroad in the 1959 Walker Cup then won his first British Open in '66 -- was created with great pains.

The late Mark McCormack of International Management Group in Cleveland was managing Nicklaus' business affairs when Nicklaus began personally financing the land acquisitions for the course. McCormack did not endorse the plan and fretted over the stress, financial and otherwise, it was inflicting on one of his prized clients.

It nearly ruined him financially, not surprising considering he was buying land starting at $1,000 per acre -- and that was in the 1960s.

"Muirfield did cost me a little. It almost cost me a lot," he once said. "But I decided that's what my contribution should be to golf. Mark couldn't see any return on the investment, but I never wanted any return. I've never made a penny out of Muirfield Village. When I set out to do this people thought I was crazy, buying the land myself, doing it my way. All we've been through to get to where we are now makes this place pretty special."

What's inescapable at this point is that Muirfield Village has become a profound statement of excellence along the lines of Augusta National Golf Club, and the comparison is not coincidental.

Bobby Jones, who was idolized by Jack's father, Charlie, and Nicklaus founded their respective clubs with the best intentions and the highest ideals. The positive response they have received is largely predicated on the respect they engender not only as unquestioned champions of their respective eras, but also as pillars of sportsmanship. Each man had a co-designing role (Jones with Alister MacKenzie, Nicklaus with Desmond Muirhead) in golf courses that reflect similar philosophies. Augusta and Muirfield are second-shot golf courses, though Muirfield, with its heavily bunkered, elevated greens is much more of a modern aerial test.

Even when he talks about Memorial's current date -- it is locked in two weeks prior to the U.S. Open -- Nicklaus invokes Augusta National.

"We are right where we want to be," he said. "The guys coming to us, it's their first real taste of northern golf after playing in the south on Bermuda and so forth. It's a lot like Augusta, frankly, coming out of spring in Augusta -- it's coming out of spring time up here."

Nicklaus has worked so hard on Muirfield Village and the Memorial that he seldom has been able to give his golf game the proper attention during tournament week, which is why he classifies his two Memorial victories, in 1977 and 1984, among his most cherished and significant among his 100 worldwide titles.

It's not easy to break par and beat the game's best players when you're preoccupied with picking up cigarette butts and stuffing them in your caddie's pocket, as Nicklaus did in the tournament's early years. Once he summoned one of his minions to the tee in the middle of a round to discuss the merits of green wrapping paper for the concession sandwiches -- like Augusta utilizes. The painstaking care he lavishes on the place is embodied in this one simple act: after replacing his divots, he douses them with bottled water.

It's no surprise that the Memorial annually attracts one of the PGA TOUR's strongest fields. The Memorial's popularity is unquestioned, and you don't have to talk to the invitees to know that. This year the tournament committee received 54 letters from players seeking a sponsor's exemption.

"From day one here our goal was to make sure that we took care of the players so that when they came here they felt like they were at home," Nicklaus said. "They're taken care of in every way then can be taken care of."

Through the years other marquee events also have been staged at Muirfield Village, which was the first of what are known as "stadium courses," with planned spectator areas. Since 1974 it has hosted the '87 Ryder Cup -- site of the Europeans' first victory on American soil -- the '92 U.S. Amateur, won by Justin Leonard, and the '98 Solheim Cup, the women's biennial match play competition.

So, what's ahead for Muirfield Village? The golf course, which has been tweaked every year, might now, finally, be finished. That's not to say, however, that Nicklaus will rest.

"I really can't find much more; really no construction left that I know of," Nicklaus said. "I will start bringing the driving range up to date. When you start working on the driving range, then you are done with the golf course."

Of course, he began to describe just what improvements he had in mind. As he spoke, he again leaned forward in his chair.