Course Overview

Despite adding 8-10 yards, this is basically the same hole with very few changes, so it still plays the same. The field will hit 3-wood or driver off the tee, and then play a mid- to short iron into the green. The green has not been changed, with the exception of the left side, where we took a little off cosmetically to give you a better view into the left bunker. Accuracy is a premium because you still have to be careful of the creek on the right.

We moved the tees on the third hole down the hill to the right about 20 yards to give you more of a look up the creek bed that runs up the left side of the hole and right to the green. Also, from the prior tee, you found yourself looking right into the houses on the right. The play off the tee is a long iron or 3-wood into position, although some players will play driver. The green has been enlarged a little, with the bunker on the right removed. The entire green now feeds into the water, although it is a little flatter and softer, especially in the middle, with more pin placements than before. On the approach shot, the right side of the green is now covered with water, so the left side of the green is obviously the preferred play.

The first par 3 offers the same tee shot as before, with the only difference being that the green has been widened about three paces. The back bunker has been removed and the green now stretches farther back, so the tee shot plays significantly longer. This green went from one of the smallest on the golf course to arguably the largest. The pin variance will leave golfers playing a middle iron to a long iron into the back of the green. There are a couple of deep bunkers on the left, and those sort of protect the ball from getting away from the hole and into the steep drop-off. The bunkers on the right still offer a great challenge.

The fifth hole is actually shorter than before. After moving the tee down and to the left, we knocked down the hill on the right for better visibility off the tee. The creek still splits the hole, forcing a decision off the tee. I would say that 95 percent of the players—maybe even more—will hit the ball down the fairway on the left side, probably with a 3-wood. There will be the occasional player who will try to take it over the water, leaving himself with a short iron into the green. Have at it! It is there for the taking, if you want it, but the penalty is severe. The green, which has been moved back 30 yards and to the left, is a bit smaller and narrower and is protected by a bunker front left and two little ones on the right. The more aggressive you get, the tougher the third shot. If you lay it back for a wedge third shot, you are looking right up the green. If you try to get a little more aggressive and get up closer to the green, it could be good, but if you go long, the pitch is over a bunker to a green running towards the water.

ShotLink data indicated that too many balls off the tee were being hit over the left fairway bunker, so 10-12 yards were added, and that bunker is now more relevant to today’s player. Depending on the wind this might be the first hole where most of the players in the field go with driver. Remember, the course mostly plays downhill, so 7,500 yards translates to something closer to 7,200 or 7,300 yards. The optimal tee shot is right of the first bunker on the left, and short of the second bunker on the right, leaving a short iron over the water to a green that is a little bit softer, allowing for a few more pin placements in the back portion.

The tee shot is the same, though we added 5-6 yards, and demands a drive in between the four fairway bunkers. The green has been moved back and left and has a little bit more undulation in it. The same opening exists in the front, but you have an up-and-over putt to the left side of the green. Some fairway has been added to the back side of the green, so if a ball is hit too far, rather than just sit in rough just behind the green it will instead roll down a slope into a fairway pad. I think it is bit more fun to play, though perhaps a little more difficult.

The tee shot should be about a 6- or 7-iron for most of the players, maybe an 8-iron at times, depending on where the pin is located on the green. The problem before the latest renovation was that the old green was built on top of an older green. So we eliminated both versions and created a new green. At the same time, we rebuilt the bunker on the right. The build-up on the right side of that bunker made for an impossible shot at times. Now, the grade has dropped a little and makes for a much more playable bunker shot.

Most players in the field will hit a driver or 3-wood, depending on how aggressive a fellow wants to be off the tee. But it’s the approach where things have changed and get more interesting. We basically eliminated the back-left of the green, and at the same time we lengthened the green along the right playing down to the water. We changed the back right bunker—almost cutting it in half—so we could add some space to provide another pin placement farther right on the green. With the left of the green reduced, we don’t have as many pin locations as we used to, but we have a few nice cupping options on the front of the green, near the water. The same elements come into play—you have the water front and right of the green, and an awkward chip from the back running toward the water.

If you look at club selection off the tee at Muirfield Village Golf Club, you might play driver twice on the front (Nos. 6 and 7), and likely five or six times on the back—beginning here. This hole presents the same tee shot, although we did narrow the fairway a bit. You want to hit the ball to the right of the left fairway bunker. The green has been moved to the left, providing a bit more space on the right. We have fairway that runs around to the back right of the green, with a bunker situated in the middle to complement two bunkers on the left of the green. We now have five pin positions the PGA TOUR can choose from: front, middle-right, middle-left, middle-right-back-left, and middle-back-center. This has created a little more variety than we had before, and in the end, I think it is a much better hole.

Players face the same tee shot, with the creek on the left and bunker on the right. If you fit a driver between the two and hit it long, you can get home in two. If you want to play it as a three-shot par 5, the players might go hybrid, iron and wedge into the green. The green was moved to the left to avoid the trees on the right. Before the renovation, the trees would hang out there, and players would sometimes have to slice a shot into the green, which isn’t the play that should be required. The green is more of a bowl, meaning if you miss it long or to the right, the chip is a little more severe coming down the hill into the green. Hit the green in two, and there are a lot more opportunities for eagles here.

Depending on the pin, the choice here is either a short iron into the left side of the two-tiered green or take one more club to find the right side of the green. Obviously, the tee shot must cover the large lake which also guards the right side as well. The back bunker is no bargain and is not a place you want to be.

We narrowed the fairway just past the bunker on the left, from about 42 yards to about 22 yards. We then added trees on the left side. So now, if you want to try to drive it forever down the left side, we have provided you a little bit more of a challenge for your second shot. Two bunkers guard the green right, left and in the rear.

I believe this is one of the best short par-4s in the game of golf. Because of that, we made no changes whatsoever in the design. It is still a drivable par 4, if the player so chooses, but the penalties are obviously severe. Most would play a long iron off the tee, and a 9-iron or wedge into the green. The penalties are obvious, with the potential of missing into the water up the right or putting the ball into the bunkers on the left, which means you’re left with a very difficult up and down. It’s truly a fun hole to play.

We made major changes during the renovation, and, thus, changes the way the hole is played. We took the fairway, dropped it about 20 feet, and moved it left to bring the creek bed on the left side into play. We added four bunkers on the right to take up the elevation change and provide transition from the trees on the right down to the fairway. Although the second shot from the fairway is pretty much the same, you can see where your shot could land if you lay up and then how you can play into the green. The green has been dropped a bit and moved to the right. The water hazard at the front of the green has been expanded on the right side, with two little bunkers between the water and the green. But if your ball misses the green to the right, it should find the water hazard. It is a tough chip from the left or behind the green. We will see a lot of eagle and birdie chances here, but also a fair amount of 6s and 7s.

Patrons might not notice the difference in the 16th hole, but players certainly have. After we redesigned the hole prior to the 2013 Presidents Cup, it just didn’t play like I wanted or what the Memorial field liked. The green wouldn’t hold shots, especially on the back left. It turned out that the left side pitched away from you, and that should not have been the case. So, we took eight inches from the middle of the green and added eight inches to the left. Now, although golfers are using the same club as before, the green runs toward them and not away from them, and thus holds shots better.

Cosmetically, you might not notice a lot of changes, but trust me, it plays much differently, especially off the tee. The fairway used to be too wide and swung out to the right and then back. We took the bunker on the left in about 20 yards, and then the one on the end of the fairway we moved in about 4 or 5 yards. That leaves about 16 or 17 yards between bunkers so, naturally, you have to be more precise off the tee. If you get into those bunkers, you’ve got a little work left. A small creek runs in front of the green that has been softened a little bit to create more pin placements. Two bunkers protect the left and right side of the putting surface. But it’s the tee shot that is a bit more challenging.

The 18th hole, a strong dogleg right, has the same tee shot, with most of the players going with 3-wood and leaving themselves a middle to short iron into the green, but they have to avoid the creek on the left and bunkers at the corner of the dogleg on the right. Before the renovation, we had only one pin position on the back left of the green. So, we softened that area and lengthened it out with less pitch, so the ball doesn’t run up there and just come back.