Vision
Columbus is where Nicklaus was born and raised, learned the game of golf, went to college, and where he started his own family. It was Nicklaus's vision to create a golf club that embodied his personal and professional life and to create a golf tournament that would long represent his passion for tournament golf, and would give back to a community that has embraced him and the game. This vision was fulfilled in May 1976 with the first Memorial Tournament, two years to the day after the doors were opened and the first shots played at Muirfield Village. The par-72 course was set at 7,072 yards (6,467 m), a considerable length for the mid-1970s.
Nicklaus signalled his intent to host his own tournament during Masters Week in 1966, when he spoke of his desire to create a tournament that, like The Masters, had a global interest, and was inspired by the history and traditions of the game of golf. He also wanted the tournament to give back in the form of charitable contributions to organizations benefiting needy adults and children throughout Columbus and Ohio. The primary charitable beneficiary of the tournament is Nationwide Children's Hospital.
The Memorial reached the height of its popularity in the 1990s having reached "Sold-Out" status, a first on the PGA Tour other than the major championships. For a variety of reasons the event has started seeing ticket sales decrease during the last five years.
Read more about this topic: Memorial Tournament
Famous quotes containing the word vision:
““The god has not yet answered to our pity
For the black vision and tangle in her brains,
Nor is there knowing soever in the city
Of the red histories that throbbed in her blue veins.””
—Allen Tate (1899–1979)
“Would not some lightning flash of vision sear people’s consciousness into life again? What was the good of stopping the war if armies continued?”
—John Dos Passos (1896–1970)
“It’s a failure of national vision when you regard children as weapons, and talents as materials you can mine, assay, and fabricate for profit and defense.”
—John Hersey (1914–1993)