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<\/p>\nDUBLIN, Ohio \u2014 Clay Rose is 74 years old, and he will tell you without hesitation that Dublin is the best place to live.<\/p>\n
\u201cAh yes, I love Dublin, Ohio,\u201d Rose said. \u201cIt\u2019s a great place to be.\u201d<\/p>\n
He\u2019s lived there his whole life and has watched the area transform from fewer than 700 residents in 1970 to nearly 50,000 today. He credits a lot of that growth to one thing: the Memorial Tournament.<\/p>\n
\u201cWell, Dublin was here long before, but when Muirfield, when it was developed, it put a whole new part of Dublin in place,\u201d Rose said. \u201cThere were visions that Jack Nicklaus had as far as how he wanted the area to be\u2026it really set the standard for what Dublin did after that,\u201d Rose said, whose a member of the Dublin Historical Society.<\/p>\n
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Clay Rose, longtime Dublin resident, Taylor Bruck\/Spectrum News 1<\/p>\n
A Vision for Central Ohio<\/p>\n
In 1976, golf legend Jack Nicklaus brought the Memorial Tournament to Dublin with his newly designed Muirfield Village Golf Club. Working with landscape architect James \u201cJim\u201d Bassett, they wanted to create something intentional and beautiful. Winding roads, stone and flowers and a lot of green space. Everything was designed to feel connected and walkable.<\/p>\n
It was a vision born from Nicklaus\u2019s own history with the land \u2014 places where he hunted as a child with his father.<\/p>\n
As Dublin expanded over the following decades, the city\u2019s leaders paid attention. They adopted those same standards everywhere.<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t think the Memorial Tournament would be what it is without Dublin. I\u2019m going to say it both ways,\u201d Rose said. \u201cDublin has worked very closely with the golf course, with the Memorial Tournament staff, with everybody to make sure it was done right.\u201d<\/p>\n
Economic Transformation<\/p>\n
The numbers tell the story of Dublin\u2019s transformation. In 1976, Dublin had no hotels. Today Rose said it has over 20. Tourism is now woven into the fabric of the city. The tournament brings in nearly three million visitors annually and has sparked recent development \u2014 like Bridge Park. New restaurants and bars have opened, along with golf-themed establishments.<\/p>\n
Today, the median home price in Dublin is $619,000 \u2014 more than double Ohio\u2019s statewide average of $264,000, according to Redfin. Like a well-maintained golf course, Dublin is known to be well kept and affluent.<\/p>\n
Rose said the contrast with Dublin\u2019s past is striking. Before the Memorial Tournament, there was virtually nothing there.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis was not a wealthy community prior to the Memorial Tournament getting here,\u201d Rose said.<\/p>\n
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Historic Dublin (often referred to as “Old Dublin”) is the original 1810 village nestled along the Scioto River, Taylor Bruck\/Spectrum News 1<\/p>\n
A Ripple Effect<\/p>\n
The tournament\u2019s influence extends beyond tourism and real estate. It\u2019s inspired entrepreneurs and business owners to create ventures tied to golf and the community.<\/p>\n
Kyle Morris is a former professional golfer who met Jack Nicklaus in 2008. That single conversation changed the trajectory of his life.<\/p>\n
Growing up nearby in Powell, Ohio, Morris said he fell in love with golf because of the Memorial Tournament. As a kid practicing at a local course, he could see the Goodyear blimp flying above Muirfield Village during tournament week. After retiring from professional golf, Morris built The Golf Room in Dublin, the nation\u2019s largest player development facility.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cThe Memorial Tournament has basically fed the fire inside my soul to be where we are and doing what we\u2019re doing,\u201d Morris said. \u201cI couldn\u2019t be more thankful to them for doing it. It certainly changed my life by having The Golf Room here.\u201d<\/p>\n
Morris said golf has become inseparable from Dublin\u2019s identity.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf you\u2019re in Dublin and you\u2019re not attached to golf in some way or another, it\u2019s almost like saying you\u2019re not an Ohio State fan,\u201d Morris said jokingly. \u201cIt\u2019s like, are you actually from Ohio? Like, you should maybe move.\u201d<\/p>\n
Morris said he\u2019s as \u201cDublin-ite\u201d as it gets. He loves the city and said he thinks The Memorial Tournament is a huge reason for its success.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t think there\u2019s a better place to live in the world,\u201d Morris said. \u201cI think that the Memorial, what it has done for Dublin, but really just the city of Columbus, has transformed the city to something that could never be done by itself.\u201d<\/p>\n
Pride in Community<\/p>\n
Rose said the tournament also shaped how Dublin residents take care of their community. Standards for quality and excellence became embedded in everything from architecture to landscaping to how people maintain their homes.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey take pride in their community,\u201d Rose said. \u201cThey take pride in what they own, where they live.\u201d<\/p>\n
Jack Nicklaus himself said he\u2019s proud of what\u2019s happened over the past five decades.<\/p>\n
\u201cDublin\u2019s done fairly well,\u201d Nicklaus said. \u201cI think we probably had a pretty big influence on that. We\u2019re very proud of that. And we\u2019ve had great support from the whole Central Ohio and actually the whole golfing world.\u201d<\/p>\n
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Kyle Morris is a former professional golfer and owner of The Golf Room, Taylor Bruck\/Spectrum News 1<\/p>\n
A City Transformed<\/p>\n
Fifty years ago, Nicklaus brought a world-class golf tournament to central Ohio. But what Rose said he really did was help create a world-class city \u2014 one that made Ohio competitive with the rest of the world.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ve traveled a lot of places in this world, but I\u2019ve never traveled some place where I say, oh, I should be living here instead of in Dublin,\u201d Rose said.<\/p>\n
Celebrating the 50th Anniversary<\/p>\n
As the 50th anniversary of the Memorial Tournament gets underway this week, Dublin is showing the world what it has become. The city decorated for the event, getting everyone in the spirit of the tournament.\u00a0<\/p>\n
A giant golf ball is set up near Bridge Park, offering photo opportunities, and visitors can view the names of every previous winner on the bridge connecting old Dublin to new Dublin.<\/p>\n
Fore!Fest is also returning this weekend with live music, food trucks, a drone show and much more.<\/p>\n