Nicklaus is gearing up for the 2004 tournament, which will be held June 3 to June 6. As part of the overall celebration, which begins May 31, Nicklaus will hold his annual golf clinic, just one way the golf legend gives back to the region where he was raised.
And, if you ask him about the impact the tournament has had, he’ll say, without hesitation, that it has met his expectations.
"I believe the Memorial Tournament has done very well," he says. "We’ve tried to keep it as noncommercial as we can, which is hard to do in this day and age, and still be able to compete with the large purses out there. We’ve done that pretty well, and here we are, 28 years later."
It’s not just the players and the tournament’s charity, Children’s Hospital in Columbus, that reap the rewards (last year’s winner, Kenny Perry, took home $900,000). The Memorial also has created a significant financial impact on the community.
Recognizing that it draws visitors from all over the country, in 2002, tournament Executive Director Dan Sullivan commissioned a survey to quantify the economic impact on Dublin and the surrounding Columbus region since the tournament’s creation.
The results were eye-opening. Says Sullivan, "About $356 million was plowed into the community."
