DUBLIN, Ohio — Preparations for the Memorial Tournament are in full swing at Muirfield Village Golf Club.
This year the annual tournament is being held one week later than normal, the week of June 3-9.
“I think we will have a great week of attendance like we always have. The field is coming together great and people want to see two things: great weather and a great field and we are going to have both,” said Executive Director Dan Sullivan.
He said more people have been coming to Dublin for the tournament from out of town each year.
“I think we are contributing to Columbus being recognized in a different way, being recognized more for an opportunity to visit and Dublin has grown up over time and there is so much more to do here and there are so many more accommodations and overall attractions and I think we are a nice contribution to that and we lend ourselves to that growth,” Sullivan said.
This year, the tournament will welcome world No. 1 golfer Scottie Scheffler.
The event brings an average of $36 million to Dublin, according to tournament officials.
After the last golfer tees off, the festivities will continue in Dublin, where signs have started to go up, welcoming tourists to town.
“It really puts us on a national and international stage during this time of the year so it is really important to us, it is one of our iconic events and a must do for summer in Dublin,” said Sara Blatnik of Visit Dublin.
People will be able to come to Bridge Park for Fore!Fest on June 7 and 8, where the streets will be shut down for live music, food trucks and more.
There will also be a nine-hole disc golf course at Riverside Crossing Park and a new drone show.
Hotels in the area have been booking up.
“People crowd the streets of bridge park for fore fest so it is definitely an uptick in visitors for us and we have people traveling from around the world so it has that huge global drawl that our smaller events don’t,” Blatnik said.
The tournament is happening a week later at the request of PGA TOUR, but Sullivan does not expect it to be the new normal.
“I think we are going to assess with the PGA tour understand what the value is of it understand where the best position of the memorial tournament and look across the landscape of the PGA tour and make sure we are in the right spot,” he said.
Tickets are on sale now.