Small Talk: Letters and Chatter about Columbus Monthly, October 2015 Edition
To the Editor:
The coverage in your August 2015 edition regarding Dublin in general and Muirfield to be specific was, in my opinion, spectacular.
I had the good fortune to be present when Muirfield "got off the ground" financially and Dublin, Muirfield Village and the Memorial Golf Tournament of today became a reality. Fourty-plus years ago, Jack Nicklaus was beating down doors in an effort to get someone to agree with his vision for Muirfield. To say there was a lack of interest would be an understatement.
Jack Nicklaus continued to be a believer, and had a cadre of supporters that included Bob Hoag, Putnam Pierman, Pandel Savic, David Sherman, Ivor Young and other loyalists who were determined to help see Jack realize his dream. He also had my good friend the late Desmond Muirhead, who was an internationally recognized golf course architect. Desmond and Jack combined their talents to design the Muirfield Village Golf Club.
Money was all that was holding back the Muirfield Village Golf Club, Memorial Tournament and Muirfield Village from becoming a reality.
The late John Walton Wolfe (not to be confused with John F. Wolfe), chairman of The Ohio Co., was approached in an effort to secure financing. John W. had never so much as held a golf club in his hands, and was well aware of all the doubters who had previously turned down financing all or part of Muirfield.
I was present, along with a number of key executives of The Ohio Co., when John W. Wolfe made a final decision as to whether or not The Ohio Co. would provide financing for Muirfield. It seems like it was yesterday that Mr. Wolfe (a visionary) declared something on the order of "I don't care what others have concluded, Muirfield and the proposed Memorial Tournament will be good for Dublin and Columbus." Financing secured!
For approximately 25 years, I have thought that Jack should, in some very meaningful way, memorialize John W. Wolfe at the next Memorial Tournament or otherwise. Having read in the August 2015 Columbus Monthly of Dublin's incredible recent history and bright future, I think it would be appropriate for Dublin to join in with Jack Nicklaus to permanently and prominently memorialize John W. Wolfe and the Muirfield Limited Partnership investors.
Michael A. Dehlendorf
Blacklick
Readers loved Joel Oliphint's profile of Billy Cash (August 2015), the Elvis impersonator, recording artist, Clintonville fixture and sometime crime fighter. "I have seen Billy around the Clintonville area and always thought of him as a sweet young man who seemed to be willing to help just about anyone. I have heard him sing before and thought he is very talented. He seems like a great guy," B.J. Miller wrote on Facebook. From Melanie Forsythe: "This is what true family and true community look like, and Columbus is richer for people who live like this." And Kylie Harwell Sturgill wrote to say: "This is awesome. Thank you for highlighting these incredibly beautiful people we love!"
A first-person interview with Dr. Nicholas Kman in our September cover story ("Columbus After Dark") erroneously implied The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center is not a level-one trauma center. It is a level-one trauma center, and the hospital identified by Kman in this story is University Hospital East. (He works at multiple locations.) We regret the error.