Jack Nicklaus's Course and the Curse of Chief Leatherlips
Dublin, OH
Age
All Ages (public access during Memorial Tournament is ticketed)
Cost
$$$$
Private golf club; public access during Memorial Tournament requires tournament tickets. General club access by member invitation only.
Access
Limited Access
Golf course terrain with slopes and fairway grass; paved paths at tournament access points
Equipment
Photos OK
Est. 1976 · PGA TOUR History · Wyandot Nation History · Chief Leatherlips
Muirfield Village Golf Club in Dublin, Ohio opened in 1976, designed by Jack Nicklaus. The same year, Nicklaus launched the Memorial Tournament, now a major stop on the PGA TOUR calendar held annually in late May or early June.
Chief Leatherlips — Shaymese in Wyandot — was a leader of the Wyandot Nation in what is now central Ohio. His nickname derived from his reputation for keeping his word. In June 1810, he was executed near the banks of the Scioto River by members of his own tribe, acting under pressure from Tecumseh, who viewed Leatherlips' accommodation toward American settlement as a betrayal of Wyandot sovereignty. The execution site is on the east bank of the Scioto, across the river from Muirfield Village.
The Dublin Historical Society documents Leatherlips' history and maintains that the Memorial Tournament and the execution site are separated by the river, technically on opposite banks. Nevertheless, the curse narrative has embedded itself in tournament culture. In the first 24 years of the Memorial Tournament, the event was affected by rain in 14. The tournament has twice been shortened to 54 holes. One year the tournament was moved up a week to avoid expected weather — and it rained anyway.
In an often-cited moment, Arnold Palmer's wife Winnie suggested Barbara Nicklaus bring a glass of gin to Leatherlips' monument to appease the chief. Barbara did.
A sculpture of Chief Leatherlips — a large figural monument — stands in Dublin's Scioto Park, commissioned in 1990.
Sources
The 'Curse of Chief Leatherlips' is a piece of long-standing Dublin civic folklore — updated annually with each rain delay or tournament shortening at Muirfield Village. Fourteen rain-affected tournaments in the first 24 years gave it a statistical foundation. Two tournaments shortened to 54 holes reinforced it. The year the tournament was moved forward a week to avoid rain, and it rained anyway, became the piece of lore that gets repeated most often. In 1993, after a fourth straight year of rain delays, Arnold Palmer's wife Winnie suggested Barbara Nicklaus bring a glass of gin to Leatherlips' monument as appeasement. Barbara did.
The historical Leatherlips bears no resemblance to the cursed-spirit of the folklore. He was a Wyandot leader who maintained relations with American settlers and opposed Tecumseh's Confederacy; he was condemned to death in June 1810 — by other Native leaders, on charges widely understood by historians as exaggerated witchcraft pretexts masking political motives. His execution near the Scioto River is one of the more tragic episodes in central Ohio's Indigenous history, and a sculpture in Dublin's Scioto Park (commissioned 1990) marks his memory.
In recent years, the City of Dublin and the Wyandotte Nation have formally partnered to dispel the curse story, calling it 'an inauthentic and hurtful representation of the Wyandotte people, a flourishing tribe with its roots in Ohio, including Dublin.' Their joint position notes that the execution site sits across the Scioto River from the golf course — meaning even the geographic premise of the curse fails — and that the late-May/early-June timing of the Memorial Tournament coincides with central Ohio's rainiest weeks of the year. The joint debunking is part of broader cooperation, including the Heritage Interpreter program and shared land-history education. Visitors interested in Leatherlips are directed to engage with the actual history rather than the sports folklore.
Notable Entities
The annual Memorial Tournament at Muirfield Village typically takes place in late May or early June. During tournament play, spectators can walk the course where rain delays attributable to 'the Curse of Chief Leatherlips' are tracked in tournament statistics going back to 1976. Tickets required for tournament access.
Every HauntBound history is researched from documented sources. We clearly separate verified historical fact from paranormal folklore.
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