Clubhouse Eats: The inside story of Muirfield Village GC’s famous milkshake
The Buckeye Milkshake at Muirfield Village GC has been a menu staple since 1976.
Jeffrey Westbrook
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It’s hard to beat a good milkshake on a hot day — or any day, if we’re being honest — but you don’t often find them on golf club menus. Unless, of course, that club is Dublin, Ohio’s Muirfield Village, affectionately known as “Jack’s Place,” where the Buckeye Milkshake has been a staple since 1976.
The milkshake’s name refers to buckeye candy or, rather, peanut butter dipped in chocolate (see Mrs. Nicklaus’ recipe below). The milkshake’s recipe is a closely guarded club secret that is never shared publicly, but the basics include premium ice cream, peanut butter and chocolate (but not buckeye nuts — they’re poisonous!).
Sounds deceptively simple, doesn’t it? As time has gone on, word of mouth helped the made-to-order milkshakes grow in popularity, and they soon achieved a certain lore that has only increased with the advent of social media and the increased visibility of the Memorial Tournament, where players are frequently shown on TV, milkshake in hand.
Internal photos and social media that could jeopardize the shake’s long-protected secret ingredients are strictly verboten. However, curiously, milkshakes have appeared on menus at venerable clubs like Colorado’s Castle Pines and Arizona’s Whisper Rock when former employees move on. “We have a lot of fun poking each other because the home of the best milkshake in golf is right here,” says Muirfield GC’s general manager and COO Nicholas LaRocca. “It’s the last best secret we have.”
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Bash’s Buckeyes
This family recipe was adapted from Well Done!, a book by proud Ohio State alums Barbara and Jack Nicklaus. Barbara credits her mom, Helen Bash, for passing it down.
- Butter – 1/2 cup
- Powdered sugar – 16 oz.
- Creamy peanut butter – 1 1/2 cups
- Semisweet chocolate chips – 12 oz.
- Paraffin baking wax – 2 tbsp
Combine powdered sugar and peanut butter in a mixing bowlPour hot butter over mixture and mix well again.
- Shape mixture into balls end arrange on baking sheet lined with wax paper
- Cover with more wax paper and refrigerate overnight.
- Melt chocolate chips over low heat.
- Add paraffin wax so the chocolate sets with a shine.
- Use toothpicks to dip balls in melted chocolate. (Leave an open spot on top so it looks like a buckeye.)
- Return balls to baking sheet and remove toothpicks. Repair toothpick holes with hot knife. Cover tightly and return to refrigerator.
Makes 70 to 75 balls.
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