PRESIDENTS CUP PREVIEW
A major transformation will have Medinah No 3 looking unrecognisable to most. BY DEREK DUNCAN An Axe to Grind M EDINAH COUNTRY Club’s No 3 course is one of American golf’s most storied tournament
For most of its history, Medinah No 3, located 40 kilometres west of down- town Chicago, was the prototypically difficult US Open-style championship course. It foiled players with small, sloping greens ringed in rough, holes that played across Lake Kadijah and narrow doglegs cloaked in trees. No 3 epitomised the kind of demanding mid-century formula that cemented its place in every edition of our Ameri-
Cup from September 24-27, Medinah will seem unrecognisable to viewers. The No 3 course underwent a trans- formative remodel in 2023 and 2024 by the Australian design firm of OCM (Geoff Ogilvy, Mike Cocking and Ashley Mead) that cleared trees, expanded and shifted fairways and greens, reshuffled the routing and introduced a series of new holes. Almost nothing is like it was before.
venues. It has hosted three US Opens, a Senior Open, PGA Championships in 1999 and 2006 (both won by Tiger Woods) and was the stage for one of the most unlikely come-from-behind vic- tories in the history of the Ryder Cup in 2012. When it hosts the Presidents
60 GOLF DIGEST SOUTH AFRICA
SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2026
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