PRESIDENTS CUP PREVIEW
gled tee shot allows shorter players to choose a line that best suits their skill but tempts longer players into biting off more of the lake, especially if the tees are set forward to bring the green within driver range as they’re likely to be in the Presidents Cup. This type of diagonal hole puts the emphasis on de- cision-making and nerves rather than mere mathematical execution, and the pressure of the matches should induce as many explosions as birdies. A new par-3 17th crosses back over Lake Kadijah in the opposite direction and can be stretched to over 200 yards. It also plays at an angle, this time with the water on the left, to a green sitting well above the lake and bracketed by four bunkers. Those who get too aggres- sive with front hole locations might see their ball bound down the grassy slope towards the hazard. Situating the new 17th green in this spot places the 18th tees on the far side of the water, allow- ing OCM to create a 487-yard par-4 clos- ing hole that’s nearly 50 yards longer than the previous version. The fairway
par 3 playing south- ward over the lake, but they eliminated the cross-water par- 3 13th, a hole that had been part of the original Bendelow
TAKING THE HARD LINE Out of bounds is uncomfortably close at the par-4 sixth.
After OCM’s work, Medinah No. 3 is no longer a straight-ahead monster of the Midway
but a breathable, complex design.
routing as the 17th hole. In its place is a new par-3 13th that runs parallel to the lake shore, not over it, with the water on the right. The new 13th is a sporty 153 yards (versus the previous 245-yard hole) that can be played forward at 140 or even 120 yards if desired. It gives the course a short-iron or wedge par 3, and a par 3 that runs with the lake rather than across it. Next, the architects removed an- other par 3, the 17th, that crossed the lake in the same direction as the old 13th, a hole that was added prior to the 1990 US Open and subsequently remodelled several times. In its place they built a new par 4, the 16th, that sets up with a diagonal drive over the water to a fairway and green running along the opposite shoreline. The an-
is in the same corridor as Bendelow’s original 18th, an area that had been abandoned when the finishing hole was reoriented in the 1980s in conjunction with the new 17th. Previously, Medinah had three par 3s that all confronted Lake Kadijah head on, and one long hole that crossed it off the tee. After the OCM remodel, the course has two very different par 3s moving in opposing directions, a short, flexible par 3 that plays along the side of the lake, a risk/reward diagonal par 4 that’s potentially drivable for long hitters, and a revamped 18th hole that’s now 50 yards longer than before.
62 GOLF DIGEST SOUTH AFRICA
SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2026
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