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History of
Medinah Country Club
Medinah Country Club was the result of a 1920s project of Chicago's Ancient Order of Nobles of the Mystic Shrine, which acquired 650 acres of property in northern DuPage County. Medinah, some 35 minutes west of Lake Michigan, takes its name from the home of the Mohammedan religion, a city in Saudi Arabia that lies 110 miles from the Red Sea.
Tom Bendelow, a world-renowned Scottish architect, was retained to design a 54-hole complex. The Shriners enjoyed their first round of golf on Course No. 1 in September of 1925, and Course No. 2 was completed a year later. Course No. 3, originally designed for Medinah's women members, was completed in 1928. The original Bendelow layout measured 6,215 yards with a par of 71. The design stood only three years before a major renovation took place in the 1930s.
A clubhouse measuring 60,000 square feet was constructed in the late 1920s at a cost of $600,000, a project that would command more than $20 million today. The clubhouse is the design of Richard G. Schmidt, who spent two years in researching Europe and the Middle East Byzantine, Italian, Louis XIV, and Oriental architectural styles. The structure features a 60-foot high rotunda inlaid with mosaics, and a main ballroom boasting a ceiling that rivals a Florentine cathedral.
The site of three U.S. Open championships, one U.S. Senior Open and three Western Opens, Medinah's No. 3 Course, measuring 7,401 yards for The 81st PGA Championship, will be the longest layout for any major championship.
Medinah Country Club was a charter member of "America's 100 Greatest Courses" as first selected by Golf Digest in 1966.
Harry Cooper won the 1930 Medinah Open, the club's first significant championship, with a sizzling final-round 63. Cooper's performance did more to bring the club's No. 3 Course into major championship form than any single event by embarrassing the members into making course alterations. Soon after, golf professional and English architect Harry Collis was assigned to renovate nine holes, adding nearly 600 yards and a watering system. The course reopened on June 19, 1932, with four par-4 holes stretching more than 440 yards and par-5s at 500, 515 and 580, and rarely-used back tees that could push the overall length past 7,000 yards. Cooper returned in 1935 and won the Medinah Open with a 72-hole score of 1-over-par 289.
Medinah didn't receive a facelift for the next 52 years. During those five decades, golf legends Gene Sarazen (1937 Chicago Open), Byron Nelson (1939 Western Open, 1946 Chicago Victory Open) claimed titles at Medinah. Cary Middlecoff defeated Sam Snead to capture the 1949 U.S. Open on the No. 3 Course. Architect George Fazio was called in for renovations just before the 1975 U.S. Open, which Lou Graham won in an 18-hole playoff over John Mahaffey. But, the course was to undergo yet another remodeling, including increasing the area accommodating a gallery near the 18th green.
In 1986, Roger Packard re-routed the back nine, constructed two new holes and lengthened another. The 18th hole was improved to allow seating for more than 5,000 spectators. After the renovations, the U.S. Golf Association awarded Medinah the U.S. Senior Open in 1988, which was won by Gary Player.
In 1990, then-45-year-old Hale Irwin became the oldest U.S. Open winner by forcing a playoff with a 50-foot birdie putt on the 18th hole in regulation play. The next day, Irwin tied Mike Donald in an 18-hole playoff and won with a birdie on the first hole of sudden death. Irwin's victory came on a course that measured 7,192 yards.
Medinah features 4,200 trees, more than 200 per hole, composed primarily of Red, White and Bur Oak. There are 60 bunkers in strategic positions throughout the course and greens averaging 6,200 square feet with the largest the par-4 16th at 9,600 square feet and the smallest the par-4 11th that covers 4,600 square feet.
In Medinah's earlier years, the 17th hole was widely regarded as the "signature" hole. It hasn't been changed, but it's now No. 13, a 219-yard par-3 that requires a precision tee shot over Lake Kadijah. When 1949 U.S. Open winner Middlecoff was asked to review the course for the 1975 U.S. Open, he wrote: "Whoever wins this year's U.S. Open will have an exceptional driving week. Not just excellent - exceptional. That's because Medinah's No. 3 Course has the muscle to ruin anyone who is not hitting the fairways off the tees." Middlecoff appeared a prophet when Lou Graham, a pinpoint driver that week, emerged as the Open champion following an 18-hole playoff with John Mahaffey.
