Medinah gives green light to OCM master plan for #3 course

  • Medinah
    Harris Kalinka

    Visualisations of the proposed redesign show the par-three thirteenth, which will now play alongside water

  • Medinah
    Harris Kalinka

    The par-four sixteenth invites players to cut off as much as they dare

  • Medinah
    Harris Kalinka

    OCM Golf’s redesigned short seventeenth will play back across the water

  • Medinah
    Harris Kalinka

    The planned design for the final hole on Medinah’s #3 course

  • Medinah
    Harris Kalinka

    The club will also build a new short course, The Camel Trail

Alice Chambers
By Alice Chambers

The members of Medinah Country Club, near Chicago, Illinois, have voted to move forward with a master plan for its #3 course developed by Australian design firm OCM Golf.

Construction work on the $23.5 million 18-hole renovation will begin in 2023 so the course can reopen in 2024, allowing the club to prepare for its hosting of the Presidents Cup in 2026.

OCM Golf was appointed to develop the master plan in 2020, and has proposed work to reflect the best elements of the course’s history and current layout, while also addressing infrastructure improvements to enhance playing conditions and support professional tournament operations. Three new holes will be built as part of the project.

The renovation “encapsulates a continuing vision to provide compelling tournament play and a world-class golf experience for members, guests, and the professional tournament player,” said William Kuehn, club president.

Watch: A visualisation by Harris Kalinka of OCM Golf’s proposal, featuring the final six holes.

The #3 course was originally designed by Tom Bendelow and redesigned by Rees Jones. It has hosted three US Opens, in 1949, 1975 and 1990, two PGA Championships, in 1999 and 2006, and the Ryder Cup in 2012.

“We feel incredibly humbled and honoured that the Medinah Country Club membership voted in favour of our plan,” said former US Open champion Geoff Ogilvy, who is a director of OCM Golf alongside Mike Cocking and Ashley Mead. “It’s a huge sign of confidence that the members are as excited with our concept as we are, and we can’t wait to get planning started in 2022.”

READ
NEXT

MOST
POPULAR

FEATURED
BUSINESSES