OCM Golf’s redesign work on Course Three at Medinah Country Club, near Chicago, is complete and the new layout is now growing in ahead of a planned reopening in 2024. “The project is best described as part restoration, renovation and redesign, with the major routing changes occurring in the last six holes,” said Mike Cocking of OCM Golf. Referencing old aerial imagery, hand drawn plans and photos from the 1920s, the design team had a clear picture of how the course has evolved over the past century. “Early aerials showed a very interesting bunker style, somewhat reminiscent of other Golden Age courses,” said Cocking. “They were rugged, natural looking hazards with fairly irregular shapes. There were also some great ground shots of holes three and four, which showed a very dramatic bunker arrangement – something we have looked to restore. “Then there were several holes where we’ve retained the basic structure, and the changes are mainly to the green and bunker style. Holes like the old seventh [which will become the tenth], eighth [eleventh] and twelfth are good examples.” The most significant of OCM’s changes have been to the closing six holes. Rerouting now sees a new thirteenth hole that plays alongside Lake Kadijah, a shortened fourteenth, removing the old fifteenth, converting the old par-three seventeenth into a short, Cape-style par-four sixteenth, a new par-three seventeenth that plays back across the lake on the diagonal, and the 13 Photo: Kevin Larson Significant changes have been made to Medinah’s closing holes, which play alongside and over Lake Kadijah
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