[Michael Kim]

Gentlemen,

Here are some photos of Medinah I took last May. The one thing I noticed was that Rees Jones has "rees-ified" the bunkers with more definition to them. Many trees were cleared as well since 1999.


The 1st Hole with the new tee. If you remember back in 1999, the back tee was right before the cart path you see in front and had a flower bed around it. In 1999, it played at 388 yards. Now it plays at 438 yards.


The approach to the 1st hole. They cleared out a lot of trees behind the green and now there is a view of Lake Kadijah from the fairway. Jones also added a collection area in the back of the green when it used to be deep rough.


The 5th hole, par-5. Should be the easiest the pros face.


The 7th hole. Tiger Woods in 1999 reached this green in two with a slicing 2-iron.


The 12th hole. One of the more majestic holes at Medinah, and it feels like a racecar speedway with the heavy slope from left to right.


The tee shot on the 14th. The pushed the tees back to make it a 600+ par-5, and it should be interesting.


The 16th hole. This was one of the most awkward dog-legs I have ever played in my life. I think the turn is way too sharp and it almost forces a player to have to hit iron of the tee just to keep it in the fairway.


The 18th tee. A neat little tee shot that requires precision.


The re-done 18th green. Jones raised the green significantly and added a collection area in the back. The green is much smaller than it was in 1999.

[Jeff Goldman]

By "collection area" do you mean the closely mown bentgrass things that look like cartoon balloons with no words in them?  If so, we had a couple at OFCC for the 2003 Open, and they looked pretty out of place.  How do these look?

[Jimmy Muratt]

That's quite a flagpole behind the 18th green.

[Tim Pitner]

First, my disclaimers--I've never played Medinah; I lived briefly in Chicago so I like the city.  Next, I'm not saying that I wouldn't enjoy a round at Medinah nor that Medinah is necessarily a poor venue for a major championship, BUT, to me, the course looks rather uninspiring.  It appears to be pretty typical, country club fare, albeit probably more difficult.  

[Michael Kim]

By "collection area" do you mean the closely mown bentgrass things that look like cartoon balloons with no words in them?  If so, we had a couple at OFCC for the 2003 Open, and they looked pretty out of place.  How do these look?

Jeff,

Yes, they look like the collection areas from OFCC in 2003. I too felt they were out of place and surprised they were there.

[Doug Siebert]

Yeah, what is up with that flagpole?  Someone there have a complex or what?  Do they want to make sure it to be seen from the Sears Tower?

The corridors don't look as narrow from those views than I imagined them to be.  I like that they are pruned properly so it looks like you can swing and play low shots out from under them (important to me since I'd probably spend a lot of time in the shade!)  Wish my home course would keep ours as nearly pruned.

Some of the the branches look like they overhang the fairway, something about the branch overhanging the 18th on the left looks like it would make me nervous.  Yes, I should as hell shouldn't hit a ball there but I'll bet if I played there regularly I'd catch that overhanging branch a couple times a season with a big pull hook.  I'll bet the 18th is a really damn tough hole playing two from under that tree

[JR Potts]

First, my disclaimers--I've never played Medinah; I lived briefly in Chicago so I like the city.  Next, I'm not saying that I wouldn't enjoy a round at Medinah nor that Medinah is necessarily a poor venue for a major championship, BUT, to me, the course looks rather uninspiring.  It appears to be pretty typical, country club fare, albeit probably more difficult.  

What country clubs are you playing?  And where can I find them?

[Jon Wiggett]

Mark, why on earth would you want to move something that should obviously be removed? Like Doug says maybe it is a complex thing.

[Chris_Clouser]

Shivas,

You'll be happy to know that the one time I played Medinah, prior to 1999 PGA, I thought it was among the best courses I had ever played.  But in no way would I like to play it every day.  I would say it is still in my top 20.

Of the changes mentioned above, I really like the fact that they took out some trees behind #1 and provided some view of the lake.  Just not sure I like all the new bunkers.

[tlavin]

Ryan, just give up.  You will never change the conceptions embedded in these minds.  They'll never get how good this golf course is until Tom Doak or Ron Prichard adds some grass faced cross bunkers jutting into the fairwa at 180, 220 and 280 (just so they can clear the first two and not reach the last one), at which point they'll either love it or argue that the first two bunkers provide no options into the spring's prevailing wind...

I second that emotion.  This argument is getting silly about now.

[Mike Hendren]

Terry,

FWIW, it looks appealing to me.

Mike

[Chris Perry]

For anyone interested, Google Earth/Maps has post-Ree's changes and Windows Live local has the course pre-restoration, if you want to compare.

Personally, I like putting 17 back to where it was, but I liked #2 the way it was before. I'm also partial to the way the greensite was before on #14 and a couple others as well, but will reserve judement until I see it on TV from ground view.

[Tim Pitner]

First, my disclaimers--I've never played Medinah; I lived briefly in Chicago so I like the city.  Next, I'm not saying that I wouldn't enjoy a round at Medinah nor that Medinah is necessarily a poor venue for a major championship, BUT, to me, the course looks rather uninspiring.  It appears to be pretty typical, country club fare, albeit probably more difficult.  

What country clubs are you playing?  And where can I find them?

Ryan (or Shivas or Terry),

As I said, I haven't played Medinah so I'm basing my statements solely on photos/television.  Visually, it looks like a fairly typical, Midwestern country club course.  What distinguishes Medinah, other than degree of difficulty?

[tlavin]

Tim:


In a word, scale.  It is big in every sense of the word.  The holes are big, the trees are big, the property is big, the sense of history is big, the degree of difficulty is big, the carries to greens are big.  It is a golf course that starts out tough and builds and builds to the point where focus and concentration become the main issue in your head.

It may lack variety in some ways, but as an occasional player of the course (once a year, typically), I'm never bored out there.  I can honestly say that there are only two holes that are genuinely underwhelming (#8, a flat, dull par three and 15, a shortish par-4 that is crammed into an uninteresting corner of the golf course.

It's a great course on a great piece of property, IMHO.

[Jim Nugent]

Excellent pictures, Michael.  Again -- you took some great ones at WFW too.  

Any photos of 17?  

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