Medinah Approves $3.6 Million Restoration of Course No. 2

[Matt Frey, PGA]

From today's press release:

<sup>MEDINAH, Illinois (December 18, 2014) - Medinah Country Club has approved a $3.6 million project to restore the club's Course No. 2 to its original character while upgrading its infrastructure to 21st Century standards.

Members voted overwhelmingly to undertake the project, which is aimed at restoring the course - opened in 1927 - to the aesthetic character imparted by architect Tom Bendelow while building state-of-the-art USGA greens, new tees, new bunkers, bentgrass fairways and extensive storm drainage improvements.

The project will begin following the 2015 golf season with the goal of re-opening in June 2017.

With the restoration of Course No. 2, Medinah will have invested more than $14 million since 2008 to upgrade its three golf courses - including the Rees Jones-renovated No. 3 championship course and Tom Doak's renovation of Course One, which opened in June 2014.

"Having three courses each with a different character offers our members and their guests three different golf experiences, and that's what really separates Medinah from other country clubs," said club president Matt Lydon.

"We have something for everyone," Lydon said. "If you want to play a course that has hosted multiple major championships and a Ryder Cup, you can play No. 3. If you want a minimalist-style course that's more of a members' course, you can play Course One. And if you're looking for a family-friendly experience on a classically-designed course, Course Two is a perfect option."

Curtis Tyrrell, Medinah's Director of Golf Course Operations, will lead the project, while Jones will serve as architectural consultant.

Course No. 2 opened in 1927 and has remained virtually untouched since then, except for regular maintenance, and remains a Bendelow original. The course when complete will play from 4800 to 6400 yards, with varying tee options that are intended to enhance the family-friendly experience.

"Most people don't know what a special gem Course No. 2 is," Tyrrell said. "When we restore the design elements and upgrade the playing surfaces, it's going to bring an exciting new dimension to the overall Medinah golf experience."

Medinah Country Club is the Chicago area's best-known and most frequent major championship venue. Home of the 2012 Ryder Cup, Course No. 3 has hosted three U.S. Opens (1949, '75, and '90), two PGA Championships (1999, 2006), three Western Opens (1946, '62, and '66). Medinah's champions include such historic figures as "Lighthorse" Harry Cooper, Gene Sarazen, Byron Nelson, Billy Casper, Gary Player, Hale Irwin, and Tiger Woods.

Founded in the 1920s by a group of Shriners, Medinah features three golf courses, all designed originally by highly respected Scotsman Tom Bendelow. The massive 120,000-square foot clubhouse designed by Richard Schmid is a unique architectural blend of styles that include Byzantine, Oriental, and Louis XIV influences.

Contact:
Barry Cronin
Cronin Communications, Inc.
847-698-1801</sup>

[Paul Jones]

Curtis Tyrrell, Medinah's Director of Golf Course Operations, will lead the project, while Jones will serve as architectural consultant.

They have a different Architectural Consultant for each course?  I am assuming they are referring to Rees Jones?

[JR Potts]

Rees Jones is the architect for Courses #2 and #3.  Tom Doak is the architect for Course #1.  #2 is more of an in-house job than the other two however.

[Jud_T]

Regardless of what one's opinion is of the work and direction they've taken on #3 over the years, you really have to hand it to the club for the focus they've given to #'s 1 & 2.  Is there any other club with a top level tournament course that has 2 other courses that offer such variety and quality to their membership?

[Phil McDade]

Is there any other club with a top level tournament course that has 2 other courses that offer such variety and quality to their membership?

Pinehurst, although it's not a club.

Firestone might qualify; the North has its fans here on GCA.

[Howard Riefs]

Pinehurst, although it's not a club.

Semantics.

http://www.pinehurst.com/pinehurst-membership/

[Jud_T]

Pinehurst isn't exactly private.  While personally I'd take #2 all day long over Medinah #3, not all would agree and I'm quite sure there's no other course at the resort in their current incarnations that I'm more keen to play than Medinah #1.  When they build the C&C course and restore 1&3 (?!) that may be a horse of an entirely different color, but it'll still be only semi-private at best according to the JC Jones Index.  Of course given the amount of play that Medinah #3 gets one could argue that JC might get his merino wool jockeys bunched up there as well...

[Mark McKeever]

Regardless of what one's opinion is of the work and direction they've taken on #3 over the years, you really have to hand it to the club for the focus they've given to #'s 1 & 2.  Is there any other club with a top level tournament course that has 2 other courses that offer such variety and quality to their membership?

Saucon Valley...

[Brian Colbert]

Regardless of what one's opinion is of the work and direction they've taken on #3 over the years, you really have to hand it to the club for the focus they've given to #'s 1 & 2.  Is there any other club with a top level tournament course that has 2 other courses that offer such variety and quality to their membership?

Saucon Valley...

I disagree. Saucon has 3 great golf courses, but if you dropped me on any hole on any of the 3 I wouldn't be able to tell you which one I was on. 

[Peter Flory]

I just played #2 in the best conditions possible- it hasn't rained in Chicagoland in a couple weeks now. 


I'd never played it before the restoration, but man is it fun.  Nice wide fairways, a few of them shared with the holes next to them.  Trees are there, but rarely come into play.  The greens are extremely interesting with mostly tight grass around the.  And the bunkers are shallow and sharp edged. 


Here are the pics from the Jones website:
http://www.reesjonesinc.com/medinah-course-two/

[George Freeman]

 I recently played Medinah #2 for the first time and wow did I like it.  I am not sure I can think of course that better fits the adage “hard par, easy bogey.”  And for a player of my skill level (10 handicap, avg. length, quite wayward off the tee), the course seemed to have the perfect balance between challenge and forgiveness.  At the club the course is billed as the “ladies’ course.”  It is a par 72 that tips out at 6,412 yards (70.6/126). (The shortest set of tees comes in at 3,018 yards – 55.2/88.)
 
- Most holes have quite generous fairways, which even if you miss them your ball should be easy to find and advance.  Only one hole (#5) has a penalizing hazard in play (OB - left) from the tee.  But this hole also has miles of short grass opposite the OB.


- There is only one forced carry over water (the approach to #9, with 25-30 yards of fairway between the hazard and the green).
 
- From the tips, the course has six par-4s at or below 350 yards.  These holes are all interesting and strategic holes that are a ton of fun.  None of them are drivable for an average hitter.  It also has four par-4s at or above 400 yards.
 
- From the tips, the par-3s are (in order) 207, 183, 145, 171.  A couple par-5s are reachable by mortals under the right conditions, but there is also one close to 600 yards (#16).
 
- The land has a nice rolling feel to it.  Neither flat nor severe. 

- The greens and green surrounds are the star of the show.  Many interestingly contoured surfaces with A LOT of tight short grass around the greens.  Fairways and greens mowed right to bunker edges.  I can’t think of a course in Chicago-land where putter is an option around the greens more often than at Medinah #2.  I really liked the way this style was executed. 

-There are a decent number of bunkers, but the course didn’t feel over-bunkered.  They are very clean aesthetically and are not too severe/deep.
 
- It has a really nice, tight routing.  Many tees are very close to the preceding green.  There was only one “longer” green to tee walk (#4 to #5) and it was probably 75 yards.  Hardly an issue.  It was a very easy and enjoyable walk.
 
I have now played all of the courses at Medinah.  What a lucky club to have THREE very good and very different courses.  The diversity between them is pretty amazing.  From what I can tell (and what the member was telling me), #3 is considered the ball-busting trophy asset – the one all the out of towners want to play.  #1 is most members’ favorite with a combination of strategy and challenge.  But he did say #2 has been very well received since the Rees Jones renovation and he thinks most people (read: the men) would call #2 their favorite if they weren’t worried about getting ribbed by their buddies for liking the “easy ladies’ course” best.  But easy is nuanced in this instance.  Would the “pros” tear #2 apart?  Of course, but who cares.  I played with a scratch player who was consistently hitting it 300+ yards down the middle of the fairway.  He shot 75 and said he felt he left at least 5 shots out there because of chipping and putting – not because he hit bad chips/putts, but because he put himself in bad places around the greens that were very challenging to get up and down from.  And he has one of the best short games I have ever seen.  His quote was that the greens were really fun and fair, but if you’re placed poorly it’s very difficult to make par.  Conversely, I shot 84 and didn’t feel like I played particularly well.  I was fairly wild off the tee, but was usually able to make a bogey after a bad drive.  And I didn’t have any big numbers (I had two double bogies due to putting myself in impossible positions around the greens).  And with all the short grass around the greens, there is almost always an easy way to get the ball on the green and have a decent chance at a 2-putt.We always talk about the ideal courses making it harder on the low handicaps while making it easier on the high handicaps, but I feel like that is a pretty elusive thing to pull off.  Medinah #2 nails this, better than almost any course I can think of.  Which gets me to my main thesis with this course:  why aren’t there more like it?  One member of our group said the course felt a lot like Winter Park in FL.  I haven’t played Winter Park, but everything I have read/heard sounds very similar to my thoughts on #2.  What’s not to like about a course that is challenging and engaging for scratch golfers but not punishing (and fun!) for highest handicap players?  A course where no one should lose a ball.  A course that tips out at 6,400 yards.  Seems like a pretty good recipe to me…   

[George Freeman]

(For what it's worth, I cannot figure out the stupid formatting for posts.  That last massive chunk of words was supposed to be three separate paragraphs, but no matter how many times I edit it, the system keeps lumping it all together.)

[Tommy Williamsen]

From today's press release:

<sup>MEDINAH, Illinois (December 18, 2014) - Medinah Country Club has approved a $3.6 million project to restore the club's Course No. 2 to its original character while upgrading its infrastructure to 21st Century standards.

Members voted overwhelmingly to undertake the project, which is aimed at restoring the course - opened in 1927 - to the aesthetic character imparted by architect Tom Bendelow while building state-of-the-art USGA greens, new tees, new bunkers, bentgrass fairways and extensive storm drainage improvements.

The project will begin following the 2015 golf season with the goal of re-opening in June 2017.

With the restoration of Course No. 2, Medinah will have invested more than $14 million since 2008 to upgrade its three golf courses - including the Rees Jones-renovated No. 3 championship course and Tom Doak's renovation of Course One, which opened in June 2014.

"Having three courses each with a different character offers our members and their guests three different golf experiences, and that's what really separates Medinah from other country clubs," said club president Matt Lydon.

"We have something for everyone," Lydon said. "If you want to play a course that has hosted multiple major championships and a Ryder Cup, you can play No. 3. If you want a minimalist-style course that's more of a members' course, you can play Course One. And if you're looking for a family-friendly experience on a classically-designed course, Course Two is a perfect option."

Curtis Tyrrell, Medinah's Director of Golf Course Operations, will lead the project, while Jones will serve as architectural consultant.

Course No. 2 opened in 1927 and has remained virtually untouched since then, except for regular maintenance, and remains a Bendelow original. The course when complete will play from 4800 to 6400 yards, with varying tee options that are intended to enhance the family-friendly experience.

"Most people don't know what a special gem Course No. 2 is," Tyrrell said. "When we restore the design elements and upgrade the playing surfaces, it's going to bring an exciting new dimension to the overall Medinah golf experience."

Medinah Country Club is the Chicago area's best-known and most frequent major championship venue. Home of the 2012 Ryder Cup, Course No. 3 has hosted three U.S. Opens (1949, '75, and '90), two PGA Championships (1999, 2006), three Western Opens (1946, '62, and '66). Medinah's champions include such historic figures as "Lighthorse" Harry Cooper, Gene Sarazen, Byron Nelson, Billy Casper, Gary Player, Hale Irwin, and Tiger Woods.

Founded in the 1920s by a group of Shriners, Medinah features three golf courses, all designed originally by highly respected Scotsman Tom Bendelow. The massive 120,000-square foot clubhouse designed by Richard Schmid is a unique architectural blend of styles that include Byzantine, Oriental, and Louis XIV influences.

Contact:
Barry Cronin
Cronin Communications, Inc.
847-698-1801</sup>