IMO on Medinah #3 by Daniel Lane posted

[Ran Morrissett]

https://golfclubatlas.com/lane-daniel-j-with-ryan-potts-new-discovery-opens-shot-to-medinahs-future/

Every club wants what’s best for its course. Yet, each membership defines what is ‘best’ – and each membership is different. In the case of Medinah, few clubs enjoy a greater name, in part because of the fame that has been brought to the club by hosting major events on its #3 Course.

Of course, embracing its championship heritage and balancing the virtues of a Golden Age design can make for uneasy bedfellows.
Some of the tenets of Golden Age design – playing angles, options, short grass – necessitate width but if you give the professionals room to free wheel with little consequence for misplayed shots, your course will be mauled. No host wants that, so what do you do?

Fundamental to making wise decisions is an accurate knowledge of your Golden Age course’s past history. Who did what, when was the design at peak? Certainly, your course’s past can help guide your course’s future. After all, no one is striving for every course to be the same; that would ruin golf’s appeal if all playing fields were similar. 

In the case of Medinah #3, it has forever been thought that #3 was built by Tom Bendelow and that it was his masterpiece. Fair enough. I have never been to Medinah but Bendelow’s remaining work at Olympia Fields on the South Course shows genuine flair, right up to its amazing 18th green.

In recent weeks, Medinah selected Ogilvy, Cocking, and Mead to make a master plan for #3 and it came to light that AW Tillinghast had spent time at Medinah. Well! That isn’t widely known. Therefore, member Ryan Potts contacted the Tillinghast Society to learn more. He shared all his finds with Daniel Lane and the result is this new In My Opinion piece authored by Daniel.

Dominated by photographs from the 1937 Chicago Open program, a course unfolds with bold bunkers (both in size and placement) and more width than one associates with Medinah. #3’s appearance in these photos is markedly different from older ones – and from its other course at the time. Tillinghast’s letter from November, 1936 clearly proves he was there.  Of course, it is well-nigh impossible to believe anything he said was done before the July 1937 Chicago Open. So … what gives? Was this a return visit by Tillinghast to inspect prior work done?

Ryan and Daniel don’t pretend to speculate. Rather, they just wanted this information of how #3 appeared in 1937 to be well known and in the public sphere. The design features in these black and white photos – a central hazard, slashing cross hazards, bold greens, an infinity green, a sandy spoil left of a green, etc. – certainly appeal and resonate with fans of the Golden Age.

Thank you guys for sharing and best wishes to Ogilvy, Cocking, and Mead as they press ahead with developing a plan.

[Peter Pallotta]

Thank you, Ryan and Daniel.

To an outsider this seems like a fascinating ‘case study’, on many fronts.

The simplest/most obvious to me is the parkland setting,

ie trees there originally were, and presumably expected to grow/mature; but it’s also clear that those trees were meant to frame vistas and not golf holes

and golf holes that in every way were meant to look & play much more expansively than they do today

[SL_Solow]

Ryan and others have done a wonderful job at Medinah.  The changes to course # 1 came about when interested members including Ryan decided that a planned renovation should provide a different experience than that exemplified by #3.  #1 was generally regarded as #3 "light" but when the rump group prevailed and brought in Renaissance the experience changed markedly for the better.  Now an attempt to reimagine #3 consistent with some unknown roots.  Those of us in the area who have followed along and even been peripherally involved will watch this with great interest.  An example of great work that dedicated members can do.

[PCCraig]

To me, it would seem like a stretch that AWT is somehow responsible for #3. Those letters that he produced on behalf of the PGA are plentiful and as seen in the letter he was typically moving quickly from stop-to-stop.


But as your article shows, what is really neat are the photos that have surfaced. What looks to be a pretty quirky, wild looking golf course.


Looking forward to seeing what comes of the master plan in the next few years! Nice work Ryan!

[Terry Lavin]

I’ve always loved Medinah, but the more I learned about course architecture and the more great courses I played, I began to appreciate that #3 could be better. It could look more like a course of its vintage. It would look and play better with substantial tree removal. Also, it would be great to see more bunkers that would frame the course in places formerly framed by trees. Finally, the internal green contours that had been flattened to achieve ridiculously fast greens need to be restored.


I’m excited that my longtime friend Ryan Potts and other Medinah leaders have a new view of this historic course’s architectural history that will help animate their approach to the anticipated renovation.

[Jeff_Brauer]

Not sure a half day visit by Tillie constitutes any design credit.  I have the Medinah club history, and there are some old plans in it which showed Bendelow did design some shapely bunkers.  If I have time, I might compare the plan view bunkers with the ground level photos above to see what I learn.

[SL_Solow]

Jeff,  you should let Ryan see those plans.


      Shel

[Tom_Doak]

Why don't we just ask Ian Scott-Taylor for the plans?


I guarantee they'd look spectacular.  Just better clarify exactly what you want them to show, beforehand.   

[JR Potts]

Guess there's no time like the present to post.


First, thanks for the kind words.


Second, Jeff, I have all of the plans; including the as-built drainage plans, the original routing (pre 1933) and the final construction plan. 


Candidly, as Ran will attest, I reigned some of the conclusions Daniel made as Tillinghast's actual on the ground involvement is unknown.  The course pre his 1936 visit (ironically enough, right after Bendelow passed away), is substantially similar, if not exactly similar to what is there in the 1939 aerial.


What we do know, is that a lot of changes occurred during the 40s, 50s and 60s that are generally undocumented in the club's historical records. Surprisingly and confusingly, there is next to no discussion of Bendelow's work during his relationship with Medinah.  Not surprising, there is a lot of talk about the ski jump and injuries.


Either way, I though the info was interesting and Daniel, who is a great writer, fellow Medinah fan and architecture aficionado, asked if he could share this interesting info with this group - who would also hopefully find it interesting.


And, with the OCM and Presidents Cup stuff, the timing worked.


Hope you all enjoy - but don't for a second think anyone is suggesting that Medinah #3 is a long lost Tillinghast.  What he did and when, if anything, will always be a mystery unless someone can find that damn exhibit to his letter. To date, the case is cold.


Hope everyone is well and staying healthy. Thanks for assisting Ran.


Ryan

[SL_Solow]

Tom, one of the best laughs I have had in a while.  Much needed.

[Bill Brightly]

Wasn't Tillinghast hired by the PGA to visit golf courses around the country in an effort to help maintain a sport that had to have been struggling throughout the Great Depression? I know he visited my course, Hackensack GC in Oradell, NJ. I'll have to go dig up that letter, but as I recall, his "work" consisted of a series of one or two suggestions per hole in memo form. No plans were drawn. For example, he suggested removing the front bunkers that guarded the approach on our Biarritz. (The front section was not putting surface when Banks built the course.) Such a suggestion makes sense if the goal was to reduce maintenance costs. Those bunkers were removed in the following years. As Jeff suggests, I'd hardly give Tillinghast any design credit because he once visited the course and sent a memo to the club.

[Tim_Cronin]

Guess there's no time like the present to post.


First, thanks for the kind words.


Second, Jeff, I have all of the plans; including the as-built drainage plans, the original routing (pre 1933) and the final construction plan. 


Candidly, as Ran will attest, I reigned some of the conclusions Daniel made as Tillinghast's actual on the ground involvement is unknown.  The course pre his 1936 visit (ironically enough, right after Bendelow passed away), is substantially similar, if not exactly similar to what is there in the 1939 aerial.


What we do know, is that a lot of changes occurred during the 40s, 50s and 60s that are generally undocumented in the club's historical records. Surprisingly and confusingly, there is next to no discussion of Bendelow's work during his relationship with Medinah.  Not surprising, there is a lot of talk about the ski jump and injuries.


Either way, I though the info was interesting and Daniel, who is a great writer, fellow Medinah fan and architecture aficionado, asked if he could share this interesting info with this group - who would also hopefully find it interesting.


And, with the OCM and Presidents Cup stuff, the timing worked.


Hope you all enjoy - but don't for a second think anyone is suggesting that Medinah #3 is a long lost Tillinghast.  What he did and when, if anything, will always be a mystery unless someone can find that damn exhibit to his letter. To date, the case is cold.


Hope everyone is well and staying healthy. Thanks for assisting Ran.


Ryan

Just to concur with what Ryan writes above, the club has those Bendelow-drawn plans, as well as week-by-week reports on the crews he was supervising for much of the construction and requests to purchase particular types of grass seed. But there's no Tillinghast in the archive.


Further, having checked within the hour, the PGA of America doesn't have anything by Tillinghast beyond the day-by-day letters he sent back to the main office, then located in Chicago. Any supplementary material has been lost over the decades.


As Bill Brightly notes, Tillinghast was the PGA's man to inspect courses upon invitation by PGA pros and suggest cost-reducing measures that would make maintenance less expensive. Mostly, it was bunker removal. In a couple of cases, he went further and redesigned a green or two. That was the case at Oak Park and Ridgemoor, for instance. But zipping around Nos. 1 and 3 in the morning and then taking in Butterfield's 27 holes in the afternoon likely left little time for an in-depth examination of the courses.

[Dan Moore]

Cool photos. Having studied his PGA letters for other courses in Chicago that I seriously doubt Tillinghast made a major impact on the course in such a short time.


Seeing those photos though, and seeing the subtleties brought to life in the restoration of Course 2, one should not dismiss the 1920's work of Bendelow. He clearly benefited from having the engineering resources of American Park Builders at his disposal once he joined them in the early 20's.

[Bill Brightly]

I couldn't put my hands on Tillinghast's letter to Hackensack, although I HAVE seen it... I did find a letter from Bob Trebus from the Tillinghast Association, a response to my inquiry. Bob wrote: "He (Tilly) made recommendations to reduce the size of some very large greens and the elimination of many steep slopes."

As a cool aside: Tillinghast submitted a "proposition" to build our new course in 1926 when we decided to leave the city of Hackensack and move 8 miles north.

I love Tillinghast's work but I always felt this letter was his way of expressing his negative opinion of Banks' and Raynor's work...

[Peter Flory]

It doesn't look as different as I was expecting.  Still very tightly guarded with the trees. 

Similarly I was shocked to see the original version of #17 at OFCC South.  I was expecting to see that the trees slowly suffocated that hole over time, but was surprised to learn that it had always been that way and was originally just carved out of a forest. 

I'm sure that they will do a nice job with it however.  I really want it to be great and to feel Golden Age-y.  It has always felt in-between eras. 

[David Ober]

Why don't we just ask Ian Scott-Taylor for the plans?


I guarantee they'd look spectacular.  Just better clarify exactly what you want them to show, beforehand.   

I will never, ever forgot those threads. Without question, the most (unfortunately) enjoyable reading I've ever had on a forum of any kind.

[Mike_Trenham]

IIRC - Part of Tillinghast’s agreement with the PGA was that he would not solicit work during his consulting visits.  The hope was that a local person would get the work which in that era was often a PGA member. 


Cornish and Whitten’s books have improperly given Tillinghast design credit on many courses. I bet they were working off a list published by the AWT himself!


This is another example of the value of this forum.


I am trying to figure out who actually built our 9th hole at SDGC, which AWT recommended be shortened from a reachable par 4 into a par 3 due to safety concerns.  My best guess is it was most likely JB McGovern.