1 Answer

2012 Ryder Cup headed to Medinah Country Club

Storied Medinah Country Club outside of Chicago, site of three U.S. Opens, two PGA Championships, one U.S. Senior Open and three Western Opens, will add to illustrious history when it plays host to the 2012 Ryder Cup.

PALM BEACH GARDENS, Fla. -- Medinah Country Club, the site of many of the most memorable moments spanning 60 years of major championship golf, will host the 39th Ryder Cup, Sept. 25-30, 2012, marking the Illinois debut of golf's most compelling event.

Located some 35 minutes from downtown Chicago, Medinah Country Club has hosted three U.S. Opens (1949, 1975 and 1990) and two PGA Championships (1999, 2006); while also the site of the 1988 U.S. Senior Open and three Western Opens [now BMW Championship] (1939, '62, '66). The PGA of America announced in October 1998 that Medinah would host the 2012 Ryder Cup.

This year, the 38th Ryder Cup will be conducted Sept. 28 through Oct. 3, at the Celtic Manor Resort near Newport Wales.

As part of its 2012 preparations, Medinah is nearing completion of a $1.5 million greens renovation project on Course No. 3, led by renowned course architect Rees Jones. The project included a dramatic redesign of the 15th hole.

The 15th now offers players with a great risk-reward opportunity with a drive-able par-4 by reducing its length by 100 yards and adding a two-acre lake that borders the right side of the fairway and green. The new forward tee allows No. 15 to be set up as short at 280 yards. The original tee area of 392 yards from the championship tees will be preserved to provide the club with flexibility in course set-up.

Jones, who has overseen all architectural design aspects of Medinah's three golf courses since 2000, moved the 15th green to the left (south), which made way for the creation of a new back tee for Medinah's famed No. 16 hole. The tree-lined par-4 now measures 15 yards longer -- playing approximately 470 yards from the championship tees.

The major greens renovation took place on 11 of Course No. 3's original 18 greens and its main putting green, which was rebuilt to USGA specifications. Course No. 3's other six greens were re-grassed and the No. 15 green rebuilt. Jones has overseen all architectural design aspects of Medinah's three golf courses since 2000.

This year, Medinah's famed No. 3 Course is ranked No. 20 by Golf Digest among "America's 100 Greatest Golf Courses." All three of Medinah's 18-hole courses were designed by Tom Bendelow in 1928 and completed two years apart.

Medinah County Club is anticipated to reopen the No. 3 Course on June 19, 2010.

The Ryder Cup, among the last great professional sporting events where winning, and not prize money, is its own reward, spans 37 competitions over 81 years. The competition was born in 1927, when enterprising English seed merchant Samuel Ryder commissioned the casting of a gold chalice that bears his name. The U.S. Team defeated Great Britain, 9½ to 2½, in the inaugural matches in Worcester, Mass. Since then, the Ryder Cup has expanded to involve the finest players of Europe. Except for a span (1939-45) during World War II and following the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks upon America, the Ryder Cup has been held biennially with the U.S. and Europe alternating as host.