At the 2012 Ryder Cup, Course #1 at Medinah Country Club was used as a parking lot. The day after Europe crushed the U.S., Tom Doak and his Renaissance Golf Design team started work on a major renovation of Course #1. This course, along with Course #2, had long been in the shadow of the major championship host Course #3. Because of the famous nature of Course #3, the work went largely unnoticed by the golf community, and Course #1 is rarely talked about as one of the best in Chicagoland.
Doak’s work at Medinah #1 had two goals: reinvigorate the course which had gotten noticeably tired over the years, and mitigate some flooding issues the property presented. Course #1 sits on the lowest and flattest ground on the large property, a natural place to collect the Chicago rain; thus, this golf course might have the most water hazards of any Doak design. Water is ever-present throughout the 18 holes, sometimes in a strategic fashion and other times out of play in a more functional capacity.
With the golf course on flatter land, Doak and his lead associate, Brian Schneider, employed bold features, a style of golf architecture that Schneider would later popularize. There are several vertical features, including mounds and elevated greens, which create a great deal of interest and strategy on a piece of land that is lacking any natural aspects to really hold on to. A great example is the par-4 sixth hole, which plays down to a low corner of the property. The fairway bends to the right, and the aggressive line is up the right side. Playing left away from the tree line is much safer, but will come with a hidden view of the mesmerizing green. The obstruction is created by a large mound that cuts in from the left side of the hole. This feature is not natural but part of many created mounds for strategic purposes. On the sixth, you can also see an example of the supreme green contouring employed throughout the course.
Course #1 at Medinah is emphatically one of the finest in the golf-rich area and among the five best courses in Chicago's western suburbs.
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