Medinah Country Club, one of America’s most iconic golf facilities and the host of seven national and significant championships during its 93-year history, unveiled its Course No. 2 on June 14th, following a year-long renovation lead by legendary designer Rees Jones. The purpose of the redesign of Course No. 2, which originally opened in 1925, was to restore – as applicable to the modern game – its original Tom Bendelow design, by improving its most significant features to remain relevant to the game as it is played today.
There have been no major routing changes, notable grading, or topography changes done to Course No. 2. Rather, most of the work was focused to green complexes and bunkers, relying on aerial photographs from 1938 to determine their original sizes, shapes, and locations. Medinah’s Director of Golf Course Operations Curtis Tyrrell, CGCS, MG, working with Golf Course Architect Rees Jones and his associate Steve Weisser – and with the 80-year-old photographs as the ultimate guide – removed some bunkers and bunker complexes while others were reintroduced. Greens complexes were restored to feature Bendelow’s original contouring, accentuating generally longer, deeper, taller and more pronounced putting surfaces.
Course No. 2 was designed with another unique feature: a total of seven tees to accommodate every different skill level in Medinah’s golfing community including their Golf Fore Life initiative. The seven tees interact with four skill groups that correspond to a newly created system, sorting golfers based on a number of criteria including, but not limited to, handicaps, age, gender, distance, and level of interest. For additional information, access www.medinahcc.org or call (630) 773-1700.
