Medinah Country Club
Designed by A. W. Tillinghast
History
The story begins in the early 1920s, when a group of Chicago Shriners set out to build something grand west of the city — a clubhouse and grounds befitting the ambition of an organization flush with postwar optimism. They found their ground in the rolling terrain along the Salt Creek watershed in what would become Medinah, Illinois, and by 1924 the club had opened not one course but three, a rare commitment for any club of that era.
The task of laying out the courses fell to A. W. Tillinghast, already established as one of the era’s most sought-after architects. Tillinghast approached Medinah’s land with the same eye he brought to Winged Foot and Baltusrol, shaping a No. 3 course that would eventually become the club’s signature test. His design sensibility, rooted in the classic strategic school, gave Medinah a foundation substantial enough to host championship golf for the better part of a century.
That foundation has been revisited many times since. Course No. 3 has undergone multiple rounds of renovation, including work in the 2000s tied to preparations for major championships, as the club adapted Tillinghast’s routing to modern championship standards. Medinah has hosted the U.S. Open on several occasions, the PGA Championship, the Ryder Cup in 2012, and the BMW Championship, cementing its place among the country’s most tournament-tested private clubs.
Playing Notes
Before you tee off, know that Medinah is a walk through mature hardwood corridors, so expect tree lines to pinch driving areas more than any single hazard type. Carts are common and paths are well maintained, but the terrain has enough roll that a caddie or pull cart makes sense if you're walking. Greens run fast and firm, with enough contour that lag putting matters more than raw speed control, so spend real time on the practice green before your round to get a feel for it. Bunkering is deep and positioned to catch shots that miss into the slopes rather than dead straight misses, which means club selection off the tee matters as much as direction. Bring extra golf balls — the combination of tree-lined holes and water on a handful of holes will find mishits — and pack for variable Midwestern wind, since exposed stretches can shift club selection by a full number or more depending on the day.