Medinah Reimagined: A Classic Course Enters a New Chapter
After the 2026 Presidents Cup, a closer look at the transformation of Medinah No. 3.
The Presidents Cup has just wrapped up at Medinah Country Club, but for golf fans, the tournament left behind a story that goes beyond the final score. The real story might be the golf course itself.
Medinah No. 3 has hosted some of the biggest events in golf, including the U.S. Open, PGA Championship, Ryder Cup and BMW Championship. But when the Presidents Cup arrived in September 2026, players and fans were seeing a very different version of the course. The name was still Medinah. The history was still there. But much of the golf course had been reimagined.
A Very Different Medinah
The transformation began in 2022–23, led by Australian design team OCM — Geoff Ogilvy, Mike Cocking and Ashley Mead. This was far more than a typical renovation. Three existing holes were removed and three new ones were created. Fairways were widened, trees were selectively removed, greens became significantly larger, and the bunkering was completely reworked.
The numbers are impressive. Medinah went from 70 bunkers to 117, while total sand area roughly doubled to around 204,000 square feet. Average green size increased by more than 40%, from about 6,000 to 8,600 square feet. But the goal wasn’t simply to make the course harder. It was to create more choices.
More Choices, More Strategy
Wider fairways can actually make a golf hole more strategic.
A player might take an aggressive line to gain a better angle into the green, while another may choose the safer side and accept a longer approach. That becomes even more interesting in match play. If your opponent is already in trouble, playing conservatively may make sense. But if you’re behind late in a match, the same hole can suddenly look completely different.
The redesigned Medinah seems to embrace this kind of decision-making. The larger greens add another layer. More green surface means more potential pin positions and approach angles, while different misses can lead to completely different recovery shots. A good golf course doesn’t just ask, “Can you hit the shot?” It asks, “Which shot should you hit?”
The New Holes
Three entirely new holes are perhaps the clearest sign of Medinah’s new identity. The redesign removed two par 3s and a short par 4, replacing them with a new sequence that changes the rhythm of the course. One of the new holes, the 12th, plays across an arm of Lake Kadijah, creating an especially interesting risk-and-reward decision for longer hitters.
Different players can look at the same hole and see completely different opportunities. And that’s exactly what makes match-play golf so compelling.
Tested by the Presidents Cup
The 2026 Presidents Cup put the redesigned Medinah on the international stage. The tournament was played from September 24–27, with the course playing as a par-70 at 7,548 yards. After three days, the International Team led 10.5–7.5, before the U.S. Team dominated Sunday’s singles and finished with a 17–13 victory.
For Medinah, however, the final score wasn’t the most important result. The tournament showed how the new layout performs under the highest level of competitive pressure. Players had opportunities to attack, but also plenty of reasons to think twice.
A New Chapter
Changing a historic golf course is never simple. Golfers naturally become attached to famous holes and unforgettable moments. But golf courses aren’t museums. Technology evolves, players change, and course design has to evolve with them.
Medinah’s redesign isn’t an attempt to simply recreate the past. It is an attempt to build something that can carry the course into its next era. After the Presidents Cup, it’s still too early to give the new Medinah a final verdict. But perhaps that’s the most interesting part.
The old Medinah gave golfers a long history of memorable questions. The new Medinah is asking some new ones. Same name. New questions. A very different game.
