The Shriners, or the Ancient Arabic Order of the Nobles of the Mystic Shrine, are an association not unlike the Freemasons and we have to thank the local Order – who came from the Chicago Medinah Temple – for realising their dream country retreat, which is now known all over the world as the Medinah Country Club. 

Medinah was originally founded in the Roaring Twenties and the objective was to create the finest country club in America. 54 holes were planned, and the first course, simply called No.1, was ready for play in 1925. The second course, unsurprisingly called No.2, followed behind a year later. We’ll give you one guess as to what the third course was called but most people won’t know that it was originally laid out for the Medinah ladies. No.3 course was ready for play in 1928 and much has changed since then.  

Tom Bendelow, a Scotsman, laid out all three Medinah courses but his original design did not last long. The original layout was considered too easy for the ladies and the course was redesigned and toughened up in the 1930s and then further improvements were made by Roger Packard and Roger Rulewich ahead of the 1988 US Senior Open which Gary Player won. In 2002 by Rees Jones made further modifications and he is once more spearheading renovations to the No.3 course as part of the club’s 2012 Ryder Cup preparations. The work includes greens renovation and a dramatic redesign of the 15th hole.

Lake Kadijah is a pretty backdrop to a number of holes but it also doubles up as an intimidating water hazard at two par threes, the 2^nd and the 17^th, both of which require a solid iron shot across water – the 17^th is perhaps the best hole on the course. Vicious doglegs feature on a number of par fours (most notably the 9^th and the 11^th) where an accurate tee shot will reap more benefit than sheer length.  

Three US Opens have been held on the No.3 course and Tiger Woods acquired his fifth major here in the 1999 USPGA Championship. The 88th PGA returned to Medinah in 2006. Tiger claimed his 12^th career major title after destroying the rest of the field on Sunday with a 4-under 68 which propelled him to a massive five-shot victory.