The Medinah No. 3 Renovation reached its first major examination during the Presidents Cup held September 24-27, 2026. Because today is September 28, 2026, this review treats that event as completed rather than upcoming. The available research supplied for this piece does not include match results, so the analysis stays with the supported architectural record: what changed, why those changes mattered for match play, and how the redesigned Course No. 3 shifted the kind of decisions elite players faced.
Medinah No. 3 Renovation Context
Medinah Country Club’s Course No. 3 had long been known as a major-championship stage, but the 2023-2024 redesign gave the course a different strategic language before the 2026 Presidents Cup. The work was led by OCM, the Australian design firm associated with Geoff Ogilvy, Mike Cocking and Ashley Mead. Golf Course Architecture reported that OCM completed the redesign of Course Three and that the remodeled course reopened in mid-2024 Golf Course Architecture report.
That timing matters. A course renovation finished roughly two years before a team event gives turf, presentation and tournament operations time to settle, but it also means competitors encountered a course that differed in important ways from older Medinah memories. For insights into design changes like this across major sports settings, you may explore Scar Sports, which discusses related event and venue topics within the same network.
Medinah No. 3 Renovation Timing
For the Medinah No. 3 Renovation, the calendar created a useful separation between construction and competition. Work during 2023-2024 preceded the 2026 Presidents Cup rather than colliding with event week. That distinction is not cosmetic. Golf architecture changes often need competitive play to reveal their sharper edges: whether a wider corridor truly offers more choices, whether a green expansion creates more hole-location variety, and whether a lake carry is presented as a fair choice rather than a simple forced test.
The research record supports a clear sequence: OCM’s redesign was undertaken before the course reopened in its remodeled form in mid-2024, and the Presidents Cup followed on September 24-27, 2026. That sequence is enough to evaluate intent and setup, even without drawing conclusions about specific player outcomes from the matches.
What OCM Changed
The most visible design direction was not merely lengthening or tightening. The reported changes point toward width, new angles, fresh lake strategy and more options around the landing zones. Golf Digest described Course No. 3 as being substantially changed before the Presidents Cup, with significant work around Lake Kadijah and a closing stretch that many returning observers would have found unfamiliar Golf Digest’s Medinah report.
That matters because match play rewards a different architectural rhythm than stroke play. A conservative par can win a hole, but a bold line can pressure an opponent before the second shot is struck. By giving players more width while placing hazards on more diagonal lines, the redesign appears to have asked a better question: not simply whether a player could hit the fairway, but which portion of the fairway best served the next shot.
Design Moves That Changed The Test
The Medinah No. 3 Renovation should be read as a strategic reset rather than a cosmetic update. The research notes identify wider landing areas, tree removal to open sight lines, a reduction of rough in some areas, more fescue or edge rough, expanded greens, and a larger bunker inventory. Some of those figures come from sources outside the approved citation list for this assignment, so this article treats the broad pattern as the key supported takeaway rather than leaning on every reported number.
Width, Trees And Sight Lines
Wider fairways do not automatically make a course easier. On a thoughtful tournament course, width can expose more decisions because players are invited to choose a side. If the left half of a fairway opens a better angle but brings sand or fescue closer, then the tee shot becomes a value judgment. If the safer side leaves a poorer approach into a contoured green, the design has created strategy without relying only on rough depth.
Tree removal also changes more than the view. Opened sight lines can reveal hazards earlier, make wind more evident, and bring neighboring fairway shapes into a player’s visual field. That can be especially relevant at Medinah, where the remodel reportedly connected playing corridors in spots and presented a less corridor-bound version of Course No. 3. A related site analysis, Medinah No. 3 strategy guide, considered how those widened choices could affect match-play decisions.
Lake Kadijah And Match-Play Pressure
Lake Kadijah became a more active strategic feature in the redesigned routing. The research identifies major changes to the closing holes, including the removal of two older par 3s that crossed the lake and the creation of new holes, including a drivable par 4 over the lake and a par 3 playing across Lake Kadijah in the reverse direction. That type of rerouting is important because water hazards in match play have a different psychological weight from ordinary penalty areas.
A drivable par 4 near the finish can split a match quickly. One side may lay up to secure a wedge yardage while the other tries to drive the green or reach a preferred recovery area. The best version of that hole type does not demand one correct choice. It asks the team and player to judge score state, wind, lie, comfort with the carry and opponent position. The Medinah No. 3 Renovation used that kind of choice as a central tournament device.
Course Setup Lessons From September 2026
The 2026 Presidents Cup setup, as described in the research, did not simply present the member course in ordinary order. The matches began on what is normally the fifth hole, and the routing was arranged so the most dramatic water-influenced holes arrived earlier in match play. That choice fits a common team-event problem: many matches do not reach the final hole, so a setup that saves all of its strongest decisions for holes 17 and 18 risks hiding them from the competition.
Why Routing Order Matters
Routing order is a form of event architecture. In stroke play, every player normally sees all 18 holes each round. In match play, conceded matches and early wins mean the back end of the course may see less decisive golf. By moving or emphasizing key holes earlier, event organizers can place strategic questions where more matches are likely to reach them.
That does not make the setup automatically better; it makes it more deliberate. A first hole that is long and demanding can create immediate stress, while a mid-round drivable par 4 can force a captain’s pairing to reveal whether it prefers aggression or control. Course design and competition format are tied together most clearly in those moments.
Green And Bunker Variety
The research notes also point to enlarged, more contoured greens and an expanded bunker scheme. Without relying on every reported measurement, the design implication is clear: larger putting surfaces can add hole-location variety, but only if the internal contouring creates distinct sections. A large flat green rarely changes strategy. A large green with shelves, fall-offs and preferred approach angles can make a 30-foot putt feel like a partial penalty for choosing the wrong side of the fairway.
Bunkers serve a similar purpose when placed with intent. More sand is not always more strategy. The better question is whether a bunker guards the direct line, tempts a carry, frames an alternate route or catches the indifferent shot. The reported move toward more angular hazards fits OCM’s broader design reputation and gave Medinah a less purely penal feel in the available descriptions.
Medinah No. 3 Renovation After The Cup
The lasting read on the Medinah No. 3 Renovation is that Course No. 3 was recast for choice-based tournament golf. The redesign widened the conversation from execution alone to decision-making: which angle to take, when to challenge Lake Kadijah, where to miss around expanded greens, and how to think about a routing built for match-play exposure.
That does not mean every change can be graded fully from the available research. A fair review would need hole-by-hole scoring data, player comments, weather conditions and firm-versus-soft turf performance from September 24-27, 2026. Those details are not in the supplied research. What can be said with confidence is that Medinah No. 3 entered the Presidents Cup as a substantially redesigned course, shaped by OCM’s 2023-2024 work and presented with a setup designed to bring strategic water holes and angle-based decisions into the competition earlier.
For golf architecture observers, that is the main lesson. Medinah did not only prepare a stage for a team event; it changed the type of questions Course No. 3 asked. The best evidence from the available sources shows a course pushed toward width, visibility, angled hazards and lake-driven choices. Those are not minor adjustments. They are the core ingredients of modern match-play architecture when a venue wants pressure without relying only on narrowness and rough.