39Th Ryder Cup September 28 – 30, 2012 Medinah Country Club (No
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PGA MEDIA GUIDE 2012 39TH RYDER CUP SEPTEMBER 28 – 30, 2012 MEDINAH COUNTRY CLUB (NO. 3 COURSE) – MEDINAH, ILL. Defending Champion: Europe U.S. Captain: Davis Love III | European Captain: José María Olazábal FACTS & FORMAT Medinah’s clubhouse, one of the most distinct designs anywhere in the golf world, measures 60,000 square feet, and was constructed in the late 1920s at a cost of $600,000. Television It is a design that would command more than $20 million Day One – Friday, Sept. 28 ................................................. ESPN today. The clubhouse architecture is the design of Richard Day Two – Saturday, Sept. 29 ................................................NBC G. Schmidt, who spent two years in Europe and the Middle Day Three – Sunday, Sept. 30 ...............................................NBC East, researching Byzantine, Italian, Louis XIV and Oriental architectural styles. Gustav A. Brand appointed the clubhouse’s interior. A German native and a colleague of Schmidt, Brand U.S. Eligibility The 2012 U.S. Ryder Cup Team is chosen is responsible for the mosaic painting on the 60-foot high on the basis of points compiled by The PGA of America. The rotunda ceiling and painting in the ballroom, which boasts an top eight players will be determined through a points system arched ceiling with a mural that rivals a Florentine cathedral. that began Jan. 1, 2011, and concludes with eight selections being determined on Aug. 12, 2012. Captain Davis Love III The site of the 1999 and 2006 PGA Championships, along will complete the team with four Captain’s Selections in with three U.S. Open Championships, one U.S. Senior Open September 2012. (See U.S. Points System this section.) and three Western Opens, Medinah’s No. 3 Course will measure 7,657 yards (7,001 meters) for the 39th Ryder Cup. Rules and Regulations The Rules of Golf, which govern Medinah Country Club was a charter member of “America’s play, are determined by the United States Golf Association and 200 Toughest Golf Courses” as selected by Golf Digest applied by the PGA of America Board of Directors. The Ryder in 1966. The list has since been renamed and trimmed to Cup is subject to the overall supervision of the PGA Board “America’s 100 Greatest Golf Courses,” and Medinah retains of Directors and the PGA Rules Committee. its perch, rated No. 20 in the 2010 elite roster. Method of Play Match Play, including foursomes (two-member teams in alternate shot); four-ball (two-member teams in better ball); and singles (18 holes at match play). THE RYDER CUP TROPHY The order of play during the first two days of competition In 1927, English seed (foursomes or four-balls) is determined through mutual merchant Samuel A. Ryder agreement of both teams’ captains. presented the Ryder Cup MEDINAH COUNTRY CLUB to The Professional Golfers’ Association (of Great Britain & Medinah Country Club evolved from 650 acres of farmland Ireland) to place as a prize for and forest in northern DuPage County, originally known as an international competition Meacham Grove. Medinah, as it is known today, is just 35 between American and British minutes west of Lake Michigan, and its location was chosen professional golfers. The precisely because of its easy access from Chicago. Ryder Cup was commissioned for £250. The trophy stands Tom Bendelow, a world-renowned Scottish golf architect, 17 inches high, is nine inches was retained to design a 54-hole complex. The first round from handle to handle and of golf was played on Course No. 1 in September 1925, weighs four pounds. The golfing figure depicted on top and Course No. 2 was completed a year later. Course of the trophy reflects the image of Abe Mitchell, a former No. 3, originally designed for the spouses of Medinah’s gardener himself and a friend and instructor of Samuel members, was completed in 1928. The original Bendelow layout Ryder. A bout of appendicitis prevented Mitchell from measured 6,215 yards with a par of 71. The design stood only competing in the inaugural Ryder Cup in 1927. But he returned to compete for Great Britain in 1929, ’31 and ’33. three years before a major renovation took place in the 1930s. 39th Ryder Cup Dimensions of Medinah Country Club HOLE 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 OUT 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 In TOTAL PAR 4 3 4 4 5 4 5 3 4 36 5 4 4 3 5 4 4 3 4 36 72 YARDS 443 192 412 463 536 509 617 201 432 3,805 578 440 476 245 609 391 482 193 449 3,863 7,668 METERS 405 176 377 423 490 465 564 184 395 3,479 529 402 435 224 557 358 441 176 411 3,533 7,012 PGA MEDIA GUIDE 2012 RYDER CUP Medinah hosted its first significant championship, the 1930 Medinah Open, and “Lighthorse” Harry Cooper carried off the trophy with a sizzling final-round 63. Cooper’s performance did more to bring the No. 3 Course into major championship form than any single event. His performance confirmed Medinah’s membership decision, approved just prior to the Open, to fund a 1929 Bendelow design that was completed on June 19, 1932. Cooper returned in 1935 and won the Medinah Open with a 72-hole One of the most distinctive designs in golf, the clubhouse at Medinah Country Club score of 1-over-par 289. will entertain guests at the 39th Ryder Cup. The clubhouse was constructed in the late 1920s and measures 60,000 square feet. Medinah did not receive a facelift for the next 52 years. During those five decades, golf legends Gene Sarazen (1937 Chicago Open) and Byron the blind shots on the first and eighth holes, and returned to Nelson (1939 Western Open, 1946 Chicago Victory Open) classic, sculpted bunkers and contouring of seven greens to fit claimed titles at Medinah. Cary Middlecoff defeated Sam the original architect’s intent to ensure that Medinah remains Snead to capture the 1949 U.S. Open on the No. 3 Course. one of the premier championship venues in golf. Architect George Fazio was called in for renovations just Medinah’s Refinements before the 1975 U.S. Open, which Lou Graham claimed Architect Rees Jones blended the original plans of Medinah’s in an 18-hole playoff over John Mahaffey. The course architect, Tom Bendelow, and continued the No. 3 Course’s was to undergo yet another remodeling, including the area legacy of being one of the most challenging championship accommodating spectators near the 18th green. layouts. Jones added new tees on Holes No. 6, 7 and 16 while In 1986, Roger Packard re-routed the back nine, constructed totally rebuilding No. 15, adding a large lake short and right two new holes, and lengthened another. The 18th was of the green, and adding forward tees that will now allow the improved to allow seating for more than 5,000 spectators. After holes to be played as a drivable par-4. The green complex and the renovations, the United States Golf Association awarded greenside bunkering were also re-worked to present an exciting Medinah the 1988 U.S. Senior Open, which was won by and very challenging risk-reward hole late in the round, which Gary Player. should provide for optimum viewing at the 39th Ryder Cup. In addition, Jones brought back many of the dramatic and In 1990, then-45-year-old Hale Irwin became the oldest U.S. challenging contours into the putting surfaces, which will Open winner by forcing a playoff with a 50-foot birdie putt on provide for a rigorous test of the players’ short game skills the 18th hole in regulation play. The next day, Irwin tied Mike during the exciting match play format of the Ryder Cup. Donald in an 18-hole playoff and won with a birdie on the first hole of sudden death. Irwin’s victory came on a course that The U.S. Points System measured 7,192 yards. The PGA of America last revised its points system in November 2006. Points are accumulated through the following: Medinah features 4,200 trees, more than 200 per hole, com- posed primarily of Red, White, and Bur Oak. There are 60 • Prize money earned in the 2011 major championships bunkers in strategic positions throughout the course and (Masters, U.S. Open, British Open and PGA Championship greens averaging 6,200 square feet. The largest putting surface – one point for every $1,000 earned) is the par-4 16th at 9,600 square feet, and the smallest, the • All U.S. players making the cut will earn points. Prize money par-4 11th that covers 4,600 square feet. earned in “official events” in 2012 from Jan. 1 through Aug. In Medinah’s earlier years, the 17th hole was widely regarded 12 (one point for every $1,000 earned, excluding the major as the “signature” hole. It has not changed, but it is now No. championships and events played opposite major champion- 13, a 244-yard par-3, requiring a precision tee shot over Lake ships and opposite World Golf Championships). All U.S. Kadijah. When 1949 U.S. Open Champion Middlecoff was players making the cut will earn points. asked to review the course for the 1975 U.S. Open, he wrote: • Prize money earned in the 2012 major championships “Whoever wins this year’s U.S. Open will have an exceptional (Masters, U.S. Open, Open Championship and PGA driving week. Not just excellent – exceptional. That’s because Championship (two points for every $1,000 earned).