Mike Cocking

Golf course designer @OCMGolf

[Philip Wall @BaronPhilbert]

The clearest winner of the @PresidentsCup was @MedinahCC, #3, and @OCMGolf. Course was every bit as brilliant as we'd hoped (and expected). Reckon the lads will have a pretty busy next 10 years coming up. Awesome.

[Bryan Tweed @BryanTweed16]

In spirit of #PresidentsCup Sunday, my #TweederTop10 Chicagoland Courses I’ve Played:

1) Medinah (No. 3)
2) Beverly
3) Skokie
4) Olympia Fields (North)
5) Black Sheep (1st/3rd)
6) Conway Farms
7) Onwentsia
8) Flossmoor
9) North Shore
10) Olympia Fields (South)

HM: Knollwood

[Fried Egg Golf @fried_egg_golf]

As the matches hit the 12th and 13th we suggest you watch @garrett_TFE's explanation on why OCM's redesign of the Lake Kadijah holes works so well at Medinah No. 3 ⬇️

[Garrett Morrison @garrett_TFE]

Been doing some live course analysis in the @fried_egg_golf Live Blog this week. Follow along here, if you're into that kind of thing: https://t.co/TJwen8LcrG

[No Laying Up @NoLayingUp]

Medinah has been wonderful and the setup has been a delight.

The Tour has been aggressive on hole locations, and the back nine par-3's this morning were absolute brutes.

This has been decidedly more than just a putting contest and the shots are very interesting to watch.

[Kevin Van Valkenburg @KVanValkenburg]

Save golf. Build fences, not bridges.

[Mike Cocking @MikeCocking]

@BaronPhilbert @OCMGolf Cheers mate.

[Mike Cocking @MikeCocking]

Nice….hard back left on 15 (club #1)

[OCM Golf @OCMGolf]

With the @PresidentsCup arriving at @MedinahCC, a before & after of Course No. 3: new green complexes, bolder bunkering, wider fairways, a rerouted finish around Lake Kadijah and the fence-line holes at 1,2 & 3. Can't wait to see it tested.

[Mike Cocking @MikeCocking]

@RickRunGood There’s 60 yards to the right of it.

[Mike Cocking @MikeCocking]

Great work Derek….terrific graphics.

[Derek Duncan @feedtheball]

This was a bit of a new format for this series. Instead of focusing on one hole, we analyze Medinah's history of change and the 😳 re-conception.

Thoughts? I don't know if the course will play "harder" but that wasn't the goal. The goal was to make it more varied and interesting. Box is checked.

https://t.co/YPujCs2aT1 via @YouTube

[Derek Duncan @feedtheball]

This was a bit of a new format for this series. Instead of focusing on one hole, we analyze Medinah's history of change and the 😳 re-conception.

Thoughts? I don't know if the course will play "harder" but that wasn't the goal. The goal was to make it more varied and interesting. Box is checked.

https://t.co/YPujCs2aT1 via @YouTube

[Fried Egg Golf @fried_egg_golf]

.@garrett_TFE: "As you mentioned, the old holes around Lake Kadijah were pretty linear, most of them just crossing the lake perpendicularly. Now you have them playing on diagonals and more varied, unpredictable angles. The 16th hole in particular is going to get a lot of TV time. I guess it will be the 12th hole in the Presidents Cup. What kinds of strategic decisions are you hoping to see players make on the tee there?"

Ashley Mead: "Hopefully they move the tee forward a bit and play it really drivable instead of just playing it off the back. I think when playing it off the back tee, everyone will just get it over the water and then pitch it onto the green. But if they're encouraged to drive the green, it will bring those bunkers on the left, short of the green, into play. So if you pull that tee shot and hit it to the left instead of cutting it and letting it run onto the green, it gives you that really awkward long bunker shot to a green with no backstop and short grass heading down into the water.

"There’s also a big bump just short of the green-side bunker on the left that helps the ball feed in. It flares up really high. So if they bring the tee forward, the players can use that slope and let it kick onto the green.

"I’m looking forward to seeing how that hole plays. It should be exciting."

[Fried Egg Golf @fried_egg_golf]

"Eight is probably one of my favorite holes that we did."

There will be a lot of attention on the fence and lake holes at Medinah No. 3 this week, but the hole @MikeCocking is most intrigued to see is the par-4 8th (will play as the 4th hole during the Presidents Cup.)

[Fried Egg Golf @fried_egg_golf]

Listen to @AndyTFE's full interview with @MikeCocking and the rest of our Presidents Cup Preview on The Fried Egg Golf Podcast ⬇️
https://t.co/9cxEXOQsYw

[Bradley S. Klein 🇺🇦 @BradleySKlein]

My take on the new Medinah for the Presidents Cup. https://t.co/CLzjMP4BiQ

[Mike Cocking @MikeCocking]

@LINKSMagazine @MedinahCC Great photos Tony and great chatting.

[LINKS Magazine @LINKSMagazine]

Tom Bendelow’s original No. 3 course at @MedinahCC opened in 1928 (the prolific designer also laid out the club’s two other courses in 1925 and 1926) and was renovated by Roger Packard in the 1980s and Rees Jones in the 1990s and 2000s, prior to major championships and the 2012 Ryder Cup. Golf Digest rated it 10th in the country in 1989, but it began slipping in the course rankings around 2010, eventually falling to 93rd in 2023. By then, the club had engaged Melbourne, Australia’s @OCMGolf to find a way to reverse the decline.

The @PGATour announced in December 2020 that Medinah would host the 2026 @PresidentsCup, choosing it for the size of the club’s property (640 acres) and proximity to a huge, golf-loving population, as well as the course itself. OCM was hired after the Tour’s decision, so the group almost felt like it had to impress two bosses. “It actually worked out really well,” says architect @MikeCocking of OCM. “The club was great to work with, and the Tour liked what we were doing.”

That’s not surprising, really. At Medinah, it has plenty of space to work with and will get a large, enthusiastic gallery outside the ropes, but also a venue that jumped 19 places to 74th in the most recent Golf Digest rankings and one that will spark a good deal of discussion while providing plenty of entertainment.

📸: Medinah Country Club / Nick Novelli Photography
✍️: @anthonyjdear

[Golf Digest @GolfDigest]

Medinah No. 3 underwent a transformative remodel. Almost nothing is like it was before.

https://t.co/RzGNxSL7oZ

[Fried Egg Golf @fried_egg_golf]

Watch the full video here ⬇️
https://t.co/OXG3SRVngL