Ten days of rain have left Medinah Country Club soft enough that U.S. captain Brandt Snedeker doubts it can dry out before the Presidents Cup begins, potentially limiting strategic elements of the recent course redesign. International captain Geoff Ogilvy was part of the OCM Golf team that completed a two-year redesign of the No. 3 Course in 2024, creating six new holes, removing trees and giving players more room from the tee.
The redesign includes strategic elements like widened fairways and repositioned holes around a split-rail fence that marks out of bounds. The opening three holes feature this fence down the left side, creating a risk-reward scenario where drives challenged toward the fence open better angles into the green. The 12th hole follows a cape-hole design around Lake Kadijah, where water runs diagonally along the right side.
The missing firmness from the rain could keep slopes from influencing the ball as much after it lands. Ogilvy noted that angles and slopes are more effective when the ball gets rolling, and the design assumes balls will continue reacting to contour after landing. When turf is soft, carry distance accounts for more of the result rather than the ball's movement after landing, meaning well-struck balls are more likely to finish near where they land rather than being pushed by slopes.