Aberdeen link with US v Europe two years from now

Tom Bendelow course
-
at Medinah to host the
-
Ryder Cup 2012 match

Medinah Country Club, the site of many memorable moments spanning 60 years of Major Championship golf, will host The 39th Ryder Cup from September 25-30, 2012, marking the Illinois debut of golf's most compelling event.
Located some 35 minutes from downtown Chicago, Medinah Country Club has hosted three US Opens (1949, 1975 and 1990) and two US PGA Championships (1999, 2006); while also the site of the 1988 US Senior Open and three Western Opens [now BMW Championship] (1939, '62, '66).
As part of its 2012 preparations, Medinah is nearing completion of a $1.5 million greens renovation project on Course No. 3, led by renowned course architect Rees Jones. The project included a dramatic redesign of the 15th hole.
The 15th now offers players with a great risk-reward opportunity with a driveable par 4 by reducing its length by 100 yards and adding a two-acre lake that borders the right side of the fairway and green. The new forward tee allows Number 15 to be set up as short at 280 yards. The original tee area of 392 yards from the championship tees will be preserved to provide the club with flexibility in course set-up.
Jones, who has overseen all architectural design aspects of Medinah's three golf courses since 2000, moved the 15th green to the left (south), which made way for the creation of a new back tee for Medinah's famed 16th hole. The tree-lined par 4 now measures 15 yards longer – playing approximately 470 yards from the championship tees.
The major greens renovation took place on 11 of Course No. 3's original 18 greens and its main putting green, which was rebuilt to USGA specifications. Course No. 3's other six greens were re-grassed and the 15th green rebuilt.
This year, Medinah's famed No. 3 Course is ranked 20th by Golf Digest among "America's 100 Greatest Golf Courses." All three of Medinah's 18-hole courses were designed by Aberdonian Tom Bendelow, pictured above, in 1928 and completed two years apart.
Medinah County Club is expected to reopen the No. 3 Course on June 19, 2010.
The Ryder Cup, among the last great professional sporting events where winning, and not prize money, is its own reward, spans 37 competitions over 81 years. The competition was born in 1927, when enterprising English seed merchant Samuel Ryder commissioned the casting of a gold chalice that bears his name.
The US Team defeated Great Britain, 9½ to 2½, in the inaugural matches in Worcester, Mass. Since then, The Ryder Cup has expanded to involve the finest players of Europe. Except for a span (1939-45) during World War II and following the September 11, 2001 attacks upon America, The Ryder Cup has been held biennially with the US and Europe alternating as host.