June 30, 2012

9:45AM – I’m sitting in a Bolingbrook Denny’s.  I’m excited.  Who wouldn’t be?  But not just for Denny’s.  I’ll explain it a minute.

I’m picking up my 19 year old brother, David.  My mom, who in central Illinois, is dropping off my brother because she’s afraid of my brother navigating his way through the Chicagoland suburbs.  Again, he’s 19.  It is what it is.

My brother is tired from his summer job, but seems excited for the day ahead.  My mom thinks this is just another day at the golf course.  Neither realize the magnitude of this day.  We are not just playing golf at any golf course today.  Thanks to my girlfriend, and I can’t thank her enough, we are playing a course that few Chicagoans are lucky enough to play

On this incredibly hot and balmy June afternoon, we have a tee time at Medinah No. 3.

11:45AM – Here!  We make our way through the main entrance at Medinah and immediately see the majestic clubhouse.  I’ve had this drive once before – in a shuttle at the 2006 PGA Championship.  It’s a little different today.

11:50AM –   Mercedes, Porsches, Ferraris, and yes, even one Lamborghini line the first rows of Medinah’s parking lot.  I pull up in the blue bomber – my 2002 Jeep Liberty.  I pull up to the side clubhouse entrance.  We drop off the clubs to the very nice attendance.  They even want to valet the car.  Yeah, no.  I’m too embarrassed to let anyone other than me and a few friends into the Liberty.

12:00PM – Mike and Kevin are here, right on time.  I’ve known both cats for about a decade.  Mike and Kevin are best friends.  Mike is a former roommate of mine.  Kevin is a friend, and like me, is an avid golfer.

12:05PM – The scene is straight out of Caddyshack.  The best part – the slobs get to play Bushwood today.

We grab lunch at the outdoor patio near the pool.  The food is good, the drinks are better, but the atmosphere is the best.  I’m pretty sure we saw Spaulding at the pool.  If we only had a Baby Ruth.

It’s possible I might have as much fun doing non-golf things at Medinah.  Between the pool, the skeet shooting range, and the clubhouse, I could’ve been set.  I’ve never shot a gun in my life, but as they say, when in Rome.

2:24PM –  Finally.  The first tee.

We meet our caddies Neal and Niall.  I couldn’t make this up.  The names are pronounced phonetically.  Two of the nicest kids you’ll meet.  Two of the better caddies I’ve had.  They just didn’t know what they were in for.

I was more nervous on the first tee here than I was at Pebble.  After I hooked my tee shot well left, I pushed my breakfast ball down the first cut of the right rough.  Both balls are playable, but to speed up play, I use the breakfast ball(thanks guys). Kevin has the best drive, pummeling one 300+ right down broadway.

3:05PM – The par-3 second is 150 yards over water.  Not long, but it will raise your blood pressure.  David’s adventure begins here.   The kid who plays once every other year pummels his tee shot.  It hits the cart path beyond the green.  His ball comes to rest at the top of the hill beyond the path.  At least he’s dry, right?

Wrong.  For his next magic trick, David’s second must carry the cart path and the bunker without rolling over the green and into the water.  Well, it ends up in the bunker.  The third shot?  In the drink.  To his credit, he was out of the sand in one.

If you end up in either back bunker at the second, play the bump and run or the Texas wedge.  These bunkers have no lip.  Better safe than sorry.  You were warned.

3:25PM –  Medinah’s test truly begins on three.   Even former members agree.  This par-4 is a dogleg left and long.  I had a couple of pulled shots in the trees, but still saved bogey.

As we finish the third, two members give Mike the stare down for wearing casual shoes.  Mike stares right back.  Oh the humanity…

Slobs 1, Snobs 0.

3:50PM – I need a change of shorts after holing a downhill, left-to-right, twenty footer to save bogey.

The fourth is long, tight, the green is up the hill and on a plateau.  Leave it short and you roll back down the hill.  Leave it long and you better be lucky like me.  Four here is insanely good.

4:50PM – My four best shots on the day came at 6 and 7.  I carefully made a bogey on six, three-jacking it from 25 feet.

Seven was a different story.  The longest and toughest par-five on the golf course, I pured driver and hit a solid 3-wood.  I was still 80 yards from the green.  Wedge and a birdie time?  Not so much.  I shanked my wedge into the right bunker and made seven.

Another reason for the difficulty at Medinah – uneven lies.  The wedge shot was significant above my feet.  I setup properly, but nerves kicked in.  All I could think about was chunking the shot.  So I used all hands for the shank.

Even when you are in the fairway, this course still teases you.  It’s just not fair!

5:20PM – We finish 9.  Yep, you read that right.  Almost three hours to finish the round.   We were slow, sure.  But my brother rarely plays, Mike and I were all over the place, and oh yeah, it was 97 degrees with 110% humidity.

And of course, it’s Medinah.  It’s really, really hard.

5:30PM – After pummeling my drive on 10,  I have my most interesting shot of the day.  My ball lies in the first cut and sits significantly below my feet.  What do I do?  The dreaded double cross.  I pull my ball so far left, I hit the fence that separates 10 from Lake Street.  I ending up making an 8.

6:15PM – 245 yards, downhill, over water.  All carry.  We all pull driver.  Only Kevin comes close, hitting a tree on the left and having his ball land two yards beyond the green.  Welcome to the 13th at Medinah.

We played our actual tee shots from the white tees and I made my first par of the day.  I hit the green in regulation too!

6:35PM – We all clear the water on the par-5 fourteenth.  We all mess up our seconds.  Somehow we all make bogeys.

The 14th is long and undulating, like most of Medinah No. 3.  It’s more challenging because the green is similar to an island green.  Sure, it’s reachable in two.  But the green is surrounded by sand in the front, trees on the side, and tall rough in the back.  Laying up isn’t the worst idea here.

7:00PM – The Sergio tree.  Well, what’s left of it.  The tree was torn down during the Rees Jones-lead renovations a few years back.  All that’s left is the stump.   I do the obligatory Sergio run-and-jump.  But I can’t even take myself seriously so I do the metrosexual version of it.  I don’t know what that means.

7:30PM – Birdie.

Doing what no American did during the Sunday singles matches at the Ryder Cup, I made bird on 17.  It.  Just.  Barely.  Curled.  In.  My one and only bird on the day was from 20 feet.  Nerves of steel on the tee shot.  I’ve finally conquered the medium length par-3 over water.

7:40PM – The walk up 18th.  I’ve played St. Andrews, Pebble, and Torrey Pines.  But never with friends.  This walk is much more special.  The boys aren’t the sentimental types, but I’ll never forget it.

7:45PM – Of course, my third shot is in a nasty lie and below my feet in the greenside rough.  I see my girlfriend and sister pull in as I walk into my chip shot.  Talk about pressure!  And…I chip it to 8 feet.  I’ll take it.  America wins!

7:50PM – We’ve made it.  We survived the heat, humidity, high rough, fast greens, the sunset, and two chotchy members.

The 8 foot par save on 18 doesn’t matter(I left it six inches below the hole).  The score doesn’t matter(I broke 100 though!).   Having my friends, siblings, and of course, Liz with me was all that mattered.

Unless I win the lotto, this is probably my one shot at Medinah.  I gave it all I had.  I’m incredibly fortunate to play Medinah once, especially when it happened three months to the day before the final round of the Ryder Cup.  No complaints.

For those who get the chance to play Medinah – be straight, bring your short game, and most importantly, have fun.

For all those who never get the chance, just know this – the slobs won today.