{"id":857999,"date":"2026-09-23T17:18:09","date_gmt":"2026-09-23T17:18:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/857999\/"},"modified":"2026-09-23T17:18:09","modified_gmt":"2026-09-23T17:18:09","slug":"how-medinah-country-club-prepared-to-host-the-presidents-cup","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/857999\/","title":{"rendered":"How Medinah Country Club prepared to host the Presidents Cup"},"content":{"rendered":"

Joie Chitwood III has overseen 3\u00bd years of meticulous preparation for this week\u2019s Presidents Cup at Medinah Country Club<\/a> as the event\u2019s executive director, but the international golf tournament\u2019s arrival brings new and unavoidable pressures.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is an intense moment of time,\u201d Chitwood said. \u201cEveryone\u2019s on adrenaline and caffeine. No matter how much time we had, this week was going to be this week.\u201d<\/p>\n

More than 30,000 spectators are expected daily during tournament play Thursday through Sunday<\/a>. Smaller crowds were anticipated for practice rounds Tuesday and Wednesday.<\/p>\n

Being ready for the international event required both logistical preparation and physical construction.<\/p>\n

Since April, 566,000 square feet of temporary venue space has been built around Medinah\u2019s No. 3 Course to supplement the stately clubhouse and relatively small number of other permanent structures.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe build for six months, we\u2019re open to the public for six days and then it takes three months to take it all down again,\u201d Chitwood said.<\/p>\n

Providing off-site parking in the area for fans and volunteers is another challenge for every Presidents Cup venue, he added. The tournament is held every two years, with U.S. golf courses alternating as host with non-European international sites.<\/p>\n

Spectator parking will be largely at Scottish Rite Valley of Chicago in Bloomingdale, near the southwest corner of Medinah Country Club, as well as at Eaglewood Resort and Spa in Itasca on the east side of the course.<\/p>\n

There will be additional lots in Glen Ellyn and Schaumburg as well as shuttles to and from the Medinah Metra station.<\/p>\n

Lake Park High School\u2019s East Campus, located along Medinah Road, and the West Campus in Roselle won\u2019t have classes for the entire week of the Presidents Cup as the properties are used to support a mix of operational and hospitality needs for the tournament.<\/p>\n

Lake Park High School District 108 Director of Communications Sherri Anderson said the non-attendance week has been planned for about three years and is similar to how the school handled the September 2012 Ryder Cup and August 2019 BMW Championship at Medinah. Students began this school year two days earlier than usual and will have an abbreviated winter break.<\/p>\n

To make up for the impact on neighbors, residents of the 25 homes facing the country club along Medinah Road are receiving parking passes to access their properties as well as complimentary tickets to watch some of the action across the street.<\/p>\n

The most distant parking site, being used to shuttle in about 1,800 volunteers, will be at Woodfield Mall in Schaumburg, which is still nearer than some remote lots for past Presidents Cups have been, Chitwood said.<\/p>\n

Finding so many volunteers for the prestigious event required time but not an overt amount of persuasion, he added.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe started that process over a year ago,\u201d Chitwood said. \u201cIn the golf world, volunteering is a big deal.\u201d<\/p>\n

President Donald Trump\u2019s recent acceptance of the role of honorary chairman<\/a> added another layer to the preparations. No public announcement has been made regarding the timing of Trump\u2019s attendance, but communication with the Secret Service is underway and ongoing, Chitwood said.<\/p>\n

Much thought was put into making the Presidents Cup experience at Medinah a special one and providing a Chicago flavor for the international event.<\/p>\n

Fan Zones spread across the course bear such titles as \u201cNorth Side,\u201d \u201cSouthside,\u201d \u201cLakeview\u201d and \u201cThe Loop.\u201d<\/p>\n

The order of the holes on the championship course also has been changed from what regular members experience to heighten the drama of the Presidents Cup.<\/p>\n

A three-sided, 3,000-seat stadium has been constructed around the tournament\u2019s daily starting point.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is where the matches will tee off every day,\u201d Chitwood said. \u201cThis is where the energy will be at its highest.\u201d<\/p>\n

At the opposite end of each match, Medinah\u2019s traditional 18th hole has been recast as the tournament\u2019s 14th, with the expectation that significant changes in players\u2019 fortunes could happen there. It\u2019s surrounded by a network of enclosed and open-air viewing pavilions.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt would be a shame if the match ended early and you never got to see Medinah\u2019s signature hole,\u201d Chitwood said of the decision to play the 18th hole earlier in the round.<\/p>\n

The tournament days will be anything but a chance for Chitwood to relax and live in the moment. He doesn\u2019t know where his oversight responsibilities will take him at any particular moment. If there are signs of rain, for instance, he\u2019ll probably be talking with the on-site meteorologist.<\/p>\n

A chance to reflect on the outcome of his labors might arrive \u2014 at best \u2014 during the dismantling of the support structures, expected to last through the end of the year, or even after his return to his permanent home in Florida for the holidays.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Joie Chitwood III has overseen 3\u00bd years of meticulous preparation for this week\u2019s Presidents Cup at Medinah Country…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":858000,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[71],"tags":[12,427,362258,103946,38932,99],"class_list":["post-857999","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-golf","tag-donald-trump","tag-golf","tag-joie-chitwood","tag-medinah-country-club","tag-presidents-cup","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/857999","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=857999"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/857999\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/858000"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=857999"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=857999"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=857999"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}