Medinah Country Club

Few clubs in American golf carry as much weight as Medinah Country Club. Founded in 1924 by members of the Shriners fraternal organization, the club was built on a grand scale from the start — its Moorish-inspired clubhouse alone signals that everything here operates at a different level. The grounds encompass 3 courses, and it is Course No. 3, winding through towering cathedral oaks and around Lake Kadijah, that has earned Medinah its place among the country's elite venues.

Course 3 has hosted the U.S. Open 3 times, PGA Championships, and the 2012 Ryder Cup — one of the most dramatic in the match's history, when Europe mounted a final-day comeback that became known simply as "the Miracle at Medinah." The layout rewards length but punishes carelessness, with water threading through numerous holes and the tree canopy creating a sense of beautiful, pressurized isolation.

Medinah sits about 25 miles northwest of Chicago, in a suburb that exists largely because the club came first. This is a course that has shaped history rather than simply hosted it.