The Presidents Cup at Medinah.
Chicago, September 22-27.
The 2026 Presidents Cup runs September 22–27 at Medinah Country Club — the United States against the Internationals, with practice rounds Tuesday and Wednesday and thirty matches from Thursday. Medinah sits twenty-five miles northwest of downtown Chicago, closer to the business aviation fields than to the Loop. Peak arranges the aircraft, the airport and the timing. We arrange — you fly.
Chicago's Biggest Golf Week in a Decade
Medinah has hosted three US Opens, two PGA Championships and the 2012 Ryder Cup, and a home cup week draws the same fly-in: twelve players a side, corporate hospitality measured in acres, and a gallery that skews heavily toward people with flight departments. Chicago's general aviation fields absorb a crowd like this about once a decade.
Chartering puts you on the ground about twenty minutes from the first tee and lets you set your own departure time. You fly when your plans are settled, not when the airline schedule allows.
Book your private jet to the Presidents CupTwelve Singles, Then Everyone Leaves at Once
The cup is usually decided by mid-afternoon Sunday, and the fly-out that follows is compressed into a couple of hours — every flight department in the gallery wants wheels-up before dinner. Departure slots and ramp space at the close-in fields are allocated, not negotiated.
Two ways round it: book the return leg when you book the outbound, or depart Monday morning and spend Sunday evening in the city.
Why Fly Private to the Presidents Cup
Foursomes Thursday. Four-ball Friday. Singles Sunday.
Room for the Group You Are Bringing
Cup weeks are group trips by design — clients you are hosting, the regular foursome, family who only watch golf when the flags have team colors. Peak runs standard charters with no membership fees, so you size the aircraft to the group rather than to a programme you bought into.
Every Operator Vetted First
Every operator we use is cleared through ARGUS TripCheq and Wyvern before your name reaches the manifest. We'd rather over-verify than leave you wondering.
Twenty Minutes From the First Tee
Medinah sits in the northwest suburbs, closer to the general aviation fields than to downtown. Land at DuPage and the drive is about twenty minutes; Chicago Executive is closer to forty. Neither involves connecting through O'Hare, which is rather the point.
Where to Stay for the Presidents Cup
The choice is downtown or doorstep, and match play rewards the doorstep. The Westin Chicago Northwest and Eaglewood Resort in Itasca are minutes from Medinah's gates and go first — teams, officials and hospitality staff claim the near rooms early. Downtown gives you The Peninsula, the Langham and the Four Seasons, with Chicago's restaurants attached and a forty-five-minute run to the course each morning.
Book earlier than feels reasonable. Cup-week blocks around Medinah are limited, the near-course properties measure their keys in dozens rather than hundreds, and the downtown hotels will also be holding ordinary weekday business travel. If the room is not confirmed, the airplane is the easy part.
Tickets, Hospitality and Inside the Ropes
What you see at Medinah depends on the ticket. Daily grounds admission covers every match on the day; hospitality climbs from club seating to greenside suites on the finishing holes, and the premium products around the first tee historically sell out well before cup week. Parking is remote-lot-and-shuttle for nearly everyone, which is worth knowing before you commit to a Thursday morning foursomes start. If your week involves hosting, buy the hospitality before you confirm the guest list — the aircraft can grow, the suite cannot. Tickets and hospitality are sold through presidentscup.com.
Where to Eat in Chicago
Chicago needs no help feeding you, but cup week will strain the good rooms. Smyth holds three Michelin stars and remains the hardest reasonable booking in the city; Alinea is the benchmark it is measured against. Bavette’s Bar and Boeuf is the steakhouse other steakhouses describe, Monteverde justifies the River West detour on pasta alone, and Gibsons Italia puts a rooftop over the river while the September evenings still allow it. Near Medinah the options thin out quickly — plan on eating downtown and treating the drive as part of the evening.
One practical note: Chicago's best tables go at about the same rate as Sunday departure slots. Book the table the week you book the aircraft.
THE AIRPORTS PEAK USES
Chicago has more business aviation capacity than any market on the cup rotation, and Medinah's suburban address reshuffles the usual order. The options, by proximity to the course:
DuPage (DPA): About twenty minutes from Medinah, with a 7,570-foot main runway — the longest in the area outside O’Hare — and full-service FBO handling. The closest serious field and our first recommendation for cup week.
Chicago Executive (PWK): The city’s classic business aviation field, about forty minutes from the course in normal traffic and well placed for downtown stays.
O’Hare (ORD): Fifteen miles east of Medinah with a dedicated FBO on the field. Slots and airline traffic make it a deliberate choice rather than a default, but for some itineraries it is the right one.
Midway (MDW): South of downtown, the practical field for airliner-size group charters, about an hour from the course.
Waukegan (UGN) and Aurora (ARR): The overflow pair, north and southwest, for when cup-week ramp space tightens close-in.
With access to 5,000+ airports across North America, we’ll position you wherever the rest of your trip makes sense.
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Presidents Cup Charter Questions, Answered
Which airport is closest to Medinah Country Club?
DuPage (DPA) is about twenty minutes from the course and is our usual first choice, with the longest runway in the area outside O’Hare. Chicago Executive (PWK) is about forty minutes and better placed for downtown stays. O’Hare (ORD) and Midway (MDW) handle larger aircraft, and Waukegan (UGN) and Aurora (ARR) take overflow.
When is the 2026 Presidents Cup?
September 22–27, 2026 at Medinah Country Club in Medinah, Illinois, about twenty-five miles northwest of downtown Chicago. Practice rounds run Tuesday and Wednesday; competition runs Thursday the 24th through Sunday the 27th. Brandt Snedeker captains the United States, Geoff Ogilvy the Internationals.
How far in advance should I book a private jet to the Presidents Cup?
Four to six weeks is comfortable for the September 22–27 window. Thursday arrivals and the Sunday evening departure wave tighten first, and Chicago’s fields will be absorbing ordinary weekday traffic at the same time.
Can I fly in and out on the same day?
Yes — day trips work well for the Thursday and Friday sessions. Sunday is the exception: the cup is usually decided by mid-afternoon and the fly-out that follows is the most congested window of the week. Book the Sunday return early or plan a Monday morning departure.
Are there empty leg flights around the Presidents Cup?
Often. A cup-week fly-in creates repositioning legs across the Chicago fields all week. If your dates are flexible, send us your route and we will watch for a match.
Does Peak charge membership fees?
No. Peak is a pilot-founded charter broker. You pay for the flight, not the privilege of asking about one.
What is the Presidents Cup format?
Thirty matches over four days, each worth one point: five foursomes Thursday, five four-ball Friday, four of each on Saturday, and twelve singles on Sunday. The first team to 15.5 points takes the cup. The United States has won every edition since 2005, which the Internationals consider a temporary condition.
