This interesting article appeared in today's Chicago Tribune.
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BUTLER CHANGES COULD COME OFF COURSE
Ed Sherman
Published April 29, 2005
Butler National already was more golf course than most players could handle.
The track carried a scary rating of 76.6 from the back tees. Even from the up tees, 18 holes at Butler is a humbling, if not debilitating, experience.
So it is a bit disheartening to see the course currently filled with bulldozers and workers bent on making Butler even harder. Don't they know we've suffered enough out there?
The crews are implementing modifications from architect Tom Fazio to modernize and toughen the Oak Brook course. When Butler reopens in June, it will play to a par 71 at nearly 7,500 yards from the tips.
Yet the biggest change might come off the course. The renovations have sparked talk that Butler will consider eliminating its all-male membership policy to enable women to join. The move would allow the club once again to host pro tournaments. The club's eyes could be on the biggest one of all: the U.S. Open.
While nobody is talking publicly, it seems certain the club will have some internal discussions about the membership issue. There is a feeling that with its prime location, along with the quality of the course, Butler could be the next Open site in the area.
Butler had the Western Open from 1974 through 1990, annually earning a reputation for being one of hardest courses on the PGA Tour. Fazio, who designed the course with his uncle George in 1972, contends the course is worthy of a major.
"Certainly it can now," Fazio said. "Today's players will look at it differently. With the renovations being done, it's ready for anything."
Fazio, though, says the mandate from the club didn't include anything about prepping the course for major tournaments.
"The goal of the club was, `How do we keep Butler as one of the premier courses in the area?' The club wanted to make sure it wasn't left behind," Fazio said.
Butler lost the Western in the wake of the Shoal Creek controversy at the 1990 PGA Championship. Back then, the major governing bodies in the United States decided they would not have a tournament at a club that had exclusionary membership policies. Butler opted to remain an exclusive men's club, forcing the Western move to Cog Hill.
Unlike another all-male club, Augusta National, where women can play the course, women are not allowed on the grounds at Butler.
According to head professional Bruce Patterson, the course's latest changes don't foreshadow Butler's desire to re-enter the tournament arena, which would require the club to alter its membership policies. He said the revisions stemmed from the club's decision to replace the grass on the greens.
"Nothing was stated from the standpoint of changing the bylaws," said Patterson, who was designated to speak on behalf of the club. "When we closed the course [to redo the greens], the opportunity existed to put it back to where it was in the 1970s [before the technology boom]. That's the position of the board."
Despite the public pronouncements, sources familiar with Butler maintain there is a faction in the club itching to show off its course on a big stage. Butler was ranked 35th in Golf Digest's latest review of the country's top 100 courses. That figures to go up after reviewers see the latest renovations.
They include pushing back several tees to accommodate the modern power game. The par-5 15th now plays to 630 yards, up from 585 yards, and includes two new dramatic bunkers around the green. Butler also redid many of the traps, filling them with white sand that really makes the holes pop.
"For the value we got, it feels like a completely different golf course," Patterson said.
United States Golf Association officials will be in town in August for the Walker Cup at Chicago Golf Club in Wheaton. They are expected to make a short side trip over to Oak Brook to take a look at Butler.
With the changes, Butler should meet the Open's requirements from a difficulty standpoint. In 1976, Al Geiberger won the Western with a 4-over-par 288. A year later, par was 288, a score normally seen at an Open.
While Butler's setup was softened a bit in response to complaints, players still thought it was a supreme test. The average score during the Western's 16-year run at Butler was a stout 74.59.
"What jumps out for me is we didn't play everything from the back tees," said Mark McCumber, who won two Westerns at Butler. "I can't imagine what it would be like if we played the [par-4] 10th all the way back. It was one of the hardest courses on tour."
McCumber thinks it would be a terrific Open course.
"It could have had the Open even without the extra length," McCumber said. "I know the game has changed, but the course played tough without any 4-inch rough. It's a great shotmaker course. It tests every aspect of your game."
The USGA wants to bring the Open to Chicago on a regular basis, but the area is limited when it comes to venues. Medinah is locked up with the PGA Championship in 2006 and the Ryder Cup in 2012.
Olympia Fields got many positive marks for staging the 2003 Open. However, the club's location in the far south suburbs remains a negative.
Butler, though, could give the USGA an alternative. For starters, its location is ideal. Centrally located in west suburban Oak Brook, the club is easy to access from all parts of the city. The area also is well-stocked with hotels, something Olympia Fields lacked.
Finally, the USGA would look more favorably on dealing with DuPage County.
"The USGA would be hard-pressed to find a better spot in Chicago," one local golf official said.
The next available Open is 2012, although it seems more likely the tournament won't return to Chicago until 2015 at the earliest. Until then, Butler also could make a bid to host one of the PGA Tour's World Golf Championships events.
If Butler did get back into the tournament business, the Western would be eager to return. Nothing against Cog Hill, but Butler's location is hard to beat. However, nothing will happen until Butler resolves its membership issue. Even if a group of members that supports bringing in women, it won't be an easy task convincing those who want to keep the status quo.
There's an old motto in club circles that says it "takes an act of God just to remove a tree." So authoring a complete revolution within Butler might be a daunting task.
Advocates for change are sure to stress that Butler originally was built to be a tournament course. In fact, founder Paul Butler had to be convinced to go with an all-male membership.
You don't toughen an already difficult world-class course just to inflict more pain on the members. It should be done to test the game's best players.
The process might have been started by a desire to replace the greens. It could lead to bigger and better things for Butler National and golf in the Chicago area.
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esherman@tribune,com