Butler National (w/ pictures)

[George Freeman]

I had the opportunity recently to play Butler National out in Oak Brook, west of Chicago.  I had heard horror story after horror story of how difficult the course Butler was, so maybe I built it up too much in my head.  The course is difficult, no questions asked, but the day I played it, I felt it definitely could have been had.  Don't get me wrong, it was early season, I'm sure the greens weren't up to their peak-season speeds (they were still quick and incredibly true), the trees had yet to get their leaves, and the rough was for the most part manageable.  Maybe I just caught it on a day when it wasn't showing it's teeth.

I played it from 6,700 yards.  So I would imagine at 7,500, breaking 90 or 100 in August would be reason to be happy.

I was pleasantly surprised to see that the property had a decent amount of cant, and I thought the course used it quite nicely.  It definitely wasn't as wide off the tee as other Fazio's that I've played, but then again, I think it was wider than I had expected (no leaves might have impacted this).  I also liked the bunker style in places, which I hadn't really seen before either from Fazio.  There are some really good holes on this course.

Here are some pictures:

#1 360 yds / 375 yds (6,700 yds / 7,500 yds)

No picture of the first, however it is a slightly elevated tee shot right out in front of the clubhouse, over a small river to a wide fairway.  After a slight bend to the left, the green sits beyond yet another small river.  All in all, a pretty benign opener.

#2 534 yds / 563 yds

The second is a serpentine par five up a gentle hill.  You need to be able to get your second shot far enough to get out around the second bend and the trees on the corner.

Tee shot (the green is up and to the right of the left fairway bunker)


Bunker 50-60 yards short right of the green, with the green in the background


#3 406 / 433

Dogleg right that needs a good poke to get out around the corner.  You need to be pretty accurate on this tee shot to get a good look on your second.



From about 80 yards out


#4 384 / 411

Cool uphill dogleg right.  Challenge the corner to cutoff the distance of you second shot.  The bunkers on the outside of the dogleg are reachable for some from the tee.



Turning the corner, just short of the first fairway bunker


Lots of green back behind the right greenside bunker


#5 156 / 227

First par 3 of the day is over a large pond that plays a role in multiple holes.  A large ridge runs perpendicular to the tee, cutting the green into two large sections.





#6 428 / 474

Slight double dogleg, left then right.  OB right is much closer than it appears from the tee (trust me, I put my first and almost my second OB).

No pics.

#7 580 / 623

Long sweeping dogleg right par 5 with a creek down the entire length of the hole (except up near the green).  Very difficult driving hole.



About 80 yards from the green (you can see construction of a new bunker on the left)


#8 167 / 214

Per our caddies, this is Butler National's "signature hole."  All I can say is that it is very difficult from 200+.  Right is DEAD.





#9 409 / 461

Long and tight uphill par 4 with an interest green site.





#10 376 / 450

Difficult driving hole with bunkers right and water in play on the left.  Tough uphill second to a green perched beyond a deceptively wide creek.





Don't be short!


#11 150 / 193

Probably my favorite hole on the course.  Mid-length par three.  If you don't know the course, you don't realize that the river snakes behind the green and is in play for anything too long.  Interesting green setting with a few peaks and troughs.





#12 444 / 492

Caddy told me that they wanted the course to be par 71, so they took this hole which used to be a par 5, lengthened it, and turned it into a par 4.  Welcome to Butler National.





#13 160 / 199

Interest downhill par 3 played to a peninsula green.



#14 369 / 430

Difficult driving hole with water left and bunkers complicate this drive.  There is more room than it looks and hole plays much shorter than it looks from the tee.

Get it to the big tree and you'll have about 150 in


The green looks very far away from the tee!


From where a conservative tee shot might land




#15 560 / 638

A beast.  90 degree dogleg right par 5 which plays over a mini-rollercoaster part of the property.



Landing zone 1



Landing zone 2


#16 365 / 390

Tough driving hole.  The best angle (and only one which will get you a look at the green) is from the left side of the fairway.  However, think brush runs down the length of the hole on the left.  If you bail out right your view will be blocked by a bunker on the right side cutting into the fairway.



From in the bunker


Better view



#17 420 / 466

Another contender for my favorite hole.  Can't see the green from the tee, and if you don't hit you drive far enough and right enough, your view will still be blocked by the bunkers.  Interested green benched into the hill.

Green is back by the evergreen on the far left of this picture


Standing on the top lip of the bunker on the inside of the fairway



#18 444 / 484

This felt like a par 5 the entire time we were playing the hole.  If you don't hit it far enough, you won't have a look at the green.  Slight double dogleg (right and then left).  Water on the right on the drive and short left at the green (and long if you're not careful!).



You can't tell, but if you fly this green by a few yards, you're in the drink

[Brent Carlson]

George,

Nice photo tour.  You don't see Butler photos too much.  The course is much hillier than I imagined. 

Butler looks similar to Cog Hill & Medinah to me, not having played any of them.  Assuming you have played all three, how do these courses differ?  Which would you prefer to play on a daily basis?

BC

[Jim Colton]

George,

 Is that Deez Nuttz with you?

 Thanks for the photo tour. I remember the course fondly from the old Western Open days.

[George Freeman]

George,

 Is that Deez Nuttz with you?

 Thanks for the photo tour. I remember the course fondly from the old Western Open days.

Jim,

If by Deez Nuttz you mean the venerable Michael Demetriou, then yes, you are correct.

Any noticeable changes from the Western Open days?

[Jim Colton]

I was just a kid, but I do remember the long par 5 that bends around Salt Creek, the 18th, and some of the other holes. Perhaps even more memorable was when rain flooded half the course and they had to use 9 holes at the public course next door. I know the course was underwater after the storms last year as well. Is this course just doomed to flood after any torrential downpour, or is there anything they can do/have done to try to guard against that?

[Terry Lavin]

The course is longer these days, having been significantly lengthened a few years back.  They also lost some trees in a couple storms, which was a good thing, particularly on the long dogleg par-5 7th hole.  They also cut down the ridiculous tree in the 18th fairway that was about 100 yards from the green.  The most significant work, however, was to the bunkers.  Fazio made them deeper and steeper and they put in white synthetic sand that is much more playable than the other sand.

Butler is not a pretty course, by most standards.  It's surrounded by suburban office towers and doesn't have many pleasant vistas.  It is a very difficult golf course, even if you play the forward tees, primarily because the angle of attack into most of the greens is fairly shallow, which demands a high and accurate approach shot.  The greens are always in great condition, as is the rest of the golf course.  Butler is a stern test of golf while still being a very enjoyable day.

[JC Jones]

Is this a George Fazio AND Tom Fazio co-design?

It wouldn't surprise me as the greenside bunkers are very Seminole-esque.

[Adam Clayman]

JC, I recall it was one of Tom's first courses he worked on with his dad. But, that might be just bad memory.

The most significant change is to the 12th hole. I was there in 03. The 12th was your (mine) one chance to take a breath. Apparently, that's no longer the case.

The 10th hole was a sucker play for me. If I were to come to that situation again, I would never try to reach the green in reg. The green was way too narrow for a guy like me who was approaching from way too far away. And that was after a good drive (for me)

The ninth hole has great lore to it. At one time the trees were so tight, that the super actually copper spiked them one day when Mr. Butler was out of town. Even after losing  one onside row of trees, it was still one of the narrowest hole I had ever seen.

Gib's line about too much dick for this pussy comes to mind. ( or vice versa)

[Rory Connaughton]

These are the first photos I have seen.  It looks like good ground for golf.  For the Chicago crowd, could some pruning be in order?
I would like it even more from an aesthetic perspective if so many of the bunkers didn't have those tongues.

[Jeff Tang]

George, thanks for the thread, cool pictures.

I think Butler differs from Cog Hill in a couple of ways. I found more strategy is required off the tee at Butler, you definitely want to be on one side of the fairway there versus the other. Also, I found the approaches at Cog to be more repetitive, seemed like there are a lot of uphill approaches to greens fronted by bunkers. There is less of this at Butler, more open in front that lets you use angles to get to the flag if you need to.

[Jud_T]

6700?  You played the Ladies Tees?....

[PCCraig]

Nice pictures George. Butler certainly has a reputation, and from the times I've played it, it deserved it. When the rough is mid-summer high, the greens really fast, and they tuck a few pins....watch out handicap!!

I actually give Tom Fazio credit for coming in a few years ago and doing a nice job renovating and fixing up the course as it was looking a bit dated IMO about 10 years ago.

I want to know you and Mike's scores though.....

[Andy Troeger]

Interestingly it looks quite a bit more open to me without the leaves on the trees. Just the ability to see some parts of fairways that were obscured in the summer I think makes it look more playable. As Pat said, when the rough is a bit higher and the greens a bit faster it gives you all you want.

The stretch of #7-9 at Butler is really good IMO. I liked the trees on the corner on #7, however. I was not a fan of the willows short and right of the green--I can't tell from the photos if they are gone or not.

[George Freeman]

George,

Nice photo tour.  You don't see Butler photos too much.  The course is much hillier than I imagined. 

Butler looks similar to Cog Hill & Medinah to me, not having played any of them.  Assuming you have played all three, how do these courses differ?  Which would you prefer to play on a daily basis?

BC

Brent,

I haven’t played Medinah so I can’t comment there.

As far as Butler vs. Cog Hill, first off, the property for Cog Hill is quite a bit more hilly than Butler, from both a micro and macro standpoint.  As Jim T. stated, lots of holes at Cog play down into a valley, then back up towards the green.  This isn’t the case at Butler b/c there isn’t as much movement in the land.

Secondly, Cog Hills green complexes all seemed so similar to me.  Almost all are completely surrounded by bunkers and the contouring is much more tiered and all quite similar.  Many of the greens at Butler have at least some room for a run up, although many of the pin locations will be tucked behind greenside bunkers.  The green contours at Butler are much more understated than Cog.  Much less tier-ing.

However, IMO, they are similar in the general architectural “genre.”  And by that I mean long, difficult courses that tend to wear you out vs. leaving you feel all warm and fuzzy afterwards.

[Mark McKeever]

Great photo tour!  Thanks for sharing!

Mark

[John Kavanaugh]

Butler is simply one of the top ten clubs in the country.  You can not dismiss this fact from the architecture.  Every inch of the place tastes, feels, smells and sounds like the soul of Chicago.  If I had to choose one club to spend the rest of my life golfing it would be Butler National.

[Jim Eder]

I would second Andy's observation, it is amazing how different it looks without leaves. It gets pretty intimidating in mid-summer. It has always been a fav of mine, one really has to execute each shot to score. Great pictoral, really cool to see it without the leaves.

[JR Potts]

Butler isn't tight because of the trees (sans 9).  I have am not a straight driver of the golf ball by any interpretation and I've played Butler 30+ times.  I can count on one hand the amount of times the trees have come into play at Butler....it's the water and bunkering.

Did I mention the water?

Regarding the differences between Medinah and Butler, as Terry Lavin states, the green positioning and angles at Butler are totally different from Medinah.  Medinah is a classic course with classic shaped and positioned greens....Butler is not.  Further, Medinah's penalties/shots lost come from tree interference (even though there is plenty of room to drive it) and a slow bogey death.  Butler comes up and bites you and kills you on one hole due to the water hazards and horribly penal bunkers.  There's more to say but I haven't the time.

[SL_Solow]

It was a George and Tom design although the recent revisions has made it much more Tom.  Adam, as a correction, George was Tom's uncle, not father.  I think Ryan's observations are very much on point, even if they come from the perspective of an extremely long hitter.  The trees at Medinah are a much greater influence than at Butler.  While both are very difficult, they have an entirely different look and feel.

[George Freeman]

I was just a kid, but I do remember the long par 5 that bends around Salt Creek, the 18th, and some of the other holes. Perhaps even more memorable was when rain flooded half the course and they had to use 9 holes at the public course next door. I know the course was underwater after the storms last year as well. Is this course just doomed to flood after any torrential downpour, or is there anything they can do/have done to try to guard against that?

Jim,

BN appears to sit in a pretty substantial flood plain (there are large drains dumping rainwater into the rivers throughout the course).  The caddies were telling us that last year after that massive summer rain storm, a good portion of the course was completely under water to the point where  you would only see half of a flag stick poking above the water in certain places.

The rough around the course was pretty wet (not surprisingly), however the fairways and greens were surprisingly quite dry.  Not sure how they do that and I don't think I've seen such a difference between fairways and rough as far as drainage goes.

[George Freeman]

6700?  You played the Ladies Tees?....

You better believe it!  Still didn't break 90  (although it was my inability to hit shots vs. the course killing me)

[Howard Riefs]

Appreciate the enjoyable photo tour and analysis of how Butler compares to other venerable courses in the area.

This is the closest I've gotten to Butler beyond shopping at nearby Oakbrook Center.

[Matthew Sander]

George,

Thanks for the pics. While I've never played Butler, it looks to be a course where you have to pay the piper somewhere. If you play too coservatively to avoid water you risk the deep rough or penal (as described) bunkers. Also if you bail out on approach shots to avoid the greenside bunkers, I imagine the green speeds make for difficult up and downs or two putts from distance...

[John Kavanaugh]

If you want to swoon go to San Fran.

[Jordan Wall]

I like Butler National a lot. 

There were several holes I felt were too tight and some tree removal could widen the margins and better the hole.  Holes 2, 9, and 15 all have trees that infringe quite a bit.  18 also has a very specific landing area defined by trees, but I like it as the hole is one of a kind and original.  I really liked it, in fact.

The course is downright brutal.  The green are tough, well guarded, and fast.  The rough is deep and thick, and there are many scattered bunkers and water hazards that also eat up any shot not perfectly struck.  I believe the supreme difficulty of the course while still presenting a good variety of holes is testiment to the fact that a difficult course can still be a great one.

Butler offers a mix of short, mid-length, and long par-4's, par-5's, and par-3's.  This variety in length ensures that you will hit every club in the bag and is another big positive to the course.

Specifically, holes 7, 11, 14, and 17 were my favorites.  The 7th is a gargantuam, twisting par-5 that plays along a river and ends at a small green.  The landing area is wide and the second shot is almost cape-like.  I enjoyed having to hit three solid shots to get to the green and make par.  It is not a pushover par-5 by any means.  The eleventh is a great par three and I can only echo the comments made above of it.  The fourteenth presents a cape tee shot and provides an undulating, multi-tiered green.  Because the whole is short by Butler standards, I like the severe green as it make you be precise with a short-iron and if not, makes you pay the price on the green.  The seventeenth provides a deceptive tee shot where you want to go more right than it seems and then doglegs left to an uphill green.  You can challenge fairway bunkers left off the tee to get a better view of the green and be rewarded with a shorter approach shot.

The finishing hole is top-notch and though over the top difficult, should be commended for it's uniqueness and superb green.  It provides a dramatic, tough ending to a course where the difficulty never ceases and the drama seems to climax at every hole.

Overall, Butler is a great course and should not be passed down by any.  If you have the chance to play, ask the caddies about the multi-purpose driving range.  It is either still used as a polo field or used to be, but either way it is very interesting!

Best,
Jordan