Butler National Golf Club

George and Tom Fazio's 1972 course in Oak Brook, built to be as hard as possible: long, tree-lined, crossed by water, with small offset greens. Home of the Western Open from 1974 to 1990.

Paul Butler founded Butler National in Oak Brook, west of Chicago, and gave George Fazio and his nephew Tom a simple brief: build a course that would test the best players in the world. The course opened in 1972 on the site of the former York Country Club. From 1974 through 1990 it hosted the Western Open, where Tom Watson won three times and Hale Irwin and Tom Kite also won.

Butler is long and tight. Most holes are framed by trees, and the course has about ten forced carries over water. The real defense, though, is the greens: small, firmly contoured and often set at an angle to the fairway, so approaches from the wrong side have little to work with. The par-3 5th plays to an island green with sand on both sides. The 12th, a former par 5, is now a long uphill par 4 to a small green behind a narrow opening. The 18th is a winding par 4 with water threatening the drive and a pond beside the green.

In 2012 Golf Digest rated Butler the 11th-toughest course in the country. Butler is an all-male club, and its membership policy is why the Western Open left after 1990; it has not hosted a PGA Tour or USGA event since. Its ranking now rests on how hard the course plays every day rather than on tournament history. The course is rated 78.1 with a slope of 152 from the back tees.

Holes to know

5

Par 3

An all-or-nothing tee shot over water to an island green flanked by sand.

12

Par 4

A former par 5 played as a long, tight par 4 that climbs gradually to a small green behind a narrow entrance.

18

Par 4

An S-shaped finishing hole: water threatens the right side of the drive and a pond guards the left of a steeply sloped green.

Championships

• Western Open (PGA Tour) 1974–1990

Design history

• Later years: Tom Fazio returned to strengthen bunker complexes
• 2004: greens converted to A-1 bentgrass and bunkers refilled with tour-grade sand