Rankings
Golf Digest: #45
Golfweek: #47 Modern
How I got on: My friend Eric is a member at Medinah and was able to get us set up at Butler.
My Medinah & Butler weekend was going to be fun, but I can't say I expected to be enamored with the tracks. Butler, which was redesigned by Tom Fazio (his uncle George was the original architect) has designed more golf courses than I can count. While most are good layouts I am not normally craving a second crack at them. That was my state of mind when driving to Butler.
Trying to find the Butler National entrance is odd. You turn down a road with signs of Oak Brook Golf Club. As you pass by the parking lot to that course, it feels like you're in the wrong spot. But once you get near the end of the road, there are a couple white brick walls that welcome to you Butler National. We had arrived.
It was pretty busy on that late August day. We were assigned caddies and headed to the range. We teed off soon after. [Rant on Caddie warning] As is typical of caddies that are assigned visitors to resort or private courses, they "encouraged" us to play the course as short as possible - without actually saying so. I totally understand that it makes their lives easier and probably makes most guest's lives easier by not biting off too much of a big-boy course. I would also understand if they made a good-faith effort to understand their players' games before suggesting tees. But that is rarely the case. My rant regarding caddie tee suggestion is less directed toward our Butler caddies than a global frustration I have with caddies. My Butler caddie gripe is an apathy shown on our first nine holes. No effort was made to determine how far we hit our clubs. They thrust a driver in my hand on every hole and walked off. When I asked where to hit the drive or how far to certain obstacles, you have thought I'd asked them to run up and fix a ball mark 200 yards away before I hit an approach. It was clear our group of unaccompanied guests wasn't worthy of their best effort. And to help the reader understand better - I'm about the easiest player to caddie for. All I ask is to carry my clubs, answer some simple questions about where the best line is, and to be friendly. I even fix my own ball marks and rake most of my own bunkers. So a primadonna I'm not.
By hole # 10 I'd lost my patience with being left on the tee with a driver only and my clubs halfway down the fairway (on holes where I'd hit a hybrid or 4-wood). I think my frustration was noted, because on the back nine my caddie became my biggest cheerleader and a chatty Kathy. Maybe he was sleeping off the night before on the front nine, but it was a tale of two caddies. Front nine grade: D+. Back nine grade: A-. I'm glad he eventually woke up so I could know where I was supposed to hit the ball.
Back to the course...it is a BEAST! I've played harder courses, but not many. The front nine beat me up. I had doubles all over the place. A couple were lack of course knowledge, but most were just bad shots. The greens were extremely quick, and the course doesn't lack for yardage - and we were playing the second longest set of tees. The tips would have been brutal.
I didn't expect to love a traditional parkland style course, but I thoroughly enjoyed Butler. The front nine had water come into play a few times - most of which I found. I wish I had another crack at the front, because some course knowledge would have helped a ton. For instance, one long par 5 (600+ yds) doglegs big time to the right. No reason to hit driver, but that's all I had left on the tee box. My landing zone had a fairway about 15 yards wide with water on the right and no chance of getting home in two. It was a perfect three iron-shot hole. A great hole, but needed a little more intel than I had.
By the 9th hole, I was ready to throw my caddie and clubs into the water (to join all of my golf balls). But I rolled a nice birdie putt in on 9, a medium-length par 4. That got me settled in a bit. The 10th is a slight dogleg left with a lake on the left and the creek that winds around the entire course fronting the green. So of course I hit a thick wedge into the drink. Another double...awesome! Luckily my bag was getting lighter for my caddie.
The 11th is a 200ish yard par 3. The pin was tucked deep right behind a bunker, and I was so ticked from the double on 10 that I abandoned all swing thoughts and let a little cut fly right at the stick. My schizophrenic round continued with a kick-in birdie.
The 12th was a kick in the pants. If memory serves, it was nearly 500 yards, uphill, and into the wind. I killed a drive but bailed a bit on a 4-iron into the deep rough pin-high right. On that topic, the rough at Butler is killer. The superintendent keeps Butler a stern test all around. If you miss a green, there are no gimme up and downs. Pray for a good lie. So back to my play on the 12th, a so-so pitch and missed putt led to a bogey. At this point I was wondering what a par felt like.
On to 13. Par 3 - about 200 yards again. Water left and deep. Slightly downhill. I hit a great shot to about 10 feet, but barely missed the putt. I GOT A PAR!!!
The 14th is a short dogleg left around a lake with a bunker at the corner of the dogleg about 230 off the tee. I hit a pull-draw hybrid that felt like it would be in the bunker or water, but somehow I carried the bunker and only had 110 yards in. My gap wedge finished 15 feet behind the hole...BIRDIE!!! I'm warming up.
The 15th hole is LONGGGG! I hit one of my best drives of the day and had 321 yards into the par 5 that goes up a hill and turns 90 degrees toward the green. I hit a 4-wood to the right and a lob wedge from 70 yards to about 3 feet. BIRDIE!!!
Now the 16th. All I remember is it was a short and straight par 4. Fairway hit, green hit to about 8 feet...BIRDIE!!!
The clouds were looking a bit ominous, but we were almost done. A couple sprinkles came down on the 16th tee, but no bother. Fairway hit. As I walked to my ball the clouds started to open. I was raining, but not pouring. I tried to rush an 8-iron, but didn't commit and put it in the trap. A bad bunker shot left me in the fringe and a so-so chip and putt resulted in a bogey. So goes the birdie streak. Rat farts.
By the 18th tee, it was POURING. My swing thought was "don't lose the driver and have it fly over the fence onto the road." That positive image left me in a pond that ran up the right side of half the hole. My third (after my drop) was behind a tree with 240 yards in the pouring rain with a water hazard running up the left hand side of the fairway and green. I could barely hold onto the club, the wind was whipping, and I had no idea how to judge yardage in a midwestern downpour. I wedged it out, chipped my next shot over the green, watched my playing partners head for the clubhouse, and then I finished with a 6 or 7 - it wasn't really golf at that point.
I was drenched and played quite the amusing round. I really enjoyed Butler. The staff was friendly and helpful, and the course was a real test. I'm realizing I've played so much sand dune and fescue golf over the past couple years that I actually have missed the traditional parkland course. Butler was immaculate, difficult, had quick greens, and a number of unique holes. I'd love another crack at it, and am grateful I got the invite.
