Top 5 Private Golf Courses in the Fox

Obviously, private clubs require help getting in the front gate. But if one is afforded an opportunity, here are five courses that any golfer should jump at the chance to play. (free registration required)

MEDINAH (Medinah)
The #3 course at Medinah is the championship course at the 54-hole, Tom Bendalow-designed club. 

The #3 course is one of the most demanding courses imaginable. Next year the newest chapter in the course’s history will be written, when it hosts the 2012 Ryder Cup.

"The club is very excited to host the cup. I think it's going to be the largest sporting event in the history of Illinois,” said Jason Kinander, a long-time club member and part of the club’s Ryder Cup committee.
"Medinah has hosted tournament golf since 1930, three Western Opens, three U.S. Opens, a Sr. U.S.Open, two PGA Championships, and now a Ryder Cup. I think the club has a responsibility to host major tournament golf."

The lore of playing golf at a major championship venue has golfers from everywhere reaching out to the club’s members for an invitation. But the demands of the course bring out the challenge true golfers love.  And Medinah #3 placed a greater demand on the golfers that test it by having architect Rees Jones do renovations.

"Course three puts a premium on all facets of the game," Kinander said. "One has to drive the ball long and accurately, it requires the player to hit different shots into different greens. It's an old fashioned traditional tree-lined golf course that doesn't need to be tricked up. With doglegs on some of the par 4 holes, the course favors players who can hit the ball right to left."

Kinander knows the Medinah name stays in the newspapers and magazines by hosting championships. But he says that the club’s overall amenities appeal to golfers and families alike, which is what truly makes Medinah the special place it is.  www.medinahcc.org


CHICAGO GOLF CLUB (Wheaton)
The first 18-hole course in America is a piece of golf history that just happens to sit in the middle of a Wheaton neighborhood.

Chicago Golf started in Downers Grove, on the site of the current nine-hole park district course. It moved to its current location in Wheaton a year later so that famed architect Charles Blair (C.B.) Macdonald could build a full 18 holes.

What one finds at the club is a walk through golf history. So it's best to slow down, and enjoy the experience.

When exploring the clubhouse, you'll see sets of clubs under glass that are over 100 years old. In fact, not much has changed on the property since the club was built in the 1890's. Modern technology such as air conditioning for the clubhouse was only introduced when the club hosted the 2005 USGA Walker Cup Matches.

So few rounds of golf are actually played on the course, it's always in mint condition. The rolling green fairways are surrounded by layers of brown fescue grasses.

Looking out from the first hole, one sees a course that time forgot. But golfers don't forget their round at Chicago Golf.


BLACK SHEEP GOLF CLUB (Sugar Grove)
If there was ever a private club about pure golf, the Black Sheep club is it.

The course was an idea of a few golfers that wanted a club that had great golf and could be played at a good pace.
Architect David Eisler was hired in 1999 to take a piece of property with no trees and create a very natural-styled inland links golf club. Black Sheep has been compared to courses like Sand Hills, Bandon Dunes and Prairie Dunes.

"I think the club is more known for what we don't have than what we do," says Matt Lemcke, the club’s membership director.

"We don't have homes around the golf course, we don't have a swimming pool or tennis courts. There is no workout facility; members are not paying for things they don't use. It's all about the golf here."

The golf course is 27 holes over 289 acres. There are golf carts, but the emphasis is on walking, and the club has caddies.

Eisler designed the course so that the hike from the green to the next tee box would be a short one.

"We have a great piece of land here, and David routed the course that way," Lemcke said. "The focus was not to build the next Augusta National; there are no flower-beds or waterfalls. It's a bit of Scotland here, and it's all about golf - about the experience, and enjoying the company of friends who enjoy the game. There are no tee times, no cell phones on the course, no hats on in the clubhouse. Keep pace and let faster players play through."

That's music to the ears of people who enjoy golf and don't want their good walk spoiled.  www.blacksheepgolfclub.com


STONEBRIDGE (Aurora)
Dupage County’s only Tom Fazio-designed course is still alive, and a great test of golf.

The early to mid-1990's saw the Champions Tour visit Stonebridge, only to move on and make way for the LPGA to arrive in 2002. After a three-year run, the ladies moved on, so the club has returned to being just a place to play for members and their guests.

"The number one comment we get is that there are so many ways to enjoy the golf course," said head professional Kevin Wenstrup."  With four sets of tees, there is variety on how to play the course. The members don't feel like they're always playing the same place."

If you haven't seen Stonebridge since the last LPGA event was played, the course does have some minor changes.

"Dennis Wise, Fazio's lead architect, will return this spring," says Wenstrup. “The bunkers have been improved, and some tees have been enlarged or moved from a strategic standpoint. Some trees were taken out to get sunlight into areas that needed it."

The classic short par 4 tenth hole unfortunately lost a few trees near the green in a storm. But Wenstrup says it hasn't changed the hole. The bunkering on the par 4 seventh has been altered from a narrow hazard stretching 50 yards to one restricted to the edge of the fairway.

Stonebridge continues to grow as it looks for its next test. Will that test come from the LPGA, if the tour wants to return? It sounds like the door is open.  www.stonebridge-cc.org


NAPERVILLE COUNTRY CLUB (Naperville)
The club is celebrating its 90th birthday this year, and the course has never been better. Naperville views itself as Dupage County's hidden gem.

There are other courses nearby that have grabbed the headlines, and that have hosted more tournaments. In the meantime, Naperville has continued offering an old-style, classic golf course. But the results of a 2006 renovation by architect Steve Forrest are starting to attract some attention.

"When people think of renovations, they think you change a few bunkers and add a few tees," said Jim Arendt, Naperville’s head professional.  "What we did was actually a complete renovation, where we did every tee, every green, and built 12 new golf holes.  Some holes that ran north and south now run east and west."

One thing that Forrest eliminated was an excessive amount of blind shots in the old Bendelow design.

"After looking at the course Forrest felt that 75-80 percent of the shots were blind shots," Arendt said. "I don't think we have any blind shots now."

"The renovations accomplished a lot, considering we had an old golf course," Arendt said. "We added some yardage, but the important thing was that we added tees to have five sets on every hole. We also doubled the size of our practice range."

"Anxiety" is the name of the par 3, 17th hole. "This hole can play 240 yards and is about halfway surrounded by water," Arendt says.  So maybe it's only fitting that the club’s classic logo is an old, long-handled water pump.  www.napervillecc.org