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16-398: Butler National was the creation of Paul Butler , an affluent entrepreneur, philanthropist, and sportsman who was also the founder of the village of Oak Brook, Illinois . In 1972, renowned golf course architect George Fazio designed Butler on what was previously York Country Club. It was built and seeded in the relatively short span of two years, and the construction was completed under

32-416: A good score. The Fazio design is penal and rewards successful positioning and shot shaping. A right to left ball flight is preferable as there are more dog leg lefts than rights. Water hazards will frequently come into play as do the deep faced bunkers. There are approximately 40 sand bunkers. The Butler (back) tees play 7,523 yards (6,879 m), with a course rating of 78.1 and slope rating of 155. In

48-550: A polo player, Michael Butler , a theatrical producer and businessman, who is the father of Adam, a polo player, and grandfather of Liam; Frank Osgood Butler II and a daughter, Jorie Butler Kent, who has a daughter, photographer Reute Butler. Butler was killed on June 24, 1981, one day after his 89th birthday, when he was struck by a car in front of his home in Oak Brook. Butler had walked out in front of his home at 1000 Oak Brook Road, at dusk, possibly to take photographs, when he

64-726: The 1830s, Oliver Morris Butler built a paper mill on the Fox River in Illinois. His grandfather, Julius Wales Butler, was the founder of the J.W. Butler Paper Company on State Street in Chicago in 1841, the oldest family owned business in Chicago. He also had a brother named Julius. He graduated from the University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign . He served as a Lieutenant during the First World War . He served as President of his family business,

80-790: The Board of Governors of the USPA for 29 years. He also served on the Board of Governors of the Palm Beach Polo and Country Club. He was a member of the Meadowbrook Polo Club . He was inducted in the Museum of Polo and Hall of Fame on March 3, 1995. The high-goal Butler Handicap tournament played before the U.S. Open is named for him. He was married three times, to Sarah Anne Josephine Rooney, Marjorie Stresenreuter (later Mrs William Dunaway) and Jean Buckley. His children were Norman Butler , also

96-822: The Butler Paper Company, from 1930 to 1965. By then, the company had diversified in paper, real estate and development. From 1960 to 1965, he served as President of the Nekoosa-Edwards Paper Company. He was a founder of Oak Brook, Illinois , including the Bank of Oak Brook and the Oak Brook Public Utilities Company. He also founded the Butler National Golf Club . In 1945, he founded the Butler Aviation Corporation,

112-612: The club became the only non-Argentine club to win the Argentine Open Polo Championship . World War II caused a major reduction in activity, and in 1954 the club was razed for the construction of the Meadowbrook Parkway . The club was located for a brief time in Jericho, New York , before again being sold for development in 1968. In 1961 the name was contracted from "Meadow Brook" to "Meadowbrook". The club moved to

128-570: The club the fourth oldest in the United States. When the Meadowbrook Club was taken over by golfers some time after World War II, the Governors of the USPA came to Oak Brook to meet with Paul Butler to ask him to host the U.S. Open at Oak Brook, which by then had 14 polo fields. Paul agreed to host the U.S. Open, and it was held in Oak Brook for 23 of 25 years between 1954 and 1978. During that time

144-431: The fall of 2004, all of the greens were converted to an A-1 Bent grass and the sand to tour grade signature. The greens are fast, but the difficulty comes in reading the greens as they are very subtle. Butler National Golf Club is one of four all-male golf courses in the Chicago area, which is subject to criticism. Butler has not hosted a PGA or USGA tournament since 1990 due to their admissions policy, most notably missing

160-754: The first several years matches were played on the racetrack at the Mineola Fairgrounds, before opening its own facility, including a field and clubhouse, in 1884. Originally located in the town of Westbury, New York , the new venue was home to the United States National Open from 1923 to 1953. In 1928 the fields hosted the Cup of the Americas match between the United States and Argentina , which attracted more than 100,000 spectators over three days. In 1932,

176-517: The largest general aviation company in the United States. The Butler family owned 5,800 acres of land outside Chicago, that is now the village of Oak Brook, Illinois , where the family would host polo tournaments, skeet shoots and fox hunting. In 1951 he was named head of the Defense Air Transportation Administration, a then newly formed government agency to coordinate aviation facilities and equipment for defense. He

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192-562: The opportunity to host the US Open. Paul Butler (polo) Paul Butler (1892–1981) was an American heir, businessman and polo player. Paul Butler was born on June 23, 1892, in Chicago , Illinois . His Anglo-Irish family first arrived in America in 1654. In the early 1800s, his ancestors Asa and Simon Butler were the first American paper makers to make paper for the U.S. Congress. In

208-449: The polo and the entire Oak Brook Sports Corp, as the Butler's Oak Brook land holdings were known, were managed either by Paul Butler's son Michael or his daughter Jorie. Jorie managed the entire operation from 1968 until the early 1980s. He won six U.S. Open Polo Championships and four Butler Handicap titles. He was himself a top level polo player, with a four-goal handicap. He served on

224-555: The supervision of Fazio's nephew Tom Fazio , an internationally acclaimed architect in his own right. This club was home to the PGA Tour 's Western Open from 1974 to 1990. The course policy of not allowing female members caused the club to lose the Western Open. In May 2007, Golf Digest rated Butler 21st of "America's 100 Greatest Courses." Butler National is a relatively flat, tree-lined course, requiring solid golf shots to shoot

240-939: Was a member of the General Society of Colonial Wars , the Chicago Historical Society, the Chicago Art Institute and the Chicago Museum of Natural History , Cercle de l'Union Interalliée and the Bath & Tennis and the Everglades Club in Palm Beach. In 1922, Paul and his father Frank Osgood Butler registered the Oak Brook Polo Club with the United States Polo Association (USPA), making

256-462: Was hit by a driver. At the time, his net worth was estimated at "between $ 50 million and $ 125 million". Meadowbrook Polo Club The Meadowbrook Polo Club (originally styled as the "Meadow Brook Club"), located in Old Westbury, New York , is the oldest continuously operating polo club in the United States, first established in 1881. The Meadow Brook Club was established in 1881, and for

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