It is by far the best of the 4 all -male clubs in Chicago.
Jack,
This is a pretty aggressive statement. Personally, I'd take Black Sheep and Bob-o-link over Butler, but then again I'm not a big-hitting 2 HDCP. 
. Funny story about how good today's pro's are for those who've played Butler. An aquaintance of mine is a Butler member. He was accompanying Rich Beem a few years back. When they came to 18 green, the Beemer was preoccupied with watching Michael Jordan, who happened to be standing nearby. My friend reminded him he had a 3-footer to post a really good score. Rich casually drained it for a course record 62!! I believe this was from the back tees prior to the recent renovation, so it may no longer be the official course record, but for anyone who's played there, this is simply a mindboggling score....
Jud, As any of my close friends will tell you, I have considered joining Bob O Link-not because it is a great golf course-because it's not. It is a club with a great group of guys and a hell of a fun place to hang out. I can think of at least 5 courses within 15 minutes that are much better, think Skokie, Knollwood, Shoreacres, Conway, Sunset Ridge etc. Blacksheep is nice but do really think that it is in the same class as Butler? If so, my question would be how many times have you played Butler? The experience is completely different at Butler vs Blacksheep. I stand by my original statement bold as it is. Don't get me wrong all 4 of the All Male clubs in Chicago are very good but one is in my opinion in a different class. Jack
Jack,
I agree that Bob-o-link is a world class club. However I think the course holds up pretty well vs. your list of nearby contenders. Skokie and particularly Shoreacres are clearly in a different league, I'd give Knollwood a slight edge over BOL, only because I've won and lost too much money out there over the years not to, but not necessarily Conway, which I think looks artificial in spots. And Sunset Ridge? Haven't been out there since the renovations but unless they were world-class, I find this a bit of a stretch...Bottom line, as you delineated, BOL is such a great club that it's hard to seperate the atmosphere and look at the course with a cold-blooded eye....As for Black Sheep vs. Butler, I think it's a greater challenge to design a course that's fun and challenging for all levels of golfer. Seems to me that if you have enough land and money that it's not particularly difficult to build a brutally hard course to challenge the best players, but which is of no use to 95% of the golfing public. Granted I've only played Butler twice and Black Sheep once, but based on that sample size I'd say I'd give Black Sheep the edge....I guess you're just more of a Fazio guy than I am...
Nice comments guys. Come to think of it the 4 all-male clubs in Chicago make one heck of a "rota!"
Actually, IMO, my favorite of the 4 is Old Elm. There are only a handful of places I can think of that I enjoy playing 36 with a lunch more. Where else can you play a Colt design (his routing) constructed by Donald Ross (his greens) that has been near untouched since it's opened, perfectly conditioned, in about 2.5 hours per round because the course is completly empty, shoot a legit 72 and not feel beat up, and not include the club politics that at are
major at at least two of the other clubs.
So in conclusion if I were given the option to join any of the four (obviously doubtful
) I would pick Old Elm hands down.