Black Sheep Golf Club, Illinois
The beautiful par five eighteenth hole at Black Sheep Golf Club in Sugar Grove, Illinois.
The sixth most populous of the United States, Illinois is, aside from Minnesota and Wisconsin, the state I spent the most time as a boy. My mom was born and raised in the southwest suburbs of Chicago, and on that side of the family many relatives are scattered throughout the metro area. My mother’s parents are buried in Des Plaines. Many in my extended family breathed in a collective sigh of relief when their beloved Chicago Cubs won the 2016 World Series. On top of all that, my wife was born in Hinsdale, though she spent just the first month of her life in the Land of Lincoln.
Illinois is unquestionably one of the greatest golfing states our nation has to offer. Chicago in particular boasts an incredible number of great courses. Chicago Golf Club, Medinah, Butler National, Olympia Fields, Shoreacres, Rich Harvest Farms, and Skokie are among the private giants of the area. Five of Tiger Woods’ PGA Tour victories came at public facility Cog Hill. Outside of the Chicago metro area, there is the mysterious Canyata Golf Club, with no members and very few rounds played, and TPC Deere Run in the Quad Cities, host of the PGA Tour’s annual John Deere Classic and a course that should absolutely be included on Golf Digest’s Top 100 Public.
Another one of Chicago’s best is Black Sheep Golf Club in Sugar Grove. A 2002 creation, and David Esler’s premier design, Black Sheep is perhaps the most relaxed atmosphere I’ve ever experienced at a private golf club and a place you will want to return to again and again. There’s no set menu at the restaurant and the property is men only. There are no homes on the course, and there is no dress code. Simply put, there is nothing to do at Black Sheep other than golf, and the facility prefers it that way.
GolfWeek rates Black Sheep the eighth best golf course in Illinois and tied for 91st among all modern American layouts. Golf.com has it ranked eleventh in the state, and Golf Digest thirteenth. Any way you look at it, BS is a premier golf course in a state chalk full of premier golf courses.
Black Sheep has twenty-seven holes, but in fairness to the other facilities I’ve highlighted we will pick the two best nines. The first and second nines reign supreme in this regard. The property is characterized by its golden fescue, bunker contouring, and wide-open fairways. Such traits might lead a golfer to believe they’re enjoying a links layout. It is certainly more so than any of the other courses I mentioned above.
I played with a member, Tom, who was a spectacular host. Tom lives in the Chicago area and joined Black Sheep a few years ago due to its laid back nature. He told me he appreciates the ease in which a member can receive a tee time. Likewise, we were the first two out on a foggy August morning that can only be described as serene. I had to fully rely on Tom’s instincts on the first two holes. Luckily for me, he knew the golf course like the back of his hand.
The conditioning at Black Sheep is next to perfect. The greens are massive and undulating but fair with less than subtle movements everywhere on the putting surface. The fairways are forgiving and feature speed slots. The club’s website offers there is “No Other Golf Club Quite Like It”. At least in this part of the world, that is true. Not many other Midwest courses offer the type of thrill you get at Black Sheep.
The gray tees, which we played, measured 6700 yards. The third hole turned out to be one of the best par threes I played in 2023. It is a slightly downhill 204-yard tee shot to a huge green surrounded by expertly edged bunkers. Speaking of the beach, the previous hole, a par five, has six of these hazards, one of which is twice the size of the putting surface that lies above it. Getting five here is a real achievement. Two and three are followed by four and five, which make up the finale of the best four-hole stretch on Black Sheep. The fifth is a drivable par four outlined by the property’s longest water hazard to the right. A safe shot up the left side is an iron leaving a wedge to a partially obstructed green due to, you guessed it, bunkers. From my count, there are exactly one hundred sand traps on the first eighteen holes at Black Sheep.
The back nine is a tad less memorable but has some great holes. The closing hole, a 497-yard par five, is reachable in two shots despite its incline and penal bunker in the middle of the fairway. The quintessential photograph opportunity during a round at Black Sheep arises at the tee shot on the eighteenth, where the shining fescue and clubhouse backdrop provide a picturesque setting for golf. How can you not have fun at a place like this? I smacked my second shot right into the fescue short of the clubhouse and hit a nice pitch that settled eight feet away for birdie.
Black Sheep is a memorable stroll, no doubt, but where the track suffers is within its diversity of the routing. A few of the holes look and play very similar. I am glad I snapped a picture of most holes to jog my memory. Is this nitpicking? I would say so. I understand and respect a golf course wanting to own its disposition, so I consider Black Sheep one of the best purely prairie tracks around. There are no trees in play here, and if the wind is howling you could prepare yourself adequately for a proper trip to the links of Great Britain and Ireland. Some in America like the mock look, and some don’t.
If ever you get an opportunity to tee it up on Black Sheep, pounce. I’m so glad I did. This part-links, part-heathland, fully serene place is undoubtedly worth a trip to play.