Black Sheep Golf Club (1st & 2nd)

A few keen golfers, who wanted their own private male-only members club with an unpretentious and casual atmosphere, set up Black Sheep Golf Club in 1999. They enlisted a former Ohio State golfer called David Esler to fashion 27 holes that would rival the best inland links courses in the US.

140 acres of native prairie grasses and wild flowers were planted throughout the former 285-acre farmstead on which the 27 holes were routed. The aim was to restore the land to mirror the pre-settlement landscape of Native Americans and the result is rather impressive.

Highlights on holes 1-18 include the short par four 5th (which is played across water to a very small target) and the 191-yard 16th (where the green sits behind an expanse of wetlands, water and sand). Totally unlike any of the parkland courses found close to Chicago, Black Sheep is a welcome modern addition to the golfing landscape of the Midwest.