How Much Does the Butterfield Country Club Membership Cost?

Updated on August 16, 2026 | Written by Alec Pow
This article was researched using 11 sources. See our methodology and corrections policy.

Butterfield Country Club does not publish its current initiation fee or dues, but the best public evidence points to a six-figure initiation fee. An older published estimate put the initiation fee at more than $100,000 and monthly dues at more than $750. Those figures are not confirmed 2026 rates. For current context, Oak Brook private-club data puts the area’s average initiation fee at $175,000, while hiding Butterfield’s exact figure behind its member database.

A practical 2026 planning figure is $100,000 to $175,000+ for initiation, with ongoing dues likely starting in the high hundreds of dollars per month and potentially reaching four figures. That is an estimate, not a Butterfield rate sheet. The club keeps membership pricing private, and the current dues, food minimum, capital charges, guest fees, caddie costs, and equity terms need to be confirmed directly before joining.

Butterfield is a private, member-owned equity club in Oak Brook, Illinois, with 27 holes, extensive practice facilities, racquet sports, swimming, fitness, dining, and a large caddie program. The price question is not only the initiation fee. A realistic first-year budget also has to account for recurring dues and any club-specific assessments or usage charges.

Article Highlights

• Butterfield does not publicly post its current 2026 initiation fee or dues.
• An older public estimate put initiation at more than $100,000 (at $30 per hour, earning that amount would take about 1.6 years of full-time work, before taxes) and monthly dues at more than $750.
• A current private-club database puts the Oak Brook average initiation fee at $175,000, which supports treating Butterfield as a six-figure initiation club rather than a low-five-figure club.
• Butterfield’s latest IRS filing reports $1,855,255 in initiation fees and contributions for fiscal 2025.
• The same filing reports $17,049,588 in total revenue and $38,461,324 in assets.
• A current PGA club profile reports 330 Full memberships and 475 golfing members, including Associate and Honorary members.

How Much Does a Butterfield Country Club Membership Cost?

Cost item	Best public signal	Confidence
Initiation fee	$100,000 to $175,000+ (about 1.6 to 2.8 years of full-time work at $30 per hour) planning range	Moderate, estimated
Monthly dues	$750+ per month historical public signal	Low for 2026
Historical-floor first year	About $109,000+	Scenario math
FY2025 initiation fees and contributions	$1,855,255	High, IRS filing
Food minimum, capital charges, caddie, storage	Not publicly disclosed	Must verify

The $100,000 to $175,000+ initiation range is a planning estimate, not a quoted Butterfield price. The lower anchor comes from an older Butterfield membership estimate that reported initiation above $100,000 and monthly dues above $750. The upper planning marker uses the current Oak Brook area average rather than claiming Butterfield itself charges exactly $175,000.

What You’re Actually Buying

Butterfield Country Club is a private equity country club at 2800 Midwest Road in Oak Brook, west of Chicago. Equity ownership means the membership structure is tied to a member-owned club rather than a public daily-fee golf operation.

A current PGA club profile identifies Butterfield as an equity facility with private access, 27 holes, 330 Full memberships, and 475 golfing members when Associate and Honorary categories are included. Membership pays for access to far more than tee times. Butterfield operates three nine-hole golf courses, practice areas, indoor golf, racquet facilities, pools, fitness space, dining rooms, social programs, and member events.

The club also maintains staff, grounds, food service, golf operations, and capital assets throughout the year. That distinction matters when comparing Butterfield with a public course, golf-only club, or lower-cost social membership.

Seven-Figure Entrance-Fee Business

Butterfield’s newest public financial filing provides a harder price signal than anonymous forum posts. IRS Form 990 data compiled by ProPublica shows $1,855,255 (about 30 years of full-time work at $30 per hour) in initiation fees and contributions for the fiscal year ending April 2025. The comparable figure was $1,497,017 in 2024 and $1,081,056 in 2023.

From 2023 to 2025, that line increased by about 71.6%. It does not reveal what one new Full member paid because the filing combines initiation-related receipts at the club level and does not state how many new members entered each category. It does show that entrance-related money is material. At a hypothetical $100,000 per initiation, $1.855 million equals about 18.6 such payments. At $175,000, it equals about 10.6. Those are illustrations only, not estimates of Butterfield’s new-member count.

The same filing reports $17.05 million in annual revenue, $16.33 million in expenses, and $38.46 million in assets. That scale makes the old article’s claim of dues reaching $10,000 per month implausible as a normal member rate. Just 330 Full memberships paying $10,000 per month would generate $39.6 million per year, more than twice the club’s total reported revenue.

First-Year and Five-Year Membership

Historical-floor scenario: using the older $100,000 initiation marker and $750 per month dues marker gives $100,000 + $9,000 = $109,000 for the first year before food spending, caddie charges, assessments, lessons, storage, guest golf, or other club charges.

Oak Brook benchmark scenario: using the area’s current $175,000 initiation average with the same historical dues floor gives $184,000 in first-year initiation and dues. This is not a Butterfield quote. It is a budgeting scenario showing how much the initiation assumption moves the first-year total.

Five-year historical-floor scenario: an initiation of $100,000 plus five years of dues at $750 per month totals $145,000. At a wage of $30 per hour, earning $145,000 equals about 4,833 hours of work before taxes. Any dues increases, assessments, food minimums, caddie use, or other club spending would raise that figure.

Worked example: a prospective member budgeting $150,000 for initiation and $1,000 per month for dues would set aside $162,000 for year one before variable charges. That is scenario math based on a six-figure entry assumption, not evidence that Butterfield charges those exact figures.

What the Membership Quote Leaves Out

The public sources do not provide a complete Butterfield fee sheet. That makes the missing line items as important as the initiation estimate. A prospective member should request the current initiation fee, dues by membership class, and any separate equity or capital requirement in writing.

Ask specifically about capital assessments, food and beverage minimums, caddie charges and gratuity practices, carts, bag storage, lockers, private instruction, tournaments, guest golf, racquet lessons, spouse and dependent privileges, and resignation terms. Older third-party material claimed a food minimum and several usage charges, but those figures are not published on Butterfield’s current site, so they should not be carried forward as confirmed fees.

The club’s current public pages do confirm that the operation extends well beyond golf. Butterfield’s amenities page lists a fitness facility, indoor golf simulators, a swimming pool, snack bar, four tennis courts, four paddle courts, and seasonal pickleball on two paddle courts. Those facilities help explain why dues support a year-round club rather than only the golf course.

Golf, Practice Facilities

Butterfield has three nine-hole courses and a much larger practice setup than the old article described. The club’s current golf facilities page lists a driving range, two putting greens, two chipping greens, two indoor golf simulators, and a teaching bay. Private and group lessons, club fitting, junior golf, leagues, and member tournaments are also offered.

The club describes its caddie program as one of its prominent golf features, and the PGA profile calls it very active. That matters financially because frequent caddie use can create a recurring golf expense outside base dues. Butterfield does not publish a public 2026 caddie fee schedule, so a golfer comparing memberships should ask for the current base caddie rate and customary gratuity guidance rather than assuming those costs are covered by dues.

For golfers comparing the value of private practice access with pay-as-you-go facilities, the cost of a golf driving range visit provides a useful outside benchmark, but it does not replicate the access or club services included with a private membership.

Dining, Pools, Racquet Sports

Butterfield’s current club information describes two pools, including a toddler pool and a main pool with three diving boards and adult lap swimming. The club also operates tennis and paddle programs, fitness facilities, and indoor golf training.

Dining ranges from the Butterfield Room to the Grill Room and Pub Patio. The current dining guest rules confirm different dress standards across those spaces. Dining access is part of the club experience, but the public site does not publish a member food minimum. That amount should be treated as unknown until Butterfield provides it.

The club also hosts member-sponsored private events. Those privileges can matter to a family that expects to use the club for weddings, meetings, or celebrations, but event spending is separate from normal membership economics and should not be folded into the initiation estimate.

Who This Membership Cost Makes Sense For

Makes sense if:

• You want a private 27-hole golf club with a strong caddie culture and extensive practice facilities.
• Your household will use the pool, racquet sports, fitness, dining, and social programming rather than treating the club as golf-only access.
• You can absorb a six-figure entry cost without relying on an uncertain resale or equity recovery assumption.
• You have received a current written fee schedule covering dues, assessments, food requirements, and resignation terms.

Does not make sense if:

• You are budgeting from the old $750 per month dues figure as though it were a confirmed 2026 rate.
• You need a public golf option and would use few of the non-golf facilities.
• The club’s sponsorship, approval, availability, or membership-category rules do not fit your situation.
• You are comparing Butterfield’s six-figure entry estimate with a club that has no initiation fee or a non-equity membership structure.

What We Verified

• Checked: Butterfield’s official history traces the club’s origins to Rev. John Code and his associates and dates the club to 1920.
• Confirmed: the current PGA profile identifies Butterfield as an equity, private club with 27 holes, 330 Full memberships, and 475 golfing members.
• Cross-referenced: Butterfield’s current golf guest information credits William Langford with the course and notes a Steve Smyers redesign in 2010.
• Verified: Butterfield’s current club website lists the Oak Brook address as 2800 Midwest Road and continues to describe the club as serving members and their families and guests.

Related Country Club Membership Costs

Butterfield sits in a different price and access category from many clubs, so comparison works best with other established private memberships. Current and historical costs at Exmoor Country Club provide another Chicago-area reference point.

Outside Illinois, compare the entry structure with Dedham Country Club membership costs and Bellerive Country Club membership costs. The useful comparison is initiation, recurring dues, assessments, and usage charges together rather than initiation alone.

Answers to Common Questions

How much does it cost to join Butterfield Country Club?

Butterfield does not publish a current fee sheet. A reasonable planning estimate is a $100,000 to $175,000+ initiation fee, based on an older Butterfield estimate above $100,000 and current Oak Brook private-club context. The exact 2026 fee must be confirmed with the club.

How much are Butterfield Country Club monthly dues?

The current amount is not publicly confirmed. An older public estimate put dues above $750 per month. That should be treated as historical rather than a current quoted rate.

What would the first year cost?

Using the historical floor of $100,000 initiation plus $750 per month produces at least $109,000 before assessments, dining requirements, caddie costs, storage, lessons, guest charges, or other spending.

Is Butterfield Country Club an equity club?

Yes. A current PGA club profile identifies Butterfield’s facility ownership as equity. The exact current equity contribution, redemption, and resignation terms are not publicly posted.

How many golf holes does Butterfield have?

Butterfield has 27 holes arranged as three nine-hole courses, along with a driving range, two putting greens, two chipping greens, and indoor golf facilities.