Birck Boilermaker Golf Complex

Purdue University features two 18-hole championship golf courses on its West Lafayette, Ind., campus. The courses are much different in character, but each promises a challenging test of golf.

The Ackerman Hills Course features a beautifully contoured layout over hilly, forested terrain with greens that are well-protected by trees and sand traps. The narrow fairways and numerous obstacles demand accurate shot-making.

The anchor of the Birck Boilermaker Golf Complex is the 7,200-yard, 72-par Kampen Course. It served as the site of the 2001 NCAA Women's Central Regional, the 2003 NCAA Women's Championship and the 2004 NCAA Men's Central Regional. Pete Dye, one of the most influential and creative golf course designers in the history of the sport, masterminded the redesign of the Kampen Course.

A native of Indianapolis, Ind., Dye took turf management classes at Purdue during the 1950s and is known as much for his sensitivity to the environment as he is for his imaginative and creative course layouts.

"Nothing has ever been built that is comparable to this course," Dye says. "You walk the Kampen Course, and you feel like you're in another world."

Anyone who has played Brickyard Crossing, Crooked Stick, PGA West or any of the dozens of courses that bear his stamp appreciates the special challenges Dye presents to the golfer. The newly designed Kampen Course demands not only skilled shot-making but also an intellectual approach to the game. The combination of both courses on campus offers Purdue students one of the finest golf facilities in the United States.

The Birck Boilermaker Golf Complex, one of the most demanding and scenic golf courses in the Midwest, is situated on the north side of the Purdue campus. It serves not only the Purdue golf teams, but also students, faculty, staff and the public. The complex provides the Purdue men's and women's golf teams with additional challenges and rewarding opportunities to play and practice on one of the region's most beautiful golf courses.

The $8 million renovation to the golf complex, which included a new clubhouse (named after Dye), new irrigation system and new driving range, and the Turfgrass Research and Diagnostic Center. The first comprehensive turfgrass research facility in the country, the center functions as a living laboratory for teaching and research activities in a variety of academic disciplines, including agronomy, entomology and forestry.

Not surprisingly, the golf course has a strong environmental theme. More than 6,800 trees have been planted on the course. Alice's Oak Forest, named after Dye's wife, runs from tee to green on the ninth hole, and trees have been planted so densely that wildlife eventually will flourish.

The Birck Boilermaker Golf Complex is located on Cherry Lane, just northwest of Ross-Ade Stadium.

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Purdue Boilermakers