On Course - The Tom Spurgeon Training
Center
The construction on the Tom Spurgeon Golf Training Center at the Birck
Boilermaker Golf Complex is rolling down the line.
The project will be dedicated on Oct. 1. Ground was broken in May, and
work began in earnest this fall.
Completion of the Spurgeon Center will be the final step in the
transformation of facilities at the Birck Boilermaker Golf Complex,
which has undergone more than $8 million worth of improvements since
1996.
The 11,400-square-foot center will include an indoor putting
green, a swing-analysis video computer system and multiple heated
hitting bays, as well as team locker rooms, a lounge, coaches' offices,
a pro shop and a classroom. The architectural design will be similar to
the clubhouse and other facilities at the complex. When not in use by
Purdue golf teams, the center will be open to the public.
Under the guidance of Devon Brouse, men's and women's head golf
coach, the Purdue men's and women's teams have made trips to the NCAA
Championships in seven of 11 combined seasons. The Boilermakers also
have had 15 All-Big Ten and two All-America selections.
In the last six seasons, the Kampen Course has played host to
the 2003 NCAA Women's Golf National Championships, 2001 NCAA Women's
Golf Central Regional Championships, 2000 Western Junior Regional, 2000
Men's Big Ten Championships, 1999 Men's Northern Collegiate, 1999
Women's Big Ten Championships and 1998 Women's Northern Collegiate.
In 2008, the Kampen Course will be the site of the NCAA Men's
Championships.
The facility is being named in honor of Tom Spurgeon, a Purdue
alumnus from Peoria, Ill., who made the lead gift of nearly $750,000
toward the center. Spurgeon graduated from Purdue in 1961 with a
bachelor's degree in industrial management. An entrepreneur who has
built companies throughout the United States, he most recently was
president and CEO of Lincoln Office in Peoria, Ill.