By Mike May
The men’s and women’s golf teams at Purdue University are blessed with not one, but two nationally respected golf courses, the Ackerman-Allen and the Kampen, at the Birck Boilermaker Golf Complex.
“It’s not often that you get to play golf at a university with two of the best courses in the State of Indiana. Not only that, but the two are Pete Dye-designed courses,” said head golf professional Daniel Ross. “What is so unique about the Kampen Course and Ackerman-Allen Course is that each course is very different from the other. Ackerman-Allen is a parkland-style course. Indiana native, Pete Dye took an already good golf course and turned it into an incredibly fun and truly enjoyable golf course. Kampen is a links style. It has always been a strong golf course. Now, it is in great condition and the greens are very consistent. People walk off Kampen praising the consistency of the greens. Both courses are kept in phenomenal shape.”
Opened in 1934, the Ackerman-Allen Course, formerly the South Course, was originally designed by Bill Diddle. It hosted the 1961 NCAA Men’s Golf Championship. Purdue won team portion, with Ohio State’s Jack Nicklaus, taking individual medalist honors. 
Today, the greens, fairways, and tees feature bent grass. With its rolling hills, tree-lined fairways, white sand bunkers, plus the wide collection areas around the greens, it is a memory maker. During the redesign, two new holes were created, and the championship tees were extended. With five sets of tees the course can play from 5,200 yards to the full 7,500 yards from the black tees.
The Kampen Course, formerly the North Course, hosted the 2000 Men’s Big Ten Championship, 2003 Women’s NCAA Championship, 2004 Indiana Open, 2005 Women’s Western Amateur, and the 2008 Men’s NCAA Championship.
When Dye started the redesign efforts on the Kampen Course in the fall of 1996, he had two main goals. One, to create a course that would challenge and excite top collegiate golfers and two, to create an atmosphere of learning for Purdue’s students. Dye working alongside course superintendent Jim Scott, plus 32 students affiliated with the departments of forestry, entomology, water quality testing, and agronomy, built a water reclamation project so that all of the water used on the course is recycled.
The Kampen Course features a links-style layout, with vast sand bunkers, well-placed waste bunkers, man-made wetlands, several ponds, and a natural celery bog.
From the championship tees, the Kampen is a stern test with three of its par fives measuring more than 600 yards.
When playing the Kampen don’t be afraid to ‘play it forward.’ Make sure you choose the tee box that best suits your game.
Dye said of his work at Purdue,
“As a person who calls Indiana home, I am very pleased to have had the opportunity to build two of the finest university golf courses in the country at Purdue.”
Both the Ackerman-Allen and Kampen Courses at Purdue Univesity’s Birck Boilermaker Golf Complex are stops on Indiana’s Pete Dye Golf Trail.
