We departed the Morris Inn at Notre Dame this morning and headed south to a golf course just outside Lafayette in Indiana. Again we thought we had left plenty of time to get there but discovered that the main highway our GPS, Doris was taking us on was actually closed in a couple of places. We ended up having to take these massive detours so arrived at the golf course five minutes before our tee time – we are making a bad habit of this.

The warm weather has returned so it was a gorgeous Sunday afternoon – perfect for a game of golf on yet another picturesque course.

The Kampen Course is a Pete Dye design. Kampen is rated one of the top collegiate courses in the nation and has been awarded 4.5 stars on Golf Digest’s “Places to Play.” Kampen receives high marks as it is ranked as one of the most difficult golf courses in Indiana. The course is named in honor of Emerson Kampen and his support of Purdue Athletics.

In 1994, famed golf course architect Pete Dye walked what was the North Course of the Purdue University Golf Courses. His goal was to come up with possible changes that could be made due to an upcoming road construction project. Pete’s plan became much more than a simple renovation. His personal goal was to produce a golf course that would be both a challenge to the collegiate golfer and act as a classroom for the students of Purdue.

With Pete on board, fundraising began and in the fall of 1996 Pete, Superintendent Jim Scott and 32 Purdue students began the construction. The departments of Forestry, Entomology, Water Quality Testing, Agronomy and other schools at Purdue all became involved. The result is the Kampen Course, a unique links-style layout with strategically placed waste bunkers, native grasslands, man-made wetlands and large greens.

There is also another course in this complex which was known as the South Course. It has been renamed Ackerman Hills and is currently being renovated after being redesigned by Pete Dye.