Kampen Course at Purdue University profiled in "In My Opinion" section

[David Stewart]

All,

I recently completed a profile of the Kampen Course at Purdue University, which it is now posted in the "In My Opinion" section of GCA.com: http://www.golfclubatlas.com/in-my-opinion/kampen1/. Ran is travelling so he asked me to go ahead and write an introductroy post. I am not a very frequent poster, but am here often just reading and learning from all of you.

I completed both my undergraduate and graduate work at Purdue and Kampen was my home course for nearly nine years. I started writing a profile for the course a few years ago, but it fell by the wayside as I was finishing up my degree and writing a thesis. I moved to North Carolina last summer to begin postdoctoral work at UNC-Chapel Hill, and had the opportunity to meet Ran and play a few rounds of golf with him. I told him I had started a profile of Kampen and he encouraged me to fnish it, which I recently did.

The course is not without faults, but its strategic merits are first-class. The bunkers function as true hazards, and Dye uses them masterfully to create multiple playing angles and options for the golfer. There is not much to say that I haven't already written in the profile, so I'll just let you all read it if you desire. I hope you enjoy, and I'll be happy to answer any questions.

[Howard Riefs]

David,

Thank you for the thoughtful and thorough profile of Kampen. I'm glad you completed it to share here on GCA. (That's high praise coming from a Hoosier.)

Hole #7 looks unique for a Dye course with the distinct separate fairways. How do you traditionally play it? Is it contingent on the pin position?

[Bill Seitz]

Great pictures, David.

Howard, the first few times I played Kampen, they had one side of the fairway on seven closed off, and it rotated.  The last few plays, both sides have been open.  I don't know if it was for turf health or research or something, but they seem to open it up now.  There's a big turf nursery behind the eighth tee.

I really like playing Kampen, though some of the holes are pretty typical Pete Dye.  #s 2 and 17 have been on every Pete Dye course I've ever played, and #13 is pretty similar, with the pond on the other side.  #14 has a totally different feel now than it did five or six years ago.  There's a huge marsh off to the left, and there used to be a bunch of trees that separated the course from the bulk of the marsh.  They're gone now, and though they were never in play, they really change the feel of that hole. 

We played it about a week before the NCAA championships, as they were promoting a setup under the same conditions the competitors would see.  Under those conditions, it was the hardest course I've ever played.  7,450 from the tips, with rough that was about four inches deep right off the fairway, and about 8-9 inches deep if you went 8-10 yards in.  I hit a ball way left on the first hole, lost it, dropped, advanced it about 10 yards, and almost lost that one.  I seem to recall that the second player in the first group on the first day hit his ball about five yards left of the first fairway.  Three player and two spotters took five minutes, and the kid had to re-tee.  Just brutal. 

If you're in Chicago, it's a great bargain, and we used to make a day of playing 18 at Kampen and 18 at Coyote Crossing, a Hale Irwin design about 10 minutes away, which plays over much different terrain. 

[David Stewart]

Howard,

#7 is a very unique hole. I think my approach changed a bit over the years. After playing Kampen about 4-5 days a week for a few summers in a row I became a much better player, and got to the point where I had the distance to drive the green. At that point, I would try to hit a draw up the right fairway if the pin was on the right, or a fade up the left fairway if the pin was on the left. I wouldn't usually get on, but would at least be around the green. If you are over the green or on the sides you have an uphill chip to one of the wildest greens on the course, so it is still not easy. My only eagle on the course came on #7 when I drove over the back of the green and chipped in.

Bill,

It is my understanding that #7 was supposed to serve as a "turf research" project so one side would be closed for research. However, I can never actually recall one side being closed. Perhaps in the first few years after they opened the course. I am glad they are both open consistently now as it is a much better hole with both options.

A lot of people don't like how 2 and 17 are similar holes, as both prefer a fade with a pond guarding on the right. In this case, it is the same pond so some people think that detracts from the holes. I personally think 17 is a much better hole. While they may be on every Dye course, I think there is a reason he repeats them.

I mentioned the tree removal to the left of 13 and 14 in the profile and that has made those holes much better, with uninterrupted views across the bog.

I volunteered at the NCAA's that year and the rough was a little silly. The wind was gusting that whole weekend and there was really no need for the rough to be that high. The rough is so "thick" that is doesn't need to be that tall to be penal. It was like an old-school US Open really. I would have preferred if they kept it short so the players could at least try a recovery shot toward the green (and perhaps get in more trouble), than just hack out to the fairway.

[Andy Troeger]

David,
Thanks for putting together the profile. I've come to the conclusion that I was probably a little harsh when I played the course a few years ago. I grew up in Indiana and played the old North course quite a few times. Dye did a lot with a little, really, given the original course was pretty much flat with very few worthwhile features. You profiled all of the interesting holes, but holes such as #7, 14, and 15 are pretty unique and fun to play. The course is certainly designed to be difficult and essentially is for collegiate golfers in a competitive setting.

My main criticisms generally follow what you covered at the end of the profile.  The big one was the density of the heather--I don't see the need to make it a "re-load" situation pretty much every time a golfer hits it in there. We were joined by a student who lost 11 balls in 12 holes and had to quit because he ran out. The other was the redundancy of the long par fours. You profiled three of the switchback holes, but there were others if I remember correctly. Its classic Pete Dye and strategic, but overused here. The big problem to me was that at least a few times the switch occurred right where a good drive ends up (for a decent length driver) from the regular tees, so I basically had to lay up on most every hole and then hit long approaches. Trying to go over the corners with all the trouble around would have been silly--I tried once or twice with poor results. Its meant to be played from the tips, but that's way more golf than I care to attempt.

The course is better than my initial reaction (which was that if I were to play at Purdue regularly I'd go back to the fun and sporty South course). Kampen is the better of the two without question from a design standpoint, but it still appears to be a better championship test than anything else, which I guess was the intent anyway.

[Matt Kardash]

Nice job David. Your profile showed a course that looked fun to play. Regardless of what others says, I thought the course looked beautiful. Then again, I find Dye's hard edges and strategies to be appealing. In some weird way, a course like the Kampen course seems all the more appealing to me because most courses's these days are designed to look exactly the opposite of this.

[David Stewart]

Andy,

I am also an Indiana native. I grew up in Greensburg. It is right between Indy and Cincy on I-74.

As far as your criticisms I can agree with the heather. If you hit it in there, the odds are you lost it, and if you didn't, you are hacking out. But as you said, it is meant to be championship test. If a student lost 11 balls, he should have been on the south course. As you said, the south course is a lot of fun. My only round breaking par is on that course.

I profiled 8 of the 10 par fours, with three of those being switch-backs. Of the other par fours (3 and 11), #3 is the only other switch back. 11 is a standard dog-leg left. So there are four switch back holes (3, 9, 12, 18) with two on each side. They rotate with the preferred tee shot being fade, draw, fade, draw. Of those, if you are playing the right tees, 3 and 18 should not be an issue of driving through the switch. 9 is an interesting case. As I got better and became a longer hitter, I found the same thing as you because I was driving into the right rough. However, I figured out over time that if you can drive it in the right rough through the fairway, you can carry the bunker on the left. The fairway actually widens past the bunker, so if you are long, you can just carry it and you get a better angle on the approach. I guess that is just uncovering some of the secrets there. 12 does run out at the end of the fairway, but that hole is not long. If the wind was in, I would choke up on a driver a bit and hit a fade and be fine. Downwind, a 3 wood is fine and you are still left with about 150-170 to a downhill green.

So is four switch-backs too much? I guess that is a matter of personal opinion. To me, the four at Kampen are different enough to continue to be appealing. 3 is probably the most bland of the group which is why I didn't profile it, but 9 with its options and huge green, 12 with its downhill approach, and 18's green complex make them all exciting.

[Andy Troeger]

David,
Are there other holes, even if they aren't switchbacks per say, where the dogleg off the tee causes the same problem where you either have to cut the corner or lay up? I actually like the strategy, but it seemed more prevalent than just four times (although admittedly going off distant memory at this point). It frustrated me because of the combination of that and the ball-eating heather.

The student really wasn't that bad of a player--just wayward off the tee. Recovering out there is pretty much nonexistent unless you get lucky and/or are just that good.

[David Stewart]

Andy,

In addition to #9 and #12, #8 can be driven through the dogleg if you hit it long enough. As the tee shot is blind, I could imagine a first time player hitting driver over the crest of the hill and going through the fairway. You don't really need driver there unless you are being very aggressive. A 3 wood will still leave only 140 or so. I think those are really the only holes like that.

[ward peyronnin]

Good review of a facility that is inexpensive and a good walk in the park for those wanting a challenge AND very hard to criticise when Mr. Dye's design fee was all $1 I believe

[Bill Seitz]

Another thing to mention is that, in my experience, the final three holes have almost always played into the wind.  So from the tips, you have a 610 yard par 5, a 210 yard par 3, and 475 yard par four all playing directly into the fan.  It can be tough to reach the fairway from the back tees on 16 when the wind is blowing.  It makes for an incredibly tough finishing stretch. 

[PCCraig]

Thanks for a very nice write-up David. I like the Kampen course and when living in Chicago made the 2 hour drive a few times on the weekends to play Kampen, usually with a stop at Coyote Crossings afterward for less than $75 for 36 really good golf holes it was a nice deal.

I think you profile the course perfectly, while not the most interesting Dye design by a longshot, he built some quality holes that are pretty interesting considering there isn't a whole lot to the property. #8, #15, #16 are my favorites down there. Hard? Yep. But if you're hitting the ball well and in the fairway it's possible to post a good round.

Thanks again.

[Jason Topp]

Thanks David. I particularly like the last paragraph where you cite and discuss the common criticisms of the course. 

One quibble  - Although I have never played the course I see nothing in the pictures that suggests there is heather on the course. Heather is a specific plant found most prominently on heathlands couses near London and on some links courses. 

[David Stewart]

Jason,

Thanks for pointing that out. You are correct on the heather, and I should have just used tall native grasses to describe what I meant. In Indiana, most people see tall grass on a golf course and automatically say heather. I have even seen signs posted that say "Do not drive in the heather", when it is clearly just tall native grass. I actually had a few people proofread the profile before it was posted and none of them even mentioned that. I guess for us hillbillies in Indiana, heather is a synonym for "tall grass". Apologies for the error.

[Jason Topp]

David

No problem. I probably could have changed a sentence a month in my home course profile. 


Also our pro refers to our no mow areas as heather all of the time.