The Kampen Course

Getting To Know: Kampen Course

An Insightful Interview With Daniel M. Ross, PGA Head Professional

By Brian Weis

Whether you have played a course 20+ times a year or looking to play the course for the first time, insights from an insider can help enhance your golf experience. Below is an interview with Daniel M. Ross who shares some valuable tidbits about the course, memorable holes and must eats and treats at the 19th.

Give Our Readers An Overview of the Golf Course/Property
The Kampen Course is a renovation of the former North Course at Purdue University. The Kampen Course, a Pete Dye design, is an 18-hole, links-style, par-72 championship golf course featuring large bent-grass greens, fairways and tees. The layout presents a challenge for golfers of all abilities with vast sand bunkers, native grasslands, ponds and a natural celery bog. Kampen offers five sets of tees with the championship tees playing over 7,400 yards and the forward tees playing at 5,300 yards.

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 has also played host to a number of prestigious collegiate and public tournaments such as the 2000 Men's Big Ten Championship, the 2003 Women's NCAA Championship, the 2004 Indiana Open, the 2005 Women's Western Amateur, and the 2008 Men's NCAA Championship. The course is named in honor of Emerson Kampen and his support of Purdue Athletics. Mr. Kampen's statue overlooks the first tee.

If Someone Was Looking To Golf In The Area, Why Should They Play Your Course?
Without question, the Kampen Course is the best conditioned golf course you will find in the area, with newly surfaced cart paths around the entire course. The greens have the most consistent speed on a week by week basis, usually running between 10 and 11 on the stimp meter. As true as they come.

What Tips or Local Knowledge Would You Provide To Help Them Score Better At Your Course?
The best tip I can give is for putting on the greens on Kampen. One should be careful to not give up the hole if you are unsure of how much break to play. I will typically use the method of playing half the amount of break that I read.

Recent Awards or What You Are Most Proud About The Course?
Hosting the 2003 Women's NCAA Championship and the 2008 Men's NCAA Championship.

Awarded 4.5 stars on Golf Digest's "Places to Play".

What Is The Signature, Most Talked About, or Most Photographed Hole?
I think the signature hole would be the 484 par 4 18th, where you're generally hitting into the wind. You have an intimidating tee shot because trees surround the box creating somewhat of a chute-shot." Down the fairway, there's a tree to the right, with a large bunker to the left. You're hitting to a large, elevated green, protected by bunkers and Out-of-Bounds to the left.

What Is Your Favorite Hole? Any Tips to Play It?
My favorite hole on the Kampen Course is the 365 yard par 4 7th. Often times the tees will be moved up to give a risk or reward shot off the tee, as the green can be drivable. The hole is split in two by a bunker, with fairway on the West and East side of the bunker. One must choose their fairway wisely, dependent upon the hole location. When the hole is cut on the right side, one should choose the fairway on the right. When the hole is on the left, choose the left fairway. This hole will yield many eagles throughout the season, but has it's fair share of double-bogeys as well. I think that is what makes this hole a favorite for me.

Must Have Dish or Drink after the round at the 19th Hole?
The grilled burgers are a must after a day on the Kampen Course.

Who Holds Course Record and What Was Their Score?
Johan Edin shot 64 in the Boilermaker Invitational.

Back Tee Stats
Par: 72
Yardage: 7465
Slope: 143
Rating: 75.9

More Information
Kampen Course
1300 Cherry Lane
West Lafayette, IN, 47907
765-494-3139
www.purduegolf.com

Revised: 05/10/2012 - Article Viewed 33,082 Times - View Course Profile

About: Brian Weis

Brian Weis is the mastermind behind GolfTrips.com, a vast network of golf travel and directory sites covering everything from the rolling fairways of Wisconsin to the sunbaked desert layouts of Arizona. If there’s a golf destination worth visiting, chances are, Brian has written about it, played it, or at the very least, found a way to justify a "business trip" there.

As a card-carrying member of the Golf Writers Association of America (GWAA), International Network of Golf (ING), Golf Travel Writers of America (GTWA), International Golf Travel Writers Association (IGTWA), and The Society of Hickory Golfers (SoHG), Brian has the credentials to prove that talking about golf is his full-time job. In 2016, his peers even handed him The Shaheen Cup, a prestigious award in golf travel writing—essentially the Masters green jacket for guys who don’t hit the range but still know where the best 19th holes are.

Brian’s love for golf goes way back. As a kid, he competed in junior and high school golf, only to realize that his dreams of a college golf scholarship had about the same odds as a 30-handicap making a hole-in-one. Instead, he took the more practical route—working on the West Bend Country Club grounds crew to fund his University of Wisconsin education. Little did he know that mowing greens and fixing divots would one day lead to a career writing about the best courses on the planet.

In 2004, Brian turned his golf passion into a business, launching GolfWisconsin.com. Three years later, he expanded his vision, and GolfTrips.com was born—a one-stop shop for golf travel junkies looking for their next tee time. Today, his empire spans all 50 states, and 20+ international destinations.

On the course, Brian is a weekend warrior who oscillates between a 5 and 9 handicap, depending on how much he's been traveling (or how generous he’s feeling with his scorecard). His signature move" A high, soft fade that his playing partners affectionately (or not-so-affectionately) call "The Weis Slice." But when he catches one clean, his 300+ yard drives remind everyone that while he may write about golf for a living, he can still send a ball into the next zip code with the best of them.

Whether he’s hunting down the best public courses, digging up hidden gems, or simply outdriving his buddies, Brian Weis is living proof that golf is more than a game—it’s a way of life.