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86 IllustrateD volume 25, issue 1 f The greens will all be redone and many will be in sub- stantially different locations. In addition, all the putting services will be, for all intents and purposes, in more direct sunlight and brought up to USGA standards. "The slopes on some for the current greens not only made them difficult to play on, but also they were not optimal for drainage," Scott said. "When it is all said and done with bent-grass fairways and new tee boxes, we will have a state-of-the-art 21st Century golf facility." Part of the project also addresses drainage issues be- yond the greens and tees. and is not only for the golf course but for that entire part of campus. There are plans for a drainage area that would produce a pond or small lake in the middle part of the course, but it will have the effect of serving as improving drainage even for places as far away as the intramural fields to the south. "We have asked the Army Corps of Engineers to help us in this area," Brouse said. "It is a little early to know exactly what will happen, but it will impact the course in a positive way." Also, as part of the tee boxes and greens being re- done and moved, will be the ability to put them all in much more direct sunlight, which not always the case in the current layout, a fact that has caused some up- keep headaches on Ackerman Hills. Dye wants to make the course more walker-friendly. By some excavation, the biggest valleys in the course will be eased, making it for conducive to walker. In addition, there will be ex- pendable trees removed and intriguing golf paths cut through them. "With the new land, it will be so easy to walk on that even Ray Charles could have done it," Dye said. "There's a lot of ash trees that are dying and some maples, but ev- erything that has to come down is a plus, not a negative." But Dye sees an even bigger vision; although a new clubhouse isn't part of the plan as of now — it would need to be funded because it's not the priority of the current renovation — he sees it in a greater picture. A clubhouse, likely located where the eastern-most park- ing lot is now,has the ability to host and cater to large parties, and could change the Birck -Boilermaker Golf Complex into a golf resort. The goal is to draw from business in Indianapolis, Fort Wayne and Chicago. "The south side of Chicago has little to nothing as far as a resort-type golf course," the designer said. "So if you get those people on the Southside coming down, 200 or 300 people, and charge $100 or whatever it is, per person, and then have a clubhouse with catering, it would work out. That's the idea. "… You put together 50 or 60 days (like that), it'd be good. It'd be good for the university, the town and everything else." Keeping it Cost effeCtive But just as there are aspirations to attract some high- end people to the facility, officials are steadfast that the new course will be as reasonably priced as it is playable for the average fan. A Purdue Golf Card available to Indiana residents, PAA members, staff and faculty and John Purdue Club members is already being marketed and will provide discounts to those who will frequent the course on a regular basis. Special pricing is already in play for card holders on the Kampen. "We know that the Ackerman is a favorite course among the locals," said Birck-Boilermaker head pro Dan Ross. "And we also know we have to carefully price it so everyone can enjoy it. We have been working hard to do this and I think our special pricing reflects those efforts." Brouse may have summed it up best about what has transpired in Boilermaker golf during his 16-year tenure. "I feel pretty good about what we've done with our practice areas, our indoor building, on (the Kampen) golf course,' Brouse, who coached the Boilermaker women to the 2010 national title. "We've hosted two NCAA Championship and now what we're doing on (Ackerman), I just don't know who's going to have an offering as good as us and certainly not anyone who is going to have it better." j