Birck Boilermaker Golf Complex (Ackerman-Allen)

Overview: Ackerman-Allen is the parkland course at Purdue University’s Birck Boilermaker Golf Complex in West Lafayette, Indiana. The 18-hole Pete Dye course is built on Bill Diddel’s original 1934 Purdue South routing and plays to par 72, with the black tees stretching to 7,546 yards. Rolling ground, tree-lined fairways, large bentgrass greens and white-sand bunkers give the course a classic inland character, while the relatively limited water allows the strategy to remain focused on angles, lies and approach positions. The long tees create a serious collegiate championship test, but the additional tee sets preserve the course’s strategic shape for everyday play. Ackerman-Allen is best understood in contrast to Purdue’s Kampen course: it is the more traditional parkland half of the complex.

History: The course began as Purdue’s South Course, designed by Indiana architect Bill Diddel and built in 1934. Pete Dye later reshaped the layout as Ackerman Hills, and after significant support from the Ackerman family and Sam Allen of John Deere it reopened in 2016 as the Ackerman-Allen Course. That project retained the older parkland foundation while bringing the greens, bunkers and playing surfaces into a modern championship setting. The course’s history therefore includes two important Indiana design voices: Diddel’s original routing and Dye’s later strategic intervention. It remains an integral part of Purdue’s collegiate golf identity.

Did You Know? Ackerman-Allen offers a rare architectural conversation between Bill Diddel and Pete Dye on one property. The original 1934 routing is still the foundation, while the modern course is officially part of the Pete Dye Golf Trail.