Purdue News
Purdue News
NOTE TO JOURNALISTS: A color rendering of the new North Course and a color photo of Clark Throssell and Zac Reicher examining a plug pulled from a putting green are available from Purdue News Service (765) 494-2096.
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. -- A new Purdue golf course complex and Turfgrass Research and Diagnostic Center is a hole-in-one for students who will use the center as a living laboratory.
The center is being built adjacent to Purdue's 18-hole North Golf Course, which will undergo a major renovation beginning with a groundbreaking ceremony Oct. 18.
Work on the turfgrass center began this summer and is expected to be completed by the time the new golf course opens in 1998.
The first comprehensive turfgrass research facility in the country, the center will be a teaching aid for students in turf management. Students will be able to see first-hand the damage from the misapplication of chemicals or various plant diseases. "The great thing is that after they hear the lecture in the classroom, students can step right out the door and do hands-on work on the research plots," says Clark Throssell, associate professor of agronomy and co-director of the center. "This will greatly increase the students' comprehension of what we are teaching."
In addition to the outdoor research plots, the turf researchers also plan to use two of the golf course's fairways as "green" classrooms.
"One of the holes on the new North Golf Course will be set up so that it has two fairways that use a single set of tees and a single green," Throssell says. "That will allow us to shut down one of the fairways at certain times so that researchers or students can get out there to examine the results of their research."
In addition, the new facility will allow more students to enroll in turf science, a major in the School of Agriculture. At present, about 65 undergraduate students are in the program. Most graduates go to work as golf course superintendents.
The $6.5 million golf course/turfgrass center project will be financed totally with private funds.
CONTACTS: Throssell, (765) 494-4785; e-mail, cthrossell@dept.agry.purdue.edu
Zac Reicher, center co-director, (765) 494-9809; e-mail, zreicher@dept.agry.purdue.edu
Purdue News Service: (765) 494-2096; e-mail, purduenews@purdue.edu
To order the text of a news release about the turfgrass center, send an e-mail that says "send punews 9510a7" to this address: almanac@enc.purdue.edu
