Course renovation allows golf tournament's return

This weekend, the men's golf team will play host to its first tournament event since the 1996 women's Big Ten Golf Championship and its first men's event since the 1993 men's Big Ten Championship. \nThe IU Golf Course began construction in 1954 and was completed in 1957. The course has had only two major constructions done since. \nOne construction occurred in 1991, when they installed a watering system -- which has already become outdated because of the fast advances in irrigation technologies. Another major piece of construction took place this fall. The sand bunkers went through a major renovation to get as many as they could in time for the Northern Intercollegiate, which begins Saturday at the IU Golf Course. Only about half of the bunkers are completed.\n"The course looks good with the new bunkers," sophomore Heath Peters said. "The greens are true and fast."\nThe course holds 20 bunkers, all of which will be resized and configured, edged and filled with Best Signature white sand. Around the finished bunkers will be Zoysia grass. New lining and a new drainage system will also be installed, which will protect the bunkers from erosion and soil contamination. \n"We're stripping the bunkers down bare and reshaping a lot of them," Brent Emerick, IU Golf Course superintendent and athletic turf manager said in a press release. \nDespite the course's age, it is still considered a tough place to play. The course is a par-71 and measures 6,942 yards. Situated in a forested area, each hole is lined with trees which make it imperative to have good shot placement.\nThe course was designed by former IU men's golf coach Jim Soutar, with help from former coordinator of IU's athletic facilities, Paul Harrel. The course is of championship caliber and houses an 18-hole championship course, a nine-hole executive course, a large and lighted driving range, and a state-of-the-art practice facility was added this year.\n"The course looks great. The greens are fast and the fairways are perfect. It was an unbelievable turnaround in the past two weeks," men's golf coach Mike Mayer said.\nSenior teammember Ben Davidson has also expressed that the greens are faster, and the course is looking better.\nHosting their next tournament will be an advantage to the Hoosiers, who has had the most time preparing on the playing surface. \nThe course has played host to five men's Big Ten Championships and four Northern Intercollegiate's since its inception in the fall of 1957. In 1961, current golf legend and former Ohio State Buckeye, Jack Nicklaus won the Big Ten Championship here in Bloomington.