Getting To Know: Purgatory Golf Club By Brian Weis

Getting To Know: Purgatory Golf Club

An Insightful Interview With Aaron Konold, General Manager

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 Aaron Konold 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
Built on over 218 acres, Purgatory is the jewel of northern Indianapolis golf! The secluded yet accessible (just off IN-37) property boasts championship golf at its finest. The longest course in Indiana from the back tees (with the longest hole in Indiana being the 741 yd par-5 13th) and one of the shortest from the forward tees at 4,562 yards, Purgatory has redefined the championship golf experience to make it inclusive for players of all levels. The course epitomizes risk and reward golf, allowing the player to determine the degree of difficulty through offering high risk/high reward shot opportunities alongside more straightforward approaches to each hole. Golfers of every handicap will enjoy their time spent in Purgatory, time which is always well rewarded.

If Someone Was Looking To Golf In The Area, Why Should They Play Your Course?
Purgatory's open links-style course features tall grasses, fingering bunkers, challenging greens, and beautifully manicured fairways, all which combine to form the most unique golfing experience in the state. The views and shot-making situations presented to the golfer exceed those available anywhere else in the area.

Any recent changes to the golf course? Or any upcoming changes?
Purgatory is in the middle of a bunker reconstruction/renovation process.

Recent Awards or What You Are Most Proud About The Course?
Purgatory was named the 87th Greatest Public Course in the United States by Golf Digest.

What Is The Signature, Most Talked About, or Most Photographed Hole?
The par-3 17th hole (named "Hell's Half Acre") is the course's shortest hole at 173 yards from the Purgatory tees, but is surrounded by over 2 acres in bunkers. The picturesque green in the middle of a sea of sand is a view not reminiscent of any typical Indiana golf course.

What Is Your Favorite Hole? Any Tips to Play It?
The fourth hole is a challenging, yet fair par-4 situated on the back of the property. The elevation change from the tee to the sloping left-to-right fairway below, then again to the elevated green, protected by a false front and drop-off area to the right has a real Augusta National feel.

Must Have Dish or Drink after the round at the 19th Hole?
Prior to stepping onto the golf course, Purgatory's 32oz 16-ingredient Bloody Mary is a must, as well as the BBQ menu at the new Confessional Smokehouse Bar & Grill. The smells from smoker on the back patio are always complimentary.

For the traveling golfer, do you have lodging onsite or partner with any area hotels?
Purgatory is fifteen minutes away from the newer Hamilton Town Center in Noblesville, just off I-69. Hamilton Town Center features retail shopping, fabulous restaurants, and plenty of hotel options.

Back Tee Stats
Par: 72
Yardage: 7754
Slope: 140
Rating: 77.6

More Information
Purgatory Golf Club
12160 E 216th St
Noblesville, Indiana, 46060
317-773-4653
www.purgatorygolf.com

Revised: 02/01/2022 - Article Viewed 5,197 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.