How Purdue started a new event with the football and men’s golf teams

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ill. – Can we do this again?

Like maybe next week. Or least next summer.

Fist bumps, high-fives, chants of ‘Go Tiger’ – even though there was no one actually named Tiger around – and music blaring from a moving golf cart between holes. Add footballs being thrown into a chipping net with Earth, Wind and Fire playing in the background and you could tell this was different.

This wasn’t your typical Friday evening at the Birck Boilermaker Golf Complex.

This was fun, a different twist on a late summer night heading into the weekend, bringing Purdue’s football and men’s golf programs together for a friendly competition. It wasn’t a new idea but one unique to the Boilermakers. It worked.

And there were fans. Plenty of them showed up at the first tee on the Kampen Course to watch “The Battle at Birck,” and follow quarterbacks Aidan O’Connell and Austin Burton along with men’s golfers Nick Dentino and Luke Prall around the front nine.

Music played as Nate Barrett introduced the players, giving the event a big-time feel, and Dan Ross, the head pro, updated the scoreboard – a dry eraser board tied to the back of a cart.

“I can’t even describe all the nerves with all these people out here,” Burton said.

It’s funny because O’Connell and Burton are prepared to play in front of 60,000 fans at Ross-Ade Stadium but get nervous when more eyeballs are fixated on their golf games. They’re used to moving around Kampen or Ackerman-Allen with no one paying attention.

“We didn’t know how many people would show up,” O’Connell said. “We didn’t know if it would be 10 or 50 but it was a lot more to make me nervous. It was nerve-wracking but this guy was calm, cool and collected and hopefully, I can bring this to football.”

This guy was Prall, a junior on the golf team, and O’Connell’s partner. They defeated the duo of Burton and Dentino 1-up in an alternate shot format. O’Connell sealed the win with a short par putt on No. 9 after Prall nestled his birdie attempt near the hole from the front of the green.

It was also a different experience for the two members of coach Rob Bradley’s program. Bradley asked both to participate and Prall and Dentino quickly said yes, not knowing for sure what they were walking into.

“I’m not used to this number of people,” Dentino said. “I’ve never played in front of a crowd like this before. It was new to me. There’s music going on, a different thing than what I’m used to. That was the exciting part.”

The event, which was the idea of former Boilermaker football player Jackson Anthrop, had a big-time buzz throughout the match. Prall and Dentino played like seasoned college golfers and O’Connell and Burton didn’t embarrass themselves.

That is if you don’t count Burton’s tee shot on No. 2, a par-3 that is guarded by water on the right side. Burton dumped his ball into the water after it traveled about 25 yards.

“Our plan was to make par on the first hole, but I missed the putt,” Burton said. “We did not have the plan for me to hit on the next tee box and that’s where things fell off the wheels early. We fought and battled back.”

It was the first hole where O’Connell demonstrated his skill level, showing he has a future in the game, landing his approach shot in birdie position for Prall.

“He’s 90 yards out, hit a great wedge shot up tight,” Prall said. “It shows he can get through that pressure situation and still perform well.”

O’Connell has a soft touch in the red zone during the football season but showcased the same skillset just off the green.

“I like my 50-degree wedge. That’s my go-to,” O’Connell said.

O’Connell and Prall won the first two holes, but Burton came back with a clutch birdie on No. 5 to even the score and inject more juice into the match.

“I had a great Tiger fist pump on that one,” Burton said.

O’Connell and Prall played together earlier in the week to prepare for Friday’s competition. Burton and Dentino had never met until the event was put together over the last few weeks.

“Football and golf don’t mesh because we’re all doing our thing at the same time,” Dentino said. “It’s hard to see them.”

What we discovered about Burton is he throws a football with his right arm but is a lefty on the course. He’s also a lefty in baseball, basketball and hockey.

“It makes no sense,” he said.

Friday marked the end of the golf season for O’Connell and Burton. While they’ve been going through summer workouts, their attention shifts to full-time football.

For O’Connell, he’s getting married on July 30 and three days later he’ll start preseason practices for the 2022 season and the Sept. 1 opener against Penn State.

“In terms of golf, this was the last hurrah,” O’Connell said. “We enjoyed the summer and we worked really hard, but it’s time to get ready for the season.”

Burton, though, is fully aware that O’Connell will continue to bring up Friday’s outcome even though the focus will be on football.

“I think he’s going to let me hear about it for a long period of time,” Burton said. “He’s playing the nice guy in front of everybody right now, but I know when we get off the course, I’m going to hear about it.

“But our golf season is now officially over. It was fun but with camp around the corner, it’s time to get locked in for the season.”

Mike Carmin covers Purdue sports for the Journal & Courier and USA Today Network. Email mcarmin@gannett.com and follow on Twitter and Instagram @carmin_jc