Who Designed the Lafayette Elks Country Club Course?
By Wayne White I have always known that our club used to be the West Lafayette Country Club. Our club’s history documents this fact in an Elks brochure published by Robert Cloyd in 1990. The Elks purchased the frame clubhouse and the course in 1942 for $15,419.16. I wanted to learn more about the old club that originated the course and more importantly, the architect who designed it. After researching the internet, newspaper archives (Bob Kriebel), the Tippecanoe County Historical Association and our local libraries I came up with practically nothing about the West Lafayette Country Club. What I did learn was that the course opened on June 25, 1930. Probably bad timing for a golf course, considering the Depression had started. Its first Pro was Joe Pottlitzer. At the time, it was opened to the public and later became private. The course was designed by Bill Diddel. He was contracted in 1928 to design and build it. Fortunately, I was able to learn more about our course’s architect. Ther
