At the corner of Northeast Wichita’s 21st Street and Oliver intersection once sat the 13th green of Braeburn Golf Course. On paper, it was a short and straight-forward par 3, but in practice, with a strong prevailing south wind and shallow green, it was a nervy tee shot and recipe an over-clubbed trip onto 21st Street. Braeburn Golf Course was built in 1921 as the original site of Crestview Country Club and offered a wonderful challenge for all until its last round in 2014.
The par 70, 6400-yard track outlined the corners of 17th Street, 21st Street, and Oliver and offered a traditional early 1900s design. The 1st and 10th tee boxes sat adjacent to the clubhouse and pointed golfers south towards the majority of the golf course. Mature trees lined the fairways and the back-and-forth layout made for great views of upcoming holes or watching friends, teammates, and competitors. As golfers turned the corner around the 4th and 5th holes, Wichita State's campus came into view to the west. The middle of the back nine featured scenic dog-legs that weaved around large cottonwood trees and a pond on the route back to the clubhouse. Golfers may remember numerous anxious tee shots along the roads lining Braeburn, particularly #13 and #14 where a healthy south wind could send the slightest fade into 21st Street like a well-struck fastball out of Eck Stadium. Last, it had a unique combination of back-to-back par 3s on the front and back nines.
Braeburn was home to many – the Wichita State Men’s and Women’s Golf teams, Kapaun Mt. Carmel Boys’ and Girls’ Golf teams, men’s and women’s leagues, and Wichita State Continuing Education Golf classes. Local legends like Grier Jones, Eddie Kriwiel, and Natasha Fife could often be found coaching their teams or teaching students. Further, it was a great place for a lunchtime putting break for professors and nearby businesses. On spring afternoons, the "ping" of aluminum bats and cheers echoed through the golf course from Eck Stadium. Braeburn was a great course for golfers of all skill levels and the atmosphere combined the buzz of a college campus with the peace of a golf course to provide a fun experience for all.
When Wichita State University purchased the land for Braeburn from Crestview Country Club in the late 1960s as a sight for future campus expansion, it was unclear how long the golf course would remain open. Portions of the land were developed over the years for Eck Stadium and the Beech Wind Tunnel, but in 2014, late WSU President, John Bardo, announced plans for the Wichita State Innovation Campus to be built on the golf course. Today, the space we remember as Braeburn features numerous new education buildings, on-campus sites for local businesses like NetApp, Airbus, Spirit Aerosystems, and Textron, student housing, and the Steve Clark YMCA. The Innovation Campus is geared towards preparing students and the university for a tech-savvy future. While it's always sad to see a golf course go, the WSU Innovation Campus brings a great addition to the university and Wichita community for years to come.
