Pete Dye passed away last week. It was a huge loss for the golf world. Thankfully, Pete was 94 years old and had lived a full life. He is now with his wife, Alice, who passed away about a year ago.
The best way for me to share my thoughts on Pete Dye is to focus on his golf architecture achievements.
I am not in the habit of counting how many courses I have played by each architect. That’s funny since I list almost everything else. Either way, I know I have played a lot of courses by Pete. I’d be remiss if I didn’t give Alice Dye credit on a lot of those designs as well.
I’d say my favorite is Crooked Stick. I was fortunate enough to play it back in 2015. The beauty of the course is that is was done early in Dye’s career. As he got older, he got more penal in his designs. I still like them a lot but Crooked Stick stands above for me.
The course has his trademark railroad ties for sure but is a little softer around the edges than places such as TPC Sawgrass and his course in French Lick. It was superbly conditioned and beautiful. I highly encourage you to click the link above and check out my post on the course.
Pete was often criticized for making courses too hard. His quote regarding that sums up his design ethos perfectly, “Golf is not a fair game, so why build a course fair?”
I enjoyed playing his courses, even the super difficult ones. Every course had something that made you think and they demanded that you hit quality shots.
I want to mention again how important Alice Dye was in his success. Pete himself was always quick to credit her. It was her idea for the island green on 17 at TPC Sawgrass. She was also integral in The Ocean Course at Kiawah. As a team, they were like the king and queen of the golf architecture game.
So the golf world is a little less full now but I am glad we got the contributions of the Dyes while they were alive. If you have a chance, go out and play a Dye course, and revel in the genius.