Pete Dye

Born into a family of avid Midwestern golfers, Pete Dye arrived at his interest in golf course design naturally. He grew up near Springfield, Ohio, and developed his game at Urbana Country Club, a nine-hole course that his father, Paul Dye, built in 1922. Pete became an excellent player, winning the 1943 Ohio High School Golf Championship as a junior. Instead of defending his title the following year, however, Dye joined the U.S. Army near the conclusion of World War II. 

During his service, Dye was stationed in Fort Bragg, North Carolina, where he was tasked with maintaining the camp golf course. Leveraging his relationships with the officers, Dye routinely slipped away to the nearby Pinehurst Resort, where he occasionally played golf with course architect Donald Ross. Upon his discharge from the Army, Dye took advantage of the GI Bill and attended Rollins College in Florida. It was here that he met Alice O’Neal. They got married in 1950 and moved to Alice’s home city of Indianapolis, where Pete found work as an insurance salesman. During this time, he also enjoyed some amateur golf success. Dye won the Indiana Amateur Championship in 1958 and qualified for the 1957 U.S. Open, where he missed the cut but finished ahead of future legends Jack Nicklaus and Arnold Palmer.

In 1959, Dye, alongside his wife Alice, embarked on a new career in golf course design. His first year in the industry was plagued by rejection, but he soon earned his first commission, a nine-hole new build called El Dorado (1960) just outside of Indianapolis. Dye’s next project was a bigger one: Radrick Farms (1962), one of the University of Michigan’s home courses. After completing these first two designs, Dye traveled to Scotland to study classic links courses. This trip had an enormous influence on his ensuing work.

When Dye returned from Scotland, his career took off. His first prominent design during this period was Crooked Stick (1964) in Carmel, Indiana, which went on to host the 1991 PGA Championship and the 1993 U.S. Women’s Open. Over the next 20 years, he produced many renowned courses, including The Golf Club (1966), Harbour Town (1967), the Stadium Course at TPC Sawgrass (1980), and Austin Country Club (1984). Dye remained productive throughout his life, designing Kiawah Island’s Ocean Course in preparation for the 1991 Ryder Cup and Whistling Straits (1998) at the age of 73. Over his lengthy career, he churned out over 200 courses across North America.

Dye’s induction into the World Golf Hall of Fame in 2008 was the culmination of one of the greatest and most impactful careers in the world of golf course design. Dye battled Alzheimer’s for several years before succumbing to the disease in January 2020.