Design Notebook: Restoring Pete Dye

Today’s installment of Design Notebook digs into the recent micro-trend of Pete Dye restorations and asks whether the work of other modern architects will (or should) be restored, too. Also included are thoughts on Hazeltine’s planned renovation, architect Ron Kirby’s passing, and Waverley Country Club’s week in the spotlight.

Restoring Pete Dye

When we discuss golf course restoration in the U.S., usually we focus on a particular vintage of course: built in the 1910s, 20s, or 30s; altered in the decades after World War II; given back its “Golden Age” shapes and dimensions in the early 21st century (often with 7,500-yard back tees and subsurface hydronics thrown in). This sequence of events has become so common that in December 2021 we published an article listing America’s few remaining high-profile restoration opportunities.

I predict, however, that over the next couple of decades, the richest stories about golf course restoration—and renovation—will not be of the Golden Age variety. Instead, they will center on designs by the likes of Robert Trent Jones, Dick Wilson, Jack Nicklaus, Tom Fazio, and Pete Dye. Many late-20th-century courses will soon need new greens, bunkers, drainage, and irrigation, and some may fold architectural changes into their infrastructure overhauls. Which path will they choose: restoration or renovation?

Early returns suggest that Pete Dye designs will typically receive the restoration treatment.

The Honors Course near Chattanooga, Tennessee, a 1983 collaboration between Dye and his son P.B., reopened this year after extensive work by Gil Hanse. While the course’s infrastructure is brand new, the features are faithfully Dye-ian. Hanse even restored two greens—Nos. 10 and 11—that the club replaced about 15 years ago. (The new 10th green is farther downrange than in 1983, but it emulates the original’s shape and bunker arrangement.)

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A similar project is underway this summer at Loblolly in Hobe Sound, Florida, where Jim Urbina, a former Dye shaper and associate, is restoring Pete and P.B.’s 1988 design. Urbina’s website touts a plan to recover the “iconic 16th hole,” nicknamed “Calamity,” and the use of “1989 ground and aerial photos” to guide the work.

Finally, Fried Egg Golf recently learned that Crooked Stick Golf Club in Carmel, Indiana—Dye’s earliest big-time commission, completed in 1964—has approved a project by Tom Doak’s Renaissance Golf Design, expected to begin in the summer of 2024. Like Urbina, Doak spent his early career in Dye’s organization. He told Golf Course Architecture last October that “whatever we’re going to do at Crooked Stick” would probably be his last consulting gig. “I never say never,” Doak said, “but it’s unlikely I would take on any more.”

Don Placek’s plan shows a variety of nips and tucks but no changes bigger than replacing a green-side pond on No. 16 with a similarly positioned bunker—again, far more a restoration than a transformation.

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It’s not surprising that Hanse, Urbina, and Doak have taken a respectful approach to Dye’s work. While railroad ties and long fairway bunkers are no longer in style, most of Dye’s courses have stood the test of time, and the best feel like classics. Plus, many of today’s leading architects—Bill Coore and Tom Doak in particular—revere “Mr. Dye,” as they call him, not only as a mentor but as a sui generis architectural mind and a pioneer of design-build golf construction. Coore and Doak have passed this view down to their own protégés, including Gil Hanse, Brian Schneider, Kyle Franz, and many other architects who will shape the future of the profession. I doubt any of them would be caught dead blowing up a Pete Dye design.

Decisions become trickier, however, when handling the work of other post-World War II architects. Will the original designs of Jones, Wilson, Nicklaus, and Fazio receive the same degree of reverence as Dye’s have? Probably not, judging from Andrew Green’s recent reimagining of Jones’s Blue Course at Congressional and Kyle Franz’s plans to alter Fazio’s Pine Barrens at Cabot Citrus Farms.

To an extent, that’s fine with me. Dye was a genius, and almost all of his architecture deserves faithful stewardship. His contemporaries were more prone to cookie-cutter mediocrity.

In general, though, we should take care with history. When dealing with excellent or representative work from any architect, we should err on the side of restoration. Pine Tree Golf Club in South Florida, for instance, has stayed true to its Dick Wilson design, and it stands today as a unique museum of post-World War II architecture. Similarly, Spyglass Hill should always remain a Jones, Muirfield Village a Nicklaus, and Shadow Creek a Fazio.

Humans tend to scorn the recent past while treasuring history, even though the difference between the two is just a couple of decades. Late-20th-century golf architecture is quickly turning into history, and there should be a conscious effort to preserve a few of its best examples. -Garrett Morrison

“Reimagined,” continued

We touched on Hazeltine National’s hiring of Love Golf Design in last week’s Design Notebook. I find this to be a fascinating project. It’s a big moment for Davis Love III and his firm, which I see as a next-gen iteration of the familiar tour-pro-led design outfit.

The history of this type of firm is checkered, to say the least. On one end of the spectrum, you have two-time Masters champion Ben Crenshaw teaming up with the brilliant Bill Coore and building some of the modern era’s greatest courses. On the other end, there’s Nicklaus Design, which has been prolific but light on quality control.

Now we have Davis Love III partnering with his brother Mark and architect Scot Sherman. Love Golf Design has done a number of projects, including renovations of the Plantation Course at Sea Island and Belmont Golf Course in Richmond, but in terms of scope and publicity, all pale in comparison to the Hazeltine “reimagining.” This job will tell us a lot about whether DL3 truly is more Crenshaw than Nicklaus.

Hazeltine today

The advantage Love Golf Design has at Hazeltine is that everything is on the table, even a potential rerouting. The club has vast acreage with loads of unused property. There’s room for a significantly upgraded course, and it’s likely that New Hazeltine will hardly be recognizable after Love finishes.

The project’s timing, however, is uncertain. If Hazeltine decides not to complete it until after the 2029 Ryder Cup, I think that would be a massive mistake. The club wants to be the Midwest’s preeminent major-championship host, but it will have to duke it out with Medinah and Oakland Hills for that crown. Medinah’s OCM-redesigned Course 3 is beginning to take shape (photos below) and will get a big spotlight at the 2026 Presidents Cup. The South Course at Oakland Hills, renovated in spectacular fashion by Gil Hanse, is set to host eight USGA championships, including two U.S. Opens. It would be foolish for Hazeltine not to use the Ryder Cup as an opportunity to showcase its new direction and let the USGA and PGA of America know that it’s ready for more majors -Andy Johnson

Ron Kirby, 1932-2023

After a brief illness, golf architect Ron Kirby passed away last Thursday in Copenhagen, Denmark, at the age of 90. A longtime member of the American Society of Golf Course Architects, Kirby worked alongside a who’s who of modern designers: Dick Wilson, Robert Trent Jones, Gary Player, and Jack Nicklaus. Kirby’s solo portfolio includes Old Head Golf Links in Kinsale, Ireland, and the recently completed championship and short courses at Apes Hill Barbados.

Kirby was a raconteur and a fount of knowledge about post-World War II golf architecture. I recommend reading Adam Lawrence’s profile of him in this past January’s edition of Golf Course Architecture and listening to Derek Duncan’s interview with him in a 2020 installment of the Feed the Ball podcast. RIP. -GM

This week’s required viewing for design nerds

The U.S. Senior Women’s Open will take place this week at Waverley Country Club, a Chandler Egan design restored by Gil Hanse in 2012. Waverley is, in my opinion, the best golf course in Portland, Oregon, and it hasn’t been seen on broadcast TV since Marcy Newton won the U.S. Women’s Amateur there in 2000.

We’ll have plenty of Waverley content for you this week, including a Fried Egg podcast with superintendent Brian Koffler tomorrow and a Club TFE course profile on Thursday.

First, though, I have to brag: I attended the U.S. Senior Women’s Open media day last month and somehow ended up playing the course alongside Shannon Rouillard, the championship’s setup czar; David Jacobsen, Waverley board member and brother of Peter; and Jill McGill, last year’s winner at NCR Country Club. McGill, wearing a characteristically wild hat, was a total delight. She birdied the first three holes, establishing a never-to-be-relinquished lead in the gentlemen vs. ladies match that Mr. Jacobsen and I unwisely agreed to on the first tee. -GM

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Get your symposium on

The National Links Trust, which operates three municipal golf facilities in Washington, D.C., is holding its third annual symposium in the nation’s capital October 23-25. This year’s event will focus on how municipal courses can fund and carry out large-scale improvement projects. With money flowing into golf as the post-Covid boom continues, it’s crucial for low-budget public facilities to get a piece of the pie.

Last week, the NLT finalized its roster of speakers for the 2023 symposium. Author Tom Coyne and architect Gil Hanse will deliver the opening and closing keynote addresses, and panelists will include architects Mike Young, Troy Miller, and Jay Blasi, as well as superintendents Len Curtin, Clay Payne, and Rich Shilling. Less significantly, yours truly will serve as emcee of the event and moderator of the architecture panel.

If you’re in the DMV or can get there, consider purchasing a ticket. The National Links Trust is a leading light in American golf, and its yearly symposium has become an important setting for community-building and knowledge-sharing among advocates for municipal golf. -GM

Some courses we’ve photographed recently

Course 3 at Medinah Country Club (Medinah, Illinois)—Ongoing redesign by Ogilvy, Cocking & Mead; will host the 2026 Presidents Cup

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The Loop at Chaska (Chaska, Minnesota)—Benjamin Warren of Artisan Golf Design, joint venture between the City of Chaska and Barrier Free Golf, expected to open later this year

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Midland Hills Country Club (Roseville, Minnesota)—Seth Raynor, restored by Jim Urbina

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Quotable

“Let them have their damn ball; but if they wish to enter the lists of the academy of the Amateur and Open Championships then they must use implements that will compel them to reflect in their play the best traditions of the sport that have been inherited from the past. And such limitations would be in line with the practice that prevails when it comes to contests of skill in other sports.” –Max Behr

If there’s something (course, project, rumor, person, trend, etc.) you think belongs in Design Notebook, send an email to garrett@thefriedegg.com.