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Reflections |
Pete Dye
Golf course designer
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Imagine what the résumé of Pete Dye must look like: Harbour Town Golf Links, Crooked Stick, TPC Sawgrass, La Quinta and Whistling Straits, among many others.
That’s a résumé that could be written in crayon and still look impressive.
A legend in golf, Dye has been designing golf courses for 48 years. Many of them have been designed in conjunction with his wife of 58 years, Alice. Before Pete Dye was in the business of creating famous golf courses, he was a successful insurance salesman in Indiana. He served in the Army, 82nd Airborne Infantry, during World War II.
A winner of the Old Tom Morris Award (2003) and the PGA Tour Lifetime Achievement Award (2005), Dye also is an excellent golfer, having won the 1958 Indiana State Amateur and taking second in that event twice.
— Seth Jones, senior associate editor
"There are 26,000 superintendents around the country, and these guys go to places like Kansas State, Purdue, Michigan State. That’s a lot of people, a lot of influence. They’re environmental stewards, and they have the educational background, so if the EPA comes up with something wild, they have the education to answer. We have 250 members at Crooked Stick, and our superintendent (Kirk Richmond, a three-year GCSAA member) is from Rutgers. That’s one of the best schools in the business. And he’s just a kid, but when he opens his mouth, he can put them where they belong; he passes them like a pay train passes a tram. Used to be a superintendent was just a guy off the farm. Now I talk to them about fusarium, and they start throwing words out that are over my head. And I’ve been talking to superintendents for 50 years — think of what they do to these board members. And there’s 26,000 of them… they’re easily influencing 600,000." |
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