"I don't understand golfers one lick"

John Paul Newport profiles Pete Dye and his new course just 30 miles from Manhattan. Thanks to reader John for this.

Never formally trained as an architect, he calls excessive dependence on computer-aided design "rubbish," pointing out that all the classic courses, including nearby ones like Winged Foot and Baltusrol, were built essentially by feel. He says his primary goal is to create a pleasing and surprising variety of looks and challenges.

Why are his courses so hard? "You might as well ask why people who are members of perfectly good golf clubs fly to Scotland and Ireland to play golf in the rain for a week and never come close to breaking 90," he said. Most of his designs are for destination resorts that people will only play a handful of times a year -- and difficulty seems to be what they are after.

"I don't understand golfers one lick," he said. "Personally, if I couldn't break 90 on a course, I'd probably never want to play it again."