Roundup: First Pete Dye Tributes And Remembrances From The World Of Golf
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What a perfect headline and New York Times obituary from Richard Goldstein, where Pete Dye is fittingly remembered as a mad scientist and golf architecture’s Picasso from of a perfect quote from Arthur Hills.
Rarely using a set of grading plans for construction, relying instead on his instincts as he laid out a course, walking it in khakis and work boots or sitting atop a tractor, Mr. Dye emphasized strategy over raw power.
“I think of Pete like Picasso, somebody that has created a nontraditional design, whether it’s a painting, a sculpture or a golf course,” the prominent course designer Arthur Hills was quoted by ESPN as saying. “He was so innovative in a profession that is very traditional.”
Ron Whitten nails it with his GolfDigest.com tribute, especially this:
Before Pete, golf architects mass-produced their products. Assembly lines of bulldozers stretched from coast to coast and chugged out facsimiles of the latest fashions. Some would eventually be deemed top-flight tests of golf, but all bore trademarks of one another.
Pete was a disruptor 50 years before that became a corporate buzzword. We called his style of design “target golf,” for it embraced abrupt change in its landforms, its sink-or-swim choices, its death-or-glory options, its my-way-or-the-highway reasoning.
Ran Morrissett penned this salute for Golf.com, including this:
Dye famously remarked that he didn’t need to produce plans because he would be on site every day. That practical, hands-on approach spoke to his Midwestern roots. It also made an impact on people who worked for him, including Bill Coore and Tom Doak. Those two headline the Dye Tree of architecture, and their firms have gone on to produce more World Top 100 courses as selected by GOLF Magazine than any other architects over the past 25 years. Other notable designers who are quick to acknowledge Dye’s influence include Rod Whitman, Tim Liddy, Brian Curley, Lee Schmidt and Bobby Weed. The list goes on.
Jack Nicklaus:
PGA Tour Commissioner Jay Monahan:
We are deeply saddened to learn of the passing of Pete Dye, a true friend of the PGA TOUR and one of the most important course architects of this or any generation.
A 2008 inductee into the World Golf Hall of Fame, Pete’s influence is far-reaching, leaving a global imprint on both the amateur and professional games. He designed some of the best known golf courses in the world, though none more recognizable than THE PLAYERS Stadium Course at TPC Sawgrass. It was here that Pete masterfully brought Commissioner Deane Beman’s revolutionary stadium golf concept to life, melding Deane’s vision with a brilliantly designed course that is celebrated annually as one of the game’s great strategic courses during THE PLAYERS Championship.
Pete, though, was always quick to credit his beloved wife, Alice, with his success, including the concept for his most famous hole, the 17th island green at TPC Sawgrass. Together, Pete and Alice made a formidable team in golf and life, and with sons Perry and P.B., themselves successful course architects, they are recognized as one of the most accomplished families in golf.
Our thoughts and prayers go out to the entire Dye family.
Developer Herb Kohler in Doug Ferguson’s AP obituary.
“While Pete designed to torment the most accomplished professional, his forward tees allowed the most inexperienced to play,” said Herb Kohler, who brought Dye to Wisconsin to build courses such as Whistling Straits and Blackwolf Run. “He would challenge the professional both physically and mentally, while remarkably accommodating the raw amateur who was learning the game..”
The USGA’s Mike Davis:
With PGA West on the PGA Tour schedule next week, Larry Bohannan considers Dye’s desert legacy that actually started in a big way with La Quinta resort.
Dye was an active but not terribly well-known architect when he was first summoned to the Coachella Valley. Two Oklahoma club pros, Ernie Vossler and Joe Walser, wanted to build a couple of golf courses around the La Quinta Hotel. They had worked with Dye before and felt he was the guy for the job.
The result of the collaboration of Dye, Vossler and Walser were two amazing golf courses, the Mountain and the Dunes courses at what is now La Quinta Resort. The courses, opened in 1980 and 1981, were like nothing the desert golf world had seen before. They were dramatic, featuring big lakes, Dye’s trademark railroad ties, an island green set in the middle of the desert and the Santa Rosa Mountains as a backdrop.
This from Rory McIlroy:
Gil Hanse’s tribute:
And this short slideshow from photographer Fred Vuich:
