Golf course architect PETE DYE, who "designed some of the world's most famous golf courses," has passed away at the age of 94, according to Adam Schupak of GOLFWEEK. Dye is credited with designing more than 130 courses worldwide, and his "most notable" designs include The Players Stadium Course at TPC Sawgrass and Harbour Town Golf Links, two courses which host annual PGA Tour events. He also designed The Ocean Course at Kiawah Island and Whistling Straights, two venues which have hosted major championships. Dye's golf course legacy "stretches far beyond the courses he designed," as many of golf's "leading course architects got their start while working alongside him," including JACK NICKLAUS, BILL COORE, TOM DOAK, LEE SCHMIDT, BOBBY WEED and his son, P.B. DYE (GOLFWEEK.com, 1/9).
IMPACT ZONE: MORNING READ's Bradley S. Klein wrote Dye was the "most important golf course architect of the modern era." Often "overlooked" in what Dye created was how he "transformed the entire business of golf design." He "reclaimed the classic, Golden Age craft of 'design/build'" at a time when the conventional mode for architects was to "draw extensively on reams of paper and hand the plans over to a construction company" (MORNINGREAD.com, 1/9). GOLF.com's Ran Morrissett writes Dye was the "most influential figure in golf course architecture of the last half of the 20th century." Not only did he "build more world-class courses than anyone," he also "mentored a number of today's most talented architects" (GOLF.com, 1/10). GOLF DIGEST's Ron Whitten wrote Dye "reinvented golf course design," and was a "disruptor 50 years before that became a corporate buzzword" (GOLFDIGEST.com, 1/9).
PHILOSOPHY FOCUS: The AP's Doug Ferguson notes Dye "never thought golf was meant to be fair, inspiring him to build courses that visually intimidated" players of all skill levels (AP, 1/10). In N.Y., Richard Goldstein notes Dye "emphasized strategy over raw power" (N.Y. TIMES, 1/10). In Jacksonville, Garry Smits notes it was the Stadium Course at TPC Sawgrass that brought Dye the "most notoriety, attention and often derision." Former PGA Tour Commissioner DEANE BEMAN in '78 commissioned Dye to design a golf course that "catered to no individual style of play." Dye collaborated with his wife, ALICE, on numerous courses and gave her credit with "inspiring the decision" to make the 17th green at the Stadium Course an island. Dye also designed PGA West, host of the PGA Tour's The American Express championship, and Crooked Stick, another major championship host site (FLORIDA TIMES-UNION, 1/10).
