Ohio Golf Journal February 2020

This quote from Pete Dye can be found inscribed at the base of the bronze statue that sits near the clubhouse of the Dye Course at French Lick. The French Lick course doesn’t sit atop Mt. Everest, but i t does traverse the second highest peak in Indiana. A young Pete Dye first learned to maintain a golf course and how to play the game in Urbana, Ohio on a nine-hole golf course built by his father. Throughout his 94 years he lived a life only dreamed about by ardent golfers. Dye created several masterpieces in his lifetime. Just to name a few, the Ocean Course on Kiawah, Whistling Straits,The Golf Club, HarbourTown Links at Sea Pines, on Hilton Head and TPC Sawgrass. Fabled Course Designer, Pete Dye Passes at the age of 94 Dye never got tied up in fancy drawings or topographical maps. He preferred to observe the landscape and visualize what a golf hole should look like, given the available terrain. He got his boots and hands dirty laying our his ‘Dye-abolical’ creations. Dye was an accomplished golfer and competed in the U.S. Amateur, plus he qualified for the 1957 U.S. Open at the Inverness Club. While in the Army and stationed at nearby Ft. Bragg, Dye would often make the 30-mile to Pinehurst and came to know Donald Ross. In fact, Chris Lutzke, who worked for Dye for over 30 years told us, “Pete’s relationship with Mr. Ross was one of the things of which, he was most proud.” “The ardent golfer would play Mount Everest if somebody would put a flagstick on top…golf is not a fair game so why build a fair golf course.” Ohio Golf Journal