By Fred Altvater
Alice Dye was one of the leading women in golf. She was not just the woman behind the man, Pete Dye, she was active in the family business and golf community.
She was the first female President of the American Society of Golf Course Architects (ASGCA), and 2017 Donald Ross Award recipient.
Alice Dye was the matriarch of the most famous family in golf course design. When husband Pete needed more dirt to construct TPC Sawgrass it was Alice that suggested he keep digging which created the famed 17th hole “island green.
Most golf fans are unaware, but Alice was a champion golfer. She won more than 50 amateur golf tournaments during her playing career. Among her many titles, Alice won the Indiana State Championship nine times, three Florida State Championships and 11 Indianapolis City Championships. She won the Doherty Cup, and was a member of the 1970 Curtis Cup team.
Alice met Pete at Rollins College in Winter Park, Florida. The couple married in 1950 and moved to Indiana, where Pete began a career in golf course architecture in 1955.
Their commitment to golf course design was cemented after a tour of Scottish golf courses that followed Pete’s competing in the 1963 British Amateur.
Alice said in a 2018 interview,
“Both Pete and I were champion golfers and played famous courses, which influenced our design features. I think our golfing ability was significant to our design work. It helped us to make tees for all abilities, as we truly understood the game. I have worked hard on playable yardages for women.”.
Alice was the co-designer for numerous courses, including: PGA West, LaQuinta, California; Harbour Town Golf Links and Long Cove Club, Hilton Head, South Carolina; Crooked Stick Golf Club, Carmel, Indiana; and Teeth of the Dog, La Romana, Dominican Republic.
She always brought a woman’s perspective to their designs and was a huge proponent for the “Two Tee System for Women” and encouraged clubs to introduce additional forward tees for women.
A leader in golf administration, Dye served on the USGA Women’s Committee and USGA Handicap Committee, the LPGA Advisory Council and on the Board of the Women’s Western Golf Association.
Many of golf’s leading course architects honed their craft while working alongside the Dyes. The couple’s sons, P.B. Dye and Perry Dye have also gone on to develop their own golf course design portfolios, plus their niece, Cynthia Dye McGarey also has designs to her credit.
Alice Dye received numerous awards and honors, including inductions into the Indiana Hall of Fame and Florida State Golf Association Hall of Fame; The Heritage of Indianapolis Award; the Don Rossi Award for Lifetime Contributions to Golf; the Women’s Western Golf Association’s Woman of Distinction Award; and the PGA of America’s 2004 First Lady of Golf Award.
Alice Dye led a full life and gave more to the golf community than will ever be realized.
