Pete Dye

Pete Dye was an American golf course architect, born on December 29, 1925 in Urbana, Ohio. His given name was Paul Dye Jr. He first made a success of a career in insurance, then turned to course design in his mid-thirties. His wife, Alice Dye, was a fine competitive golfer in her own right and his design collaborator throughout his life. A tour of Scottish courses in 1963 is said to have shaped his style profoundly, and he went on to leave more than 200 courses around the world. He died on January 9, 2020 in La Romana, Dominican Republic, at the age of 94.

Dye’s work is known for small greens, deep bunkers, and the use of railroad ties to shore up bunkers and tees. His most famous hole is the island green at the 17th, a par 3 at TPC Sawgrass Stadium Course in Florida, which has hosted the Players Championship since 1982 and has come to be called the most frightening tee shot in golf. He was also behind a long list of America’s leading tournament venues, among them Harbour Town Golf Links in South Carolina (1969, designed with Jack Nicklaus), Crooked Stick in Indiana, the Ocean Course at Kiawah Island in South Carolina, and Casa de Campo in the Dominican Republic. He received the Old Tom Morris Award in 2003 and the PGA Tour’s lifetime achievement award in 2005, and in 2008 he was inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame in the lifetime achievement category.

His elder son, Perry Dye, learned design and construction on site from the age of twelve under his father Pete and his mother Alice. Crooked Stick in Indiana and The Golf Club in Columbus, Ohio were his first projects, and during his university years he also joined the construction of Oak Tree in Oklahoma and of Casa de Campo. He was first credited as a co-designer in 1971, and in 1984 he set up his own firm, Dye Designs. From 1986 he took his work overseas, first to Japan, where he was involved with more than 20 courses, and to Korea, where he was sole architect on 15. Over his career he worked on more than 80 courses in over 15 countries. Perry described his own job as taking his father’s design work out into the world, saying there was only one architect he needed to model himself on. He died on July 8, 2021 in Denver, Colorado, at the age of 68.

Among the courses GoGolf lists, two in Southeast Asia are the work of the Dyes, father and son. Poresia Golf Country Club in Johor, Malaysia opened in 1990 as a 36-hole facility; the two designed all four of its nines, and the Orchid and Hibiscus courses are described as having been built under their direct supervision on site. The facility was reduced to 27 holes in 2013, and around 2020 it was renamed Senibong Golf Club and reconfigured to 18 holes. Subhapruek Golf Club in Thailand was built in 1993; according to the club’s own website it was called Bangna Country Club when Pete Dye laid it out. Built on flat ground of rice fields and wetland, it brings water into play on almost every hole.

Dye courses you can book on GoGolf

• Subhapruek Golf Club (Samut Prakan, Thailand) — built in 1993. Formerly Bangna Country Club. Designed by Pete Dye and Perry Dye

Courses listed for information only

The following course is not currently open for booking through GoGolf. It appears on the site as an information page only.

• Poresia Golf Country Club (Johor, Malaysia) — opened 1990. The Dyes designed all four nines. Later reduced in size and renamed Senibong Golf Club

Tee times and rates for a given day can be checked on each course page or in the GoGolf app.

See the other golf course architects here.