Pete Dye and Attention to Detail

[Padraig Dooley]

Pete Dye in his My Shot interview in Golf Digest mentions

'A good designer makes sure the cartpath runs along the right-hand side of the women's tee.'

He then gives the reason. Anyone like to guess the reason? Are little details similar to this what separates average designers from good or great ones?   

[Scott Sander]

(Guess edited out so as not to spoil the fun.)

I'll say this: I bet it's a real cheeky reason.

[Adam Clayman]

If cart path placement separates the average from the good and the great we might as well discuss the pro tour.

[Clyde Johnston]

I haven't read the article yet but I've heard through the grapevine that Alice asked Pete to put the path on the right side so the guys can't see the women's rears when they tee their ball up.

[Padraig Dooley]

I haven't read the article yet but I've heard through the grapevine that Alice asked Pete to put the path on the right side so the guys can't see the women's rears when they tee their ball up.

Yes, Clyde that is the reason, although he didn't quite put it in those terms.

[Padraig Dooley]

If cart path placement separates the average from the good and the great we might as well discuss the pro tour.

Adam, cart placement is only a minor detail, but isn't it many minor details that separate the average from the good?

[Adam Clayman]

Yes that's correct but CP's can only detract from the visuals. To many that may be paramount but I'll take a great course with terrible CP's over a crap design with perfectly placed paths any day. 

[Wyatt Halliday]

What if she's left-handed?

[David Stamm]

Can Pete design some tees so I can get checked out by the ladies? On second thought, that might make them walk off the course.....

[David Neveux]

DAMN HIM 

[Adrian_Stiff]

Padraig- I cant really think of any real reason why a cart should be on any fixed side, its simply what fits best and often it has to be the straigtest route or else the buggers wont stay on the path!

[Mike Hendren]

For you old-timers:

Mary Jane just laughed - because she knew she wasn't wearing underwear.

[Richard Hetzel]

What if she's left-handed?

Then Alice's rule is sunk.

[Ian Andrew]

In recent months it's become more and more apparent that many of the great Stanley Thompson's stories are just that - stories that he created to sell a certain image of himself and make himself appear larger than life figure. My favourite being that he was born in Scotland despite a clear birth certificate from Toronto.

I'm just asking - since I don't know the man at all - some of you do.

Is it at all possible that a lot of these Pete Dye "quips" are said for the exact same reason?

[Tom_Doak]

Ian:

I don't remember Pete Dye ever saying that line about cart paths to me when I worked for him, but it would not have been at all out of character.

I DO remember him saying that one reason he had the 18th hole at the TPC at Sawgrass with water left and spectator mounds right, was that most golfers were right-handed, so the spectators would be looking at the players' faces and not their behinds.  It's not too much of a stretch to extend that argument to cart paths.

[Kalen Braley]

Ian:

I don't remember Pete Dye ever saying that line about cart paths to me when I worked for him, but it would not have been at all out of character.

I DO remember him saying that one reason he had the 18th hole at the TPC at Sawgrass with water left and spectator mounds right, was that most golfers were right-handed, so the spectators would be looking at the players' faces and not their behinds.  It's not too much of a stretch to extend that argument to cart paths.

I guess they get all that butt staring out of the way on 17 where its pretty much the opposite of 18.    

[Tom_Doak]

Kalen:

Actually, when the TPC at Sawgrass was built, there was a big spectator mound on a peninsula sticking out into the lake between #16 and #17.

They took it out after about 5 years because you could only see one of the two holes at a time, and the people left of 16 green or 17 green couldn't see what was going on at the other hole ... in fact there were a lot of inopportune gallery-noise moments, i.e. a roar on 17 just as somebody was putting on 16.  Nowadays, with the mound gone, the players on 16 wait to putt when someone is on 17 tee.

[Kalen Braley]

Tom,

Thats an interesting little tidbit, I was under the impression it was always wide open like it is now, but makes perfect sense in that context.

What was the biggest take away you learned from Mr. Dye?