I am authoring a new book about Crooked Stick Golf Club. It is due to be released in time for the U.S. Senior Open in late July, which Crooked Stick is hosting.
The title is: "Love at First Site: Pete & Alice Dye's Crooked Stick Golf Club" -- and the manuscript goes to the publisher in just a couple of weeks. I know, I'm running out of time!
As a last stab, I thought I would ask if anyone has any old/historic photos or artifacts of Crooked Stick they would be willing to offer to the project. I have a decent collection of old photos, but I wish I had more (including score cards from the mid-1960s). If you don't have anything, do you know someone who does?
FYI, I am a long-time Crooked Stick member and have spent many hours interviewing Pete and Alice in their home off the 18th fairway -- and have done lots of other research, including wading through the extensive files of one of the club's founders, Gene Pulliam (former USGA VP).
My publisher is PMP Books in Ithaca, NY. (They published a business book of mine in 2008 -- not really golf publishers, but they offered to take on this project with me.) It will be a full color coffee table style book, similar in size/format to "Perry Maxwell's Prairie Dunes" by Mal Elliott. I'll let folks know when it's available -- will probably be on Amazon and also available through the Crooked Stick Pro Shop and maybe directly from me. The book is not sponsored or financed by the club.
It's simply a labor of love by a guy who wants to tell the story of what Pete and Alice did at Crooked Stick and to tell the sometimes crazy tale of how the club and golf course came to be. Say what you will about Pete and the many changes he's made to the course, but I want the golfing world and future Crooked Stick members to know what it is that makes the place so special. Crooked Stick is, plain and simple, just a golf club. The book, I hope, will help to preserve that ideal far into the future.
I mentioned it was a "labor of love," right? (Translation: it's not a big budget affair) Truth is, it's a "no-budget" affair. I can't pay for photos, but I would be happy to give a photo credit if we use your photos in the book.
Please understand I can't guarantee if something will go in the book, but I would sure love to see if there are some important photos out there that would add to the story.
Thanks to all, and if you have something, please contact me directly (soon!) by email:
Chris Wirthwein
chris@wirthwein.com