PGA Golf Club (Dye Course)

[Jay Flemma]

Why don't we talk more about this course?  The one at Port St. Lucie?  It seems to have everything we champion here...

1) The public can play it at a reasonable rate year round.  The high rate - which is rare - gets to $92, but much of the time you can play it for between $50-60.

2)  It has excellent architecture - great green contours, and a lot of interesting holes.  1, 4, 5, 9, and the closing stretch come to mind.    You hit your first drive into a dunescaqpe, then a slightly uphill approach to a small, but curvaceous green.  4 is a great short wrap-around par-4.  I love the ski mogul bunker at 5.

3)  It's easily walkable.

4)  Lots of other ardent, well-traveled golfers play there, so you always have great company.

The bunker on 5 and the prettiest girl I have ever played golf with...and that includes when I met Nat Gulbis at Bayonne!  She's ***GASP!*** just as pretty than Nancy!



The short but dangerous par-4 4th.



I'll have some more pix soon.

[Jud_T]

Jay,

I agree that it's a pretty solid track.  Especially given the other public options in the area...

[Matt Kardash]

I've never played here but the few pics Ive seen have always looked very interesting. Look at the angles and all the crazy center-line hazards on google maps. I think it is one of the more interesitng courses to view from satellite. If you have more pics I'd love to see them.

[Jay Flemma]

Matt, can you please put up the google maps of it on the site?  That would be fascinating.

[John Kavanaugh]

When it comes down to brass tacks people just don't enjoy playing Dye courses.  The pictures you posted look horrible.

[Jerry Kluger]

Jay: It seems that you took far less than your normal number of photographs - were you so distracted by the company that you forgot about the land forms and paid attention to others? 

[Jay Flemma]

Jerry, it's the time crunch.  Between practicing law and writing - both full time jobs - I haven't had the time, especially not to upload all the pics to photobucket, then rip them up to here.  I'll get some more up when I get a chance.  but I also didn't get as many good shots as I'd have liked.  I'm playing there again soon, so I'll take more and add to the thread as I can.

I was indeed distracted by my playing partner.  She was exquisite:)  Diamonds don't shine as brightly as her smile.

[Ken Fry]

Jay,

What was her name?  She looks familiar to me....

I've taken groups to PGA Village before and the Dye Course is my favorite.  It's very playable for all levels of handicaps and fun.  Of course all the features are manufactured as you would expect on such a flat piece of property, but the mounding creates some wonderful green complexes and fairway features.  I must admit I've never been a fan of the volcano bunkers.....

On one trip, Pete and Alice Dye were walking out of the clubhouse area.  They were there looking over the course and suggesting some changes.  As a fellow Hoosier I introduced myself.  Alice couldn't have been nicer.  She asked one of the guys with me what his favorite course was and as he was answering she was sizing up the 9th hole on the old North Course (now the Ryder Course).  At the time it was a huge built up green with steep drop offs all around it.  She just shook her head and said, "I just don't get that.  How can that be fun."

Ken

[Jay Flemma]

Hey Ken, great to see you!  She's Kathy with a K and that's all I'm gonna say:)  She's from Cali.  Because of her, I canceled a round at [name of course omitted].

I just don't get why they don't plug the Dye course as much as they do the two Fazios...The back nine of the South is okay, but the North does nothing for me.  No architecture to speak of.  I like the volcano bunker if he does it once...maybe twice.  The only drawback to the Dye course for me is the power lines.  But it's such good golf and such an interesting walk.  I really love it.

John, I don't agree that people don't like playing Dye courses.  I actually think the opposite...Fowlers Mill is a pleasant course to play and walk for example.  So are Harbour Town and Bulle Rock.  then there's the crowd that like a challenge and go play Sawgrass and Kiawah.  Dye offers a great diversity of courses...something for everyone.

Where Joel Z when we need him?  Paging Joel!  The uniformed dwarf in the Polo Lounge has the white courtesy phone in his hand and the bell tolls for thee...

[John Mayhugh]

As far as publics go in that area, it's definitely at the top.  There are some really good holes on the course and it's quite a bit of fun to play, especially when it's firm. 

John K,
I don't agree with you about people not enjoying Dye courses.  I think they are quite a bit of fun to play, but it seems that one usually enjoys them more by playing from tees 2-300 yards shorter than they normally would.  Some of the aesthetics of the PGA Village course don't suit my eye - bunkering and mounding can look downright weird.  But these do provide a fair bit of intimidation and visual deception and if you can get past the look add to the fun of the course.  Lots of the bunkers would be better if they weren't situated on islands of rough.

[Matt Kardash]

Jay, here is the course on Google maps.
And for the record, I like the way Dye builds small pot bunkers into steep faces that stick up out of the ground. I like it when Dye mixes low profile greens with this type of bunkering. i find it makes for an interesting and unexpected look.

http://maps.google.ca/maps?f=q&source=s_q&hl=en&q=pga+village,+dye+course&sll=27.321049,-80.417948&sspn=0.008541,0.019205&ie=UTF8&rq=1&ev=zi&split=1&filter=0&radius=0.71&t=h&hq=pga+village,+dye+course&hnear=&ll=27.319829,-80.419149&spn=0.008541,0.019205&z=16