... under Courses by Country.
Do you like Picasso’s early work during his Blue period or his Cubist work in the following decade? Maybe his surrealism or neo-expressionism works much later resonate more. It’s a personal preference. This artist’s incomparable career spanned seven decades and the study of Picasso is tantamount to the study of modern art. Could Picasso have stayed with one style his whole career? Perhaps, but ever restless, he opted instead to push himself and the bounds of his profession. In so doing, he stayed energized and he influenced gobs and gobs of people along the way.
What a premise to talk about the eighty-six year old Pete Dye and his peerless career! To discuss modern golf architecture is to discuss Pete Dye. Do you prefer his early lower profile Harbour Town, The Golf Club era or do you favor the grand projects featuring sweeping long vistas like The Ocean Course at Kiawah, Whistling Straits and here at French Lick built in the latter twenty years of his career? Or perhaps the period when he created so many courses on flat properties in South Carolina and Florida?
I was on the phone two days ago with Bill Coore asking him about Dye and his place in his profession. Bill said that he appreciates the fresh, innovative approach that an artist like Dye has brought to golf course architecture for over five decades. Specifically, Coore marvels at how one person could directly turn the direction of golf course architecture not once but TWICE; at Harbour Town and then again at TPC Sawgrass. Bill noted how being in the field and working for Dye forces you to become confident in what you are doing. I asked if that is why so many of Dye’s people (Liddy, Coore, Whitman, Doak, etc.) have successfully hung up their own shingle. Bill said yes, surely that must be a factor. I suggested to Bill that his own work is easier to stereotype than Dye’s and he agreed. Like Picasso, you are less sure of what you will see with Dye than any other great golf course architect. Some may view that as a criticism but I think that is GREAT. As Coore said, Dye is a ‘no fear’ guy. Bill also paid special note to Alice Dye and what her patience and communication skills meant to their overall accomplishments.
I didn’t play the Dye Course at French Lick as there wasn’t time to photograph in the optimum morning light, play and catch a 1pm flight out of Evansville. Personally, I am glad that I didn’t because the photos turned out so well – see if you agree! My initial reservation about the course was that its fairways were too narrow, averaging just 29 yards in width. After some research, a different picture emerges. Dye talks about his love of a new slow growing rough which stays relatively short. Because of its advent, Dye moved away from his usual wide fairways. Though you will likely miss a lot of fairways (especially if you play from the wrong set of tees), the result is more likely to be a flyer than a pitch out or lost ball. Couple this rough with intermediate sized greens in the 4,500 square foot range and an interesting challenge emerges. Unlike Bill Coore, Tim Liddy has been to French Lick and he amplifies on this : ‘The golf course looks hard and plays easy from the correct tees. Coore and Doak have many examples where width acts as the primary asset for playability. This golf course has width OFF the fairways, as the rough is cut very short for everyday play enabling the golf course to play wider than it looks. As there are chipping areas on one side of each green site the width for the approach shot can be nearly twice what it appears at first glance.’ The vast majority of my favorite courses feature 40 to 55 yard wide fairways but this is a different take. I can’t wait to go back and play this course next year and sort this all out in my own noggin.
A remarkable design emerged on top of Mount Airie from Pete Dye.
As true of any profession, everyone is best off when they stick to their strengths. Dye was not skilled at drawing plans so he had to be in the field in order to communicate what he wanted. Later, when certain agencies required drawings Dye involved others with his operation. As Liddy explains:
'Dye was working on Kiawah and he asked that I visit him there and work out of his condo. It was a very special introduction to golf course architecture. Drawing in the mornings and shadowing him in the afternoons while he built Kiawah for the Ryder Cup. He would show me his concepts on the ground at the same time I was drafting them. Since I was drawing his golf course (grading and layout plans) he needed to explain, in detail, his reasoning on each golf hole, as well as all features; greens, tees, bunkers, etc. Because permits were beginning to be required by governments for development on his other projects all over the country, I quickly became a good conduit for preparing the necessary grading and layout drawings. This lead to more and more responsibility, and I eventually became a project architect, and later a full-fledged society (ASGCA) member.'
Tim has seen up close what Dye has meant to his profession and it serves as but one example of Dye’s impact on a fellow architect. From a distance, Dye meant to me “no coat and tie”! I have seen countless photos of Robert Trent Jones in a suit and tie, reminding me of my grandfather who wore a tie under his cardigan sweater every Saturday and Sunday. Yet, the majority of Dye pictures involve mud covered work boots. I think that is the seismic difference between Jones and Dye and subsequently Dye’s students: The hands on, in the field approach to architecture. Dye singlehandedly transformed it from a desk job to a dirt job and we should all be thankful for that. It is certainly true for Liddy, Whitman, Coore, Doak et al. The courses spawned from the sweat of these guys making it happen are as good as any that have ever been built.
And the Pete Dye Course at French Lick is certainly Dye’s design as he made over 150 visits during construction. I doubt that eighty-six year old Dye will ever pour so much personal attention into a project again. So, studying the Dye Course is most instructive as one can glean what the Master has learned during his 50+ years in the business. Plus I give him a lot of credit for always remaining true to himself throughout his career and for never mellowing. Most people tend to fade away toward the back end of their career – not Pete Dye! If you want to study golf course architecture, you need to soak in its wide variety. What a treat to juxtapose this course with 161 bunkers and six waste areas built on a severe site against its sister Ross course in the valley with its beautiful topography and the recently profiled Huntercombe with only thirteen bunkers.
Don't you think that as your appreciation for variety increases in any art form, so too does your understanding? I do. Hope you enjoy this profile of a course that provides beauty and challenge like no other.
Cheers,