Whitten redeemed himself from the Bandon blog piece with a solid interview with Pete Dye. He discusses his recent work at TPC Sawgrass and Whistling Stratis, among other topics.
http://www.golfdigest.com/golf-courses/blogs/wheres-matty-g/2012/01/a-conversation-with-pete-dye.html#entry-moreA few highlights...
Sawgrass-- Reworked six greens to "make more docile": 4th, 11th, 13th, 16th, 17th and 18th
-- Portions of the six bulkheaded greens were stripped of sod, then he scraped away some layers of sand and replaced the sod. The sand buildup on some parts of those greens was two inches."
[Glad to see the changes at 13 green; balls that landed on the front-center ridge would often roll left and into the water.]
Whistling Straits-- Whitten concludes that Dye has "become infatuated with infinity greens."
-- "Blew out hillsides behind the fourth, eighth and 13th greens to remove all backdrops but Lake Michigan."
-- "Dropped the elevation of the tee boxes behind the 15th green so that, from portions of its fairway, it too looks like it’s floating right above the water."
-- Added some chipping areas and bunkers. Yes, because 960+ bunkers weren't enough. "We just needed some in some areas," said Dye.
Oh, and Dye is still shooting his age at 86. He recently shot a 77. Impressive.