Greatest Female Golf Course Architects

[Nigel Islam]

Jeff and Tom-

Thanks for sharing the perspectives on Alice Dye.

  I'm particularly facinated by her and the role she may have played in some of my favorite courses.   Last year I had the chance to spend a day with Pete Dye, and I asked him about Sahm -a humble muni that was one of their earliest- and the line from "Bury me..." that implies Alice designed it.

  If I recall my question (which in hindsight I wished I'd worded ever-so-slightly differently), I asked who really built Sahm.  (Shoulda said 'designed', but I had been trying all day to avoid that word.)  He spent about 3 minutes telling me all the suggestions she made that were implemented that make it successful.  Then he grinned and said, "But I don't remember her up on that tractor in that heat pushing that dirt
around.  (pause)  So I reckon I built that sucker.

At first I thought I'd gotten a pretty straight answer, but like a lot of things he told me that day, it got considerably less clear and more interesting the more I let it rattle around in my head.

I love Sahm. I know I shouldn't but I had a lot of fun playing there when I lived in Indy years ago. 

[Carl Johnson]

Marion Hollins is cited more often as a developer than an architect, yet Alister MacKenzie, her "architect" of choice, credited her with significant architectural contributions at Pasateimpo and Cypress Point, and appreciated her contributions to Augusta National.