Lots of interesting questions here. Last evening's event was very enjoyable and the 89 year old Mr. Dye did not disappoint. The session was moderated by a Crooked Stick member and he asked the first several questions before opening it up to the (friendly) crowd of Crooked Stick members. They had one microphone and the moderator would ask a question and then hand the mic to Mr. Dye. Just to give you a taste of it, here was the first question:
Moderator: "Pete, in 1963 you travelled to the British Isles to play in the British Amateur. We know that you stayed after the event and played approximately 30 courses over there, which no doubt influenced your design philosophy. Can you tell us, why did you decide to become a golf course architect?" (moderator then handed the mic to Mr. Dye).
Mr. Dye: "I don't know" (hands the mic back to the Moderator as the crowd erupts in laughter).
I asked him the following question: "Mr. Dye, did you ever meet Seth Raynor or Donald Ross in person?"
His answer was that he had never met Seth Raynor, but that he spent a good bit of time in Pinehurst with Donald Ross near the end of his life. Donald Ross died in 1948. Pete would have been 22 at the time. Pete told me that he was in the military as a young man and was stationed in North Carolina and he was fairly close to Pinehurst. He played a lot of golf in Moore County during that period of his life. He said he never got to play a round of golf with Mr. Ross, but that he got to know him quite well. I thought that was fascinating. Two of golf's most significant architects, their combined careers spanning more than a century, intersecting at a magical moment in time. Pretty cool.
TS