Favorite Pete Dye Course/Holes

[Anthony Gray]

 On the heels of the release of his new book which of his courses is your favorite?

  Favorite par 3 par 4 par 5

[PCCraig]

One of the best Par-3's I have ever seen or played was the 14th at The Ocean Course. Just amazing.

[Chris_Clouser]

I have played every course by Dye in Indiana I think except for Bridgewater and the new French Lick course.

My favorite would probably be The Fort, but Crooked Stick is right there as well.  If you say the Crooked Stick of my high school years it wins by a fair margin, but the current course is about even with the The Fort.  The Stick has just changed too much for my taste, or perhaps it is just nostalgia.  After that I think Brickyard is pretty good along with Mystic Hills up in Culver.  

[Deucie Bies]

My favorite Dye course is Radrick Farms, the University of Michigan alumni course.  It is a bit short, but it is always fun to play and the greens are pretty difficult to read.

[Jay Flemma]

I have played every course by Dye in Indiana I think except for Bridgewater and the new French Lick course.

My favorite would probably be The Fort, but Crooked Stick is right there as well.  If you say the Crooked Stick of my high school years it wins by a fair margin, but the current course is about even with the The Fort.  The Stick has just changed too much for my taste, or perhaps it is just nostalgia.  After that I think Brickyard is pretty good along with Mystic Hills up in Culver.  

Get up to Fowlers Mill if you can, near Cleveland.  It's one of his first designs and has seom great center line hazards.

[PCCraig]

Chris, as we have discussed on this site before, I love the Fort.

Purdue-Kampen is also very underrated. The par-4 blind second shot 12th or 13th is a really cool hole. Also I really really like the par-5 16th there.

[Anthony Gray]

   I love No 5 at Whistling Straits. Par 5 named the snake. Very unique design. This hole does not match the others on the course but I cannot remember an other hole like it in the world.

[Eric Franzen]

The 11th at TPC Sawgrass is a really good par 5, with some deliciously tempting options for the second shot.

My favorite par 3, of the Pete Dye courses I've played, would be the Redan-ish 13th at The Dye Preserve in Jupiter, FL.

[John Foley]

Can't imagine a better Dye course than The Ocean Course

Best holes I wopuld add #11 at TPC Sawgrass, great risk reward and a ton of ways to play the hole

[Andy Scanlon]

I really liked the Moutain Course at La Quinta -- but that may be more the setting than the course.

[Joel Zuckerman]

I love the par-3 2nd at the Golf Club and the 17th at Whistling Straits, though a great argument could be made for the 17th at Harbour Town, also.

I like the opener at The Honors Course, and the 12th on the same course is another great par-4.  The Fort #10 is also very cool.

As for par 5s, I concur with Charlie Dusic--I love the 5th at Pete Dye Golf Club, and I'm also partial to the 16th at Colleton River.

 Of course, I could easily name 20 more in each category, but why waste the bandwith?

[Andy Troeger]

Favorite course is The Golf Club by a whisker over Blackwolf Run River. There are something like 8 by Pete Dye in my top 25-30 courses, so he's well represented--those are both in my top five. If not for the 13th at the River Course (par three over the trees or around the river) it would likely be my favorite.

I'm just going to go with the first one to come to mind that I really like--could think of a lot.
Par 3: 7th at Whistling Straits
Par 4: 5th at Blackwolf Run
Par 5: 16th at TPC Sawgrass

[Steve Lang]

 

OAKTREE - all 18.. seemingly no rest on any hole

[Matt Varney]

My Pete Dye Top 5 Courses

TPC Sawgrass for being an innovator and doing something no one else would try.
Whistling Straits for what was created out of nothing with dirt, sand and great shaping.
The Ocean Course because it is pure golf and was almost destroyed during construction.
Pete Dye Golf Club for the steadfast commitment and time it took to create a great place.
The Honors Course & Jack Lupton for creating a golf course dedicated to amateur golf.

[CJ Carder]

My favorites based on nothing really more than that I just enjoyed playing them:

- TPC Sawgrass
- The River Course at Kingsmill
- Harbor Town

Some favorite holes overall:
- TPC Sawgrass= #4, #9, #11, #12, #16, #17
- River Course @ Kingsmill = #1, #11 (old version), #14, #16, #17
- Harbor Town = #9
- TPC Virginia Beach (now VB National) = #4, #11
- Bulle Rock = #7, #14

[Scott Sander]

It's nice to live in Central Indiana if you enjoy Dye's work.  There's something here for every skill level and price range.  So my list will reflect that range, too.

Favorite course - The Fort.  Might have been the original Eagle Creek - but that's no longer in one piece.

Favorite par 3 - Any of four on Crooked Stick.  I'll go with 17 today. 

Favorite par 4 - #12 at Sahm.  I'm guessing Chris Clouser, Nixer, and I may be the only ones here who have even seen this hole.  Lots to love or loathe - dogleg left with left-to-right banking, a tree stand right where you'd like to hit it, totally blind approach to the green.   And you can play it and 17 others for about the price of one sleeve of balls.  On a premier course, this hole would be fodder for lots of criticism, but on a dirt-cheap muni it slaps you awake and makes you say, 'Whoa, that's not something I expected.'

Favorite par 5 - #15 at Brickyard Crossing (yes, the one with an OB fence hard by the fairway, a cart path cutting through the landing area, and a high-voltage tower in the left rough.  So sue me. ) The go-for-it second shot has as much pure pucker power as you'll find.

[Chris_Clouser]

Pat,

As I have said many times on this site, until they get the course conditions at Purdue to where anybody can go and play it the Kampen Course is not going to be a favorite of mine.  If they did that then the design aspects of the course would stick out.  It could be a top 15 course in the state if it wasn't maintained as a US Open course everyday.

Scott,

I love the 12th at Sahm.  It is easily the best hole on that course.  There is a hole at Kampen, the 15th, that has a lot of the same characteristics but is not as good. 

If I had to pick particular holes, sorry I missed that point, it would be hard.
 
My favorite par 5 would probably be the 11th at The Fort.  There are a ton of par fours that I love by Dye.  For par 3s I might go with the 13th at Brickyard just to be different.

[Anthony Gray]

  Par 4 .....The Honors No 15..... tee shot over water 2nd shot over water to a green with water to the left.


  Does anybody have a photo of this hole?

[Jim_Coleman]

    No love here for Teeth of the Dog - arguably Pete's favorite?  I'll nominate #16 as my par 3 (although all three ocean holes are incredible) and #15 as a great, short par 4 - maybe his best.

[John Nixon]

Favorite par 4 - #12 at Sahm.  I'm guessing Chris Clouser, Nixer, and I may be the only ones here who have even seen this hole. 

In fact, I drove by #12 last night on my way to Menard's to stock up for the latest honey-do list. I could just discern the line of trees along the creek on the right, etched against a deceptively benevolent October dusk, beckoning me to certain watery doom.... 

Scott is correct, central Indiana gives you lots of chances to play early, mid and late Dye. I've played:
Sahm
Eagle Creek (original championship 18)
Harbour Trees
The Fort
Kampen
Plum Creek

I'd have to say of those The Fort would be #1, though I've not played it for about 5 years. Just a wonderful variety of holes. And Chris, I'd agree that Kampen might take that spot if it were toned down just a tad. Plum Creek suffers from pehaps the worst ambience of any course in the area - innumerable rows of tract housing surrounding the entire course. Consequently, I don't think it gets the credit it deserves, although it is priced waaaay above where it should be to get me out there more often.

Par 3: #17 (original Eagle Creek, now #8, Pines course)
Par 4: #12 Sahm, #2 Fort (I love short par 4s)
Par 5: #12 Plum Creek, #16 Kampen

Ask me tomorrow, I'll give you 5 different ones.

[Andy Troeger]

I agree with the comments that Kampen could be better with different maintenance practices. They seem to think that they should maintain Prairie Dunes-like gunch--Kampen ain't no PD! 

I don't see it approaching The Fort or Crooked Stick even with some changes--its a nice design given the land not being the most interesting, but The Fort has some really interesting rolling property.

If the French Lick course is as good as it might be, that could be the best Dye course in Indiana. Looking forward to getting back to see that one.

One course that I enjoyed that won't be mentioned most likely is Promontory in Utah. It did not remind of most of the other Dye course I've played--the back nine reminded me more of Jim Engh's canyon courses than anything Dye has done. I don't put it quite up there with Dye's finest, but its very strong in its own right. That's about the same feeling I have about The Fort, although I might like Promontory a little better.

[Mike Hendren]

I like the opener at The Honors Course, and the 12th on the same course is another great par-4. 

Word Up on the 12th.

bogey

[Tim Leahy]

the back nine at La Quinta Mountain and Moreno Valley Ranch.

[Sandy Smith]

I have been lucky to play most of the courses mentioned before me . I am at a true loss for words why the Stadium Course at PGA West has so few fans . My only thought is that most play so poorly there that they can not enjoy a course that was built to test the best . I think it is a classic .

[Richard Hetzel]

I really like #18 at the Fort in Indianapolis, IN.