Since Ran asked me to send out some other descriptions, I thought that I'd send this one. The Pete Dye Club is in the coal fields of West Virginia. Again as with the Cuscowilla description it probably better for replies to be sent under a separate topic so people don't have to re-load this all the time.Pete Dye Golf ClubI've played a number of Pete Dye's courses, including Kiawah - Ocean, PGA West Stadium, La Quinta Mountain and the Paiute Nu-Waiv-Kai courses. I've also spent a week walking around the TPC at Sawgrass Stadium course. Given all that, I think that The Pete Dye Golf Club is the best course of his that I've had the opportunity to see or play. The course has all the challange you can ask for without many of the odd-ball features that he has been criticized for over the years. I don't even remember seeing one railroad tie out there (except under the mining cars at the entrance.)The course is in a small valley just outside Bridgeport, West Virginia. The area is an old coal mining site and the theme is carried through some of the holes. A river winds through the course and comes into play on a number of holes. There are also two large man-made lakes that are in play for 2 or 3 holes. The tees, fairways and greens are all bent grass and the overall condition was excellent. The land has a fair amount of ups and downs but it certainly isn't hilly. It is a very easy walking course. I played with a caddie in 2 hours and 30 minutes, playing through all three of the groups in front of me. There are no real long walks between any green or tees, but you do have to climb a pretty decent hill to the to the 7th tee. The day I played, I teed off at 9AM and had 3 groups of 4 ahead of me and one other group of 3 including ex-Philadelphia Phillie John Kruk behind me. I didn't see any players other than these while I was there. The course plays up to 7166 yards on the Championship tees. I played the "Back" tees which are 6750 yards. The yardages I'll give are from those tees.The first hole is a par 4 of 375 yards. The hole goes slightly up hill for the first 250 yards. There are 8 small bunkers down the left side. At the 250 yard mark the fairway turns left and drops about 15 feet to a lower level. The carry over the bunkers is about 240. From this lower level the shot is back up hill to a green that is level with the first part of the fairway. and has to carry a small pot bunker at the front left. The best way to play the hole is actually to layup on the top level and leave a shot of 115 to 140 yards in. Unfortunately I didn't do that and had to hit a half wedge up the hill over a small pot bunker, which I fatted my shot into. Next time I'll know better. From the upper level there is a bunker that is 30 or 40 yards short of the green that must be carried, but otherwise the green is open.The second is a true cape hole with the river to the left of the entire fairway and green. It plays 406 yards and the tee shot must carrry the river. You can bite off as much as you want. There is one fairway bunker on the far side about 260 yards from the tee. The green has two bunkers between it and the river and is set against a hillside.Number 3 is a par 4 of 352 yards. A large bunker runs almost 100 yards down the right side ending about 125 yards from the green. About 260 yards from the tee, a deep chasm comes in from the right and narrows the fairway to almost nothing. Longer hitters need to layup short of this. The green angles from left to right with 2 bunkers guarding the center and right hole locations. A couple of tiers divide the green and the back tier slopes away.The fourth is a par 3 with tees at 147, 175, 200 and 225. The green is 38 yards deep, but looks larger. The green wraps around a lake to the left. A bunker behind the right side and a chipping area of the right front guard against the bailout. To me this was one of the least interesting holes on the course as it was really just a standard par 3 over/around a lake. I'm sure the back hole location from the back tees would be really hard, but not particularly interesting.Number 5 is a really neat par 5. The hole is 525 yards (580 from the back). The river runs along the entire right side of the hole and the lake next to #4 is on the left ending about 100 yards from the tee. The tee shot is flat and hit towards a wall of bunkers in the distance. More bunkers squeeze you from the left the further you go. The river is really pretty far off on the right with a lot of normal rough to save you. After your tee shot, you have a couple of options. The fairway goes left (not that you want to) and up a hill about 15 feet high. It then turns back right and disappears behind the bunkers in front of you. This is where you will hit your layup. Otherwise, if you want to go for the green it it is about 10 to 15 feet higher than you and over a corner of the river to the right of the bunkers. A drive of 260 yards leave about a 230 yard carry to the green. And I do mean carry. Assuming you aren't brave enough, a shot of about 120 yards puts you safely on the fairway above the bunkers with a straightforward shot of about 130 yards into the green which has a couple of teirs. There are blind bunkers and mounds on the far side of the fairway for those who hit their second shot too far. The biggest hitters might be able to hit their drives down to where they have around 200 yards to the green, but they better not miss it if they go for it. This hole more than makes up for the blandness of #4.The short par 4 sixth is 320 yards and runs uphill. The main hillside of the valley is on the right. and wraps around behind the green. A creek crosses the fairway about 140 yards off the tee and runs up the left side threatening a pulled or hooked tee shot. It goes in front of the left front of the green, around the left side and behind the green up into the hills. A number of finger ridges come down from the hillside to give un-even lies to balls hit down the right side. The tee shot is from a pulpit style tee but is still generally uphill. There are no fairways bunkers and all the "greenside" bunkers are actually on the opposite bank of the creek from the green. There is one short left in the little curve of the creek and three to the left and rear. The back right bunker (which is probably never in play as it is 10 or more yards behind the green) is filled with black coal sands. The greens has one ridge that separates the right front from the rest of it. Behind the green is the entrance to a coal tunnel. This tunnel leads to the 7th hole although I didn't go through it because I was rushing to play through a group. This was a pretty good short par 4, with the creek definitely in your mind on both shots. I wouldn't relish hitting the bunkers shots over the creek to a tight hole either.Instead of using the tunnel, I climbed the hill behind 6 to the 7th hole. This is a drop shot par 3 of 173 yards. It plays downhill at least 20 to 30 feet and considerably shorter than the yardage. The primary tee wraps around in an arc with the shorter tees on the ends. The green is well protected by bunkers left and right and a sharp drop off behind the green. Again, it wasn't that wonderful a par 3 in my opinion. But the ones on the back are better. There is a false front on the green and two small sections in the wider rear of the green.The par 5 8th hole is another good one. The hole is only 492 yards so it is reachable. The tee shot is uphill to a landing area with a number of bunkers down the left side. The fairway has a lot of undulations so a flat lie is rare. The second shot is downhill to a green that is very narrow and angled from front left to back right. A huge bunker runs along the right side for the last 150 yards with a coal filled cliff directly beside it. The right side bailout has 3 nasty bunkers about 20 to 40 yards from the green. The layup isn't too hard though and leaves a wedge up the length of the green. Smartly played, this hole is perhaps the best chance for a birdie on the front 9. Which is good because number 9 is a monster.The 9th is a 438 yard par 4, but the day I played it the tees were on the back box at 462 yards. The tee shot is over the river to a fairway that starts on the left side about 160 yards out, but on the right requires a carry of 237 yards over a large pit filled with deep rough. The fairway is further bisected by a bunker that sits 256 yards from the tee right in the middle. Another bunker guards the right side. The fairway is probably 50 yards wide at its widest, but that bunker in the middle is really in your mind as you tee off. The right is the place to hit it if you are brave as it opens the green up. From the left you have a long shot over 3 bunkers that guard the green which runs from right front to back left. The green has two levels and a small false front. This is one hard hole that requires two excellent shots to get on the green.The 10th has one of the few phony features of the entire course. The tee shot is again across the river to a fairway that is entirely visible and slides to the right. The green is visible in the distance and has a waterfall coming out the side of it. The entire right side of the hole drops down to some heavy rough and two bunkers. The hole isn't a cape because the drive is basically straight across and you can't bite off anything by going further right. The green has two levels. A small creeks has been run under the green from the left to come out in the waterfall which is a series of rock shelfs. From the tee you see this waterfall and figure it is completely phony. Once you get up closer though you see that it might have been there all along and Dye just built the green over the top of it. Either way it does look really weird. The hole plays 414 yards to a green that is 40 yards deep.Number 11 is a long par 5 of 588 yards. The fairway snakes a little winding left, right and back left but it plays pretty straight in general. There is one large bunker that is down a hill on the left to protect the drive, another one about 160 yards out on the right to catch wayward second shots and about 5 around a raised green with two levels that is best approached from the right.Number 12 is a short par 4 of 320 yards. This has the other "non-natural" looking feature. There is a large mound about 15 feet high and 20 feet across with a bunker cut in it about 220 yards from the tee on the left side. The fairway doglegs around this to a green that is very wide and shallow. There are a total of 14 bunkers on this hole, all are down the left side and the front of the green except for 2 behind it. At the same distance from the tee as the mound, trees come in from the right and overhang the fairway. This is the only place on the entire course that trees are really in play. There are a lot around, but they are well back from the holes except here. The player can layup short of the big mound but then has a blind shot to the green or can hit driver up the right side and hope to miss the trees. I did this and was rewarded with a 60 yard shot straight into the green. Risky but worth it. The mound does look phony though as it doesn't fit with the rest of the contours of the course.13 is a Redan style par 3 of 176 yards from the "back" tees and 195 from the tips. The green is quite shallow and doesn't slope away too radically. The bunkers in the front left are definitely in play and the entire hole is a carry over some long rough. It requires a good shot to hit it. This was definitely my favorite par 3 on the course.The fourteenth hole is a long par 4 of 434 yards. The hole doglegs right around a series of bunkers. Inside the curve from the bunkers is an old stone wall. The fairway is quite wide and the hole has 7 teeing grounds with the longest playing at 488. The green has one bunker to the front right and a drop off behind with a bunker to save balls hit over the green. This seemed to be to be an real example of a mellower Pete Dye. In the old days, the back of that green would probably have dropped straight down into the river behind. Now he gives you a bunker and some rough to save you.Number 15 is another par 5. This one is 503 yards long. There are a pair of large lakes that run down the entire right side of the hole. The green is tucked up close enough to them that you can drop on the green if you hit it in the water. There is a bunker that you can aim at down the left side, but is probably only reachable by the longest hitters. Another set of bunkers sits about 30 yards short and left of the green to catch bailouts or overly aggresive layups. Otherwise this hole is rather featureless. The lake is bordered by flat sheets of slate or some other type of rock. This was one of the less interesting holes to me.The 16th hole is a downhill par 3 of 226 yards (243 from tips). The green is set in a little hollow. There is a bunker right of it. At the left front, there is a large mound that kicks the ball to the middle of the green. Behind the mound is a low level with another higher one behind it. The day I played the flag was in this lower level and was almost inaccessible, although a ball may roll around the mound and get down there. Possibly it requires a shot to the center to get to the left and to the left to get to the right. I'd like to play it more to different holes to really see what you have to do.The 17th is a short par 4 of 382 yards. The hole doglegs left and the tee shot needs to carry one of two bunkers 160 and 200 yards out to get to optimum position. The green is quite deep, and wide but plays considerably smaller. There are three bunkers on the left of the green. To the right and rear there are higher areas that drop down about 6 feet to the edge of the green from there the green slopes up severely to about 4-5 feet above the bottom. While the entire green is about 40 feet wide and 60 feet deep, the center of the green is about 20 feet wide and 40 feet deep and is all that can be used for hole locations. Anything outside of this area will run down to the bottom leaving some nasty chips up. I played it 3-iron, sand wedge so it isn't too severe for the shot required. Even the usuable section of the green has some serious undulations in it. A really fun green complex that could cause a lot of players grief.The 18th is another cape hole very similar to the 2nd. Again the tee shot is over the river with the hole going away to the left. It is 426 yards long. About 125 yards short of the green is a large mound on the left side of the fairway and the fairway then dips down to the green. This means that if you hit your drive anywhere other than the extreme left edge of the fairway (bringing the river into play), you second is likely to be blind. I hit two drives, the second was perfect, about 10 yards in from the edge on the left and I could see the entire green. 5 yards further right and all was blind. There are two bunkers at the front of the green. The back left is hard up against the river and behind it is a large hillside. The river is 15 feet below the green/fairway so balls down there are unplayable. It does have the appearance of another Pete Dye 18th hole ala the TPCs and Blackwolf run, but it does fit the landscape well.