Pete Dye

Dye has impressed many with his golf course design

Born in 1925, Pete Dye was born into a family of golf course designers, which meant that golf and golf courses were part of his blood. He even married noted golf architect and amateur golf champion Alice Dye in 1950. After working in the insurance business, and enjoying some success as an amateur golfer in Indiana, he would find his life's inspiration in Scotland when he traveled there to look at the classic courses.

Throughout his mid-30's, he made a transition to golf course design, with his first course opening in 1964. That course, the Crooked Stick Golf Club, would eventually host the 1991 PGA Championship. Dye has been called one of the most influential golf course designers in the world through his designs and his unique additions to golf courses including using railroad ties to hold in bunkers and even small greens.

His influence has even reached the Golden Bear, Jack Nicklaus, himself, who called Dye a significant influence in his own approach to golf course design. In 2003, Dye was awarded the highest honor by the Golf Course Superintendents Association of America, the Old Tom Morris Award. In 2005 he earned the PGA Tour Lifetime Achievement Award and was inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame in 2008.

Dye has designed several courses in the Myrtle Beach area, including the well-known Barefoot Resort, which features exceptional elevations and dangerous pitfalls that have helped the course host championship golf matches. Another well-known Dye course is the Legends Moorland, which opened in 1990 when it earned a 10 ten new course designation by Golf Digest. Known for its undulations and large stretches of water, it features the infamous 16th hole called "Hell's Half Acre"

Whispering Pines in Myrtle Beach is secluded and has the amazing combination of challenge and beauty with over 200 acres of pines and hardwoods and close to the Myrtle Beach airport so that it is easy to fly in, play a masterpiece course, and fly out. You can add any of these courses to our Myrtle Beach golf packages. Dye is a legend of golf course design, who has influenced not only other great designers but possibly the greatest golfer of all time, Jack Nicklaus.

Click here to go back to the Myrtle Beach Golf Course Architects Directory