Dye News and Notes
Several different articles of note on the Dye family have come out recently.
Pound Ridge Opening Delayed
When I first saw this article, I didn’t think much of it. Pete Dye’s courses aren’t exactly known for their strict adherence to schedule. (Nine times out of 10, there is good reason – the golf course is usually a lot better for the delay.) They hit rock during construction, which can be counted on to do two things: Raise the construction price considerably and delay the opening. What caught my eye was this:
The design team of Dye, along with Heritage Links, the company contracted out to complete the earth shaping, foresees using the newly found rock to give the course some flair.
“The rocks have become an asset at the Pound Ridge course,” said Dye, who has designed legendary courses such as the TPC at Sawgrass. “With the amount of rocks used on this course, one would usually not be able to afford what we have.”
The plan is to have shaped stones surrounding each tee, using rock walls to outline wetlands and water hazards to give a stirring decor.
“It turns out what made this course so hard to build is the same thing that will make this course beautiful,” Dye said.
I’ve searched around for construction photos, but I failed to find any. I don’t think I want to see the “stirring decor” – rock surrounds just don’t do it for me on an architectural level. Looking at the sparse website for the golf course, it does reveal an important piece of information – Perry Dye is also involved in the design.
New Pete Dye Book in the Works
The Dye website notes that a new book, titled Dye 85, is on the drawing board due out in autumn of 2008. Pete Dye was the man who started it all for me from a golf architecture stand point, so the respect and admiration I have for him is tremendous. From the press release:
Dimensions: This will be a hardcover, coffee-table book, approximately 9” by 12” in ize, 300+ pages in length
Price: $50.00 retail.
Format: Full color throughout, with photographs, sketches and other illustrations complementing the text.
Contents: Introduction, Foreword by well-known golf name (TBD), introductory chapter on Pete Dye’s background and history in golf architecture, and index of all Dye courses worldwide. Each course chapter will be a 500-800 word overview of the golf course, with accompanying photography. A brief history, perhaps a quote from Pete Dye, playing characteristics and unusual features will comprise the text of these overviews. There will also be numerous anecdotes about Pete and Alice Dye, provided by those who know them well. These “Dyedacticisms” will be sprinkled liberally within the pages, in many cases supplied by some of the best-known names in golf, sports, entertainment, business and world affairs. These 150-300 word anecdotes will spice up the text considerably, and offer a unique glimpse of the engaging, one-of-a-kind character of Pete Dye.
I’ll be curious to see the illustrations – I wonder if the infamous paper napkin sketches will be a part of the book? I’m also dye-ing to hear a few of the “Dyedacticisms”.
“Another Dye is cast”
(One of the great things about the Dye name is all the fun you can have with it.) Jim Moore of the Seattle Post-Intelligener mentions that another Dye family member is getting into the design business. Cynthia Dye McGarey, the niece of Pete Dye, is the architect of White Horse Golf Club, due to open in May, in Kingston, Washington.
But Screen liked her preliminary plans and hired her. Dye McGarey jokes that she got the job because she came up with 44 additional lots that fronted the course, but there’s much more to it than that. (EarthGolf Editor’s note – she may say she was joking, but as the saying goes, the way to a developer’s heart is through his pocketbook. According to the course’s website, it appears that lots are going for at least $250,000. 44 X $250,000 = $11 million – that’s easy to love.)
“I saw the decisions she was making (at Promontory), and I thought, ‘Man, she is really good at what she does,’ ” Screen said.
“I was kind of surprised that he hired outside the state of Washington and hired a female designer doing her first course,” Dye McGarey said.
…
Dye McGarey feels like a pioneer because she’s one of a handful of women architects. The name doesn’t necessarily open doors.
“It’s more difficult for any members of our family to get business,” she said. “When your uncle is the premier architect today, they all want him.”
She also tips her hat to one pioneering female golf course architect – Marion Hollins. Ms. Hollins gave us the 16th a Cypress Point.
(Image credit: White Horse Golf Club)
