Pete Dye left a legacy at French Lick Resort that will last
for generations: 18 holes of golf that are breathtaking in their aesthetics and
fiercely challenging in their design, beautifully balancing as a must-play golf
destination.
After Dye’s passing yesterday on January 9 at age 94, French Lick
Resort’s Director of Golf, Dave Harner, helped us shine a little more light on
the incredible course Dye created, as well as Pete Dye the man. As Harner explains, Dye’s presence went well beyond the
hundreds of quirky and innovative designs that made him a legend in the golfing
world.
“You know, there
will be hundreds and hundreds of tributes, stories, and comments about Pete
Dye’s passing, but the most amazing thing was how Pete lived his life.
Alongside his bride Alice, they changed the face of golf course architecture,
and never really set out to. Even though they were two of golf’s rock stars,
they remained humble, lived a simple life, and gave back so much to so many.
Not only did they give back to the game of golf, they gave of their time for
worthy causes, they gave financial resources to some not as fortunate, they
helped young people get an education that they might not have had the
opportunity to have otherwise. It is hard to put the life of Pete Dye into
words. His comments were simple, yet profound, his time at French Lick Resort
was invaluable, yet so unselfishly given, and his eye for golf course
architecture was unmatched.”
By now, you’re probably familiar with the background of
The Pete Dye Course at French Lick: the course that was supposedly too
difficult to build given the intense and rugged terrain, before Dye accepted the
challenge, sketched it on a napkin and built it to his unique vision. Even as Dye was in his 80s he remained immersed
in the process of the course’s creation, start to finish.
“Pete walked the
course every time he came. He’d walk it in whole order one time, and then the
next time he’d walk it backward. And what he was trying to do was to see the
views from all directions. He wanted to make sure he had open vistas, open views
looking every direction. He wanted to walk it and be sure that he did that.
He brought a lot of
different people with him to get opinions. He liked to hear what people were
thinking. I know several instances where he brought other pros and other architects.
Average players and above-average players. And I think he was trying to make it
appeal to everybody. He spoke to and listened to the heart of the golfer.”
Still, Dye stood strong about what a Pete Dye design
should be. They didn’t call his courses “Dye-abolical” for nothing. Harner chuckles
about one of Dye’s memorable quotes — “Drive-able
par-4s are not par-4s.”
“That whole conversation
came about when I looked at the 16th hole, and it was a 300-yard par-3. I said, ‘You know, this would make a great drive-able par-4.’ And he looked
at me and said, ‘If you can drive it, it’s not a par-4.’”
It’s incredible to think about now — as The Pete Dye
Course has been ranked No. 1 for 10 straight years on GolfWeek’s “Best You Can
Play” in Indiana list — but the initial plans for this new course were fairly
modest. Dye got involved, and that changed.
“In the beginning, I
think we were looking at building the golf course to supplement The Donald Ross
Course. And I think Pete when he saw the property and saw what the potential
was, he moved it to the next level. … We always joked that Pete had an
unlimited budget and managed somehow to exceed it.”
Even after designing more than 100 courses in an career
that spanned 50 years, Pete Dye had a soft spot for the course at French Lick which
was among the last he designed.
“His sons are both
in the business and Pete lent his name to courses after us, but I think this
was probably the most hands-on he was at the end of his career, making over 150
trips — and I would wager to say he didn’t do that anywhere else. And Pete always
candidly told us this was his absolute favorite inland site.”
It also garnered an award that Dye coveted: National Course
of the Year, awarded by the National Golf Course Owners Association in 2017.
“He had never won it
with one of his courses, and I was able to take the trophy down to his home in
Florida and get a few pictures of him with it. That seemed to be really
special to him to win something he’d never won — because he’d won everything.
He’d won every award you could imagine for a golf course architect. And that
award is not only for the golf course, it’s for the economic impact it provides
for the area, the number of jobs it creates, what it does for junior golf, and
what it does for the whole area. And golf has been an important economic
developer for Orange County since it’s been built. It put us on the map.”
And in case you were wondering, Dye could play the game a
little bit, too. He played his French Lick Course several times after it was
completed, and every time Harner saw Dye in action, he was impressed.
“He was an excellent
player for his age. From an amateur side, he was competitive with the likes of
Jack Nicklaus and Arnold Palmer when he was an amateur, but that wasn’t his
passion. Alice (his wife) was such a great player, she played a lot, and he just wasn’t
as passionate about playing the game as he was building golf courses.”
And for that, we at French Lick are forever grateful for the
unique gift Pete Dye left us to enjoy.
“We will always
cherish our time with the Dyes, and I know they loved and appreciated their
time with everyone they came in contact with. RIP Pete!”