By Design - Spring 2020

12 | By Design PETE DYE, ASGCA FELLOW ground breaker In January 2020, golf lost one of the most influential course architects of the twentieth century. Pete Dye, a Past President and Fellow of ASGCA, left quite a legacy. Not only did he create ground-breaking designs like TPC Sawgrass, but he also mentored many of the game’s top golf architects. The I first met Pete in the 1970s at Amelia Island Plantation,” says Bobby Weed, ASGCA. “That was the start of a 45-year relationship. We built Long Cove together in 1981, and I’ve been building golf courses ever since. I can hardly approve a feature without feeling Pete’s influence. Pete was always ahead of his time. How many golf designers could that be said about? “As much of a legacy as his courses will be, the impact he had on those fortunate to work with him may be more enduring. The stories and memories are plentiful but seem insufficient. We all have someone who took hold of us and set us on our life’s path, maybe without our even knowing it. For me, that was Pete. Everything I hold dear in golf took root from my relationship with him. Not bad for someone that lived to be half of 188!” The memories “I can remember when my dad put me on a tractor for the first time, as well as all of those other things I did growing up as a farm boy in Indiana” says P.B. Dye, ASGCA. “The construction business was an integral part of my life. Building these golf courses, not just being the architect’s son, but to physically work with everybody and to learn and build these golf courses with my dad. “Our family always had white German shepherds and when we were going to work, us children would always ride in the back of the pickup truck with the dogs while someone “ Photo: David Spencer/Palm Beach Post/ZUMA Press