67 Since it opened in 1971, Pete Dye’s famous Teeth of the Dog layout at Casa de Campo in the Dominican Republic has been regarded by many as the best golf experience in the Caribbean. And while there is now very strong competition for that crown, the resort has completed a major project to protect the course’s status. Dye oversaw numerous tweaks to Teeth of the Dog until his death in 2020. However, grassing issues, storm damage and ongoing loss of the shape and character of course features meant it was in need of further care. Step in former US Open champion Jerry Pate and his design partner Steve Dana, to develop a plan focused on restoring the glory of Dye’s handiwork. “The reality was that the course was built in the early seventies in an underdeveloped nation and the foundation was not created to meet modern agronomic expectations,” says Dana. “Also, it had become a laboratory of sorts for experimenting with various turfgrass varieties, leading to mottled fairways and creating an unkept visual and erratic playing conditions. The course features had also become degraded by the fierce coastal environment – the dramatic and aweinspiring layout had grown tired.” Pate, Dana, Casa de Campo’s director of golf Robert Birtel and the resort’s director of golf emeritus Gilles Gagnon spent hours studying old photography and historic documentation. They decided that the renovation would focus on preserving the layout as it existed following Dye’s own changes, rather than reinstating its original 1971 design. The par-four eighth at Teeth of the Dog is one of seven holes that play alongside the ocean
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