Golf course architect Perry Dye passes away aged 68
Perry Dye, golf course architect and son of one of the profession’s best-known couples, Pete and Alice Dye, passed away on 8 July aged 68 in Denver, Colorado.
Dye’s first experience of building golf courses came at the age of 12 when his father made him an apprentice. The first course he worked on was Crooked Stick in Indiana, which went on to become the site of the 1991 PGA Championship, 1993 US Women’s Open, 2005 Solheim Cup and 2012 BMW Championship. Throughout his youth and years at university, he would join his father to work on sites in the Midwest and the Dominican Republic.
Perry formed Dye Designs in 1984 and oversaw its expansion into international markets. He would go on to design more than 80 courses in 15 countries, including nearly two dozen in Japan.
Dye was a member of the American Society of Golf Course Architects (ASGCA) and a member of the Golf Course Builders Association of America, which, in 2004, created an award that bears his name – the Perry O. Dye Service Award – to honour “exceptional individuals who have unselfishly contributed their influence to foster positive changes for the association and have continually endeavoured to make it better.”
Dye’s early work included TPC Plum Creek, Riverdale Dunes and Glenmoor Country Club, all located in the Denver suburbs. He would later go on to design around the world including West One’s Country Club in Hyogo, Japan, Lykia Links in Antalya, Turkey, and multiple layouts in Korea and Thailand.
“This is a great loss for golf design, but right now we should all be sending our love and support to the Dye family,” said golf course architect and ASGCA president Forrest Richardson. “Perry and I shared many good times, and I am so grateful to have spent time with him at the 2020 Golf Industry Show just before the Covid lockdowns began. As usual, he was full of life, smiling and telling stories. We will miss him.”
He is survived by his brother PB Dye, wife Ann, two children and two grandchildren. A Celebration of Life is planned for autumn.
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