D.J. and Neil are joined by Charlie Van Kirk for a two-part deep dive into the life and design career of Pete Dye. We focus on Pete’s upbringing and his marriage to his wife Alice before a look at ten of his most notable courses.
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You guys know I’m fully in on this. Cannot wait for this entire series.
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Love the mention of Urbana Country Club and the talk of the slopes there. Can confirm that the first nine holes that were constructed there are provocative and extremely fun to play.
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Just started listening on my drive into work today and already curious if Charlie interviewed either of the guys that I know that worked for Pete. I’ve heard a couple of really good stories from them!
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Blindly ordering 3,000 cubic yards of material is hilarious. A construction grade dump truck holds approximately 8 cubic yards!
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The guys that I interviewed who worked directly on Pete’s crews were Bobby Weed, Bill Coore and Abe Wilson. The other 13 or so interviewees were directors of golf and agronomy, superintendents, club pros who worked with Pete at their respective courses but did not build with him, per se (Deane Beman, Bob Patton, etc.). Everybody gets an individual shout out at some point during parts 1 and 2.
I wanted to keep going and speak with Allan MacCurach, Doak, etc., but had to put the pencils down at a certain point on what was already a pretty massive project.
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Not quite done with the pod, but I had to post the single written review of the golf club after looking it up on Google Maps
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After having listened now I do wonder if it will be mentioned later, but since they already covered Crooked Stick they may not so I’m just going to mention it.
This mailbox is directly across the 18th fairway from the Dye’s former home and I love the tongue in cheek nature of it.
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I’ve played HT 13 more than your average bear. 0 GIR, and have never even putted for a score. That bunker is my graveyard… a noose could be appropriate for me there.
Awesome work!
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Haha damn, well now we know who to blame for our struggles on that hole: Alice and TeePee the shaper.
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Unfortunately, Alice gets a lot of (undeserved) heat for this hole. It’s not a bad design (imo) it’s just hard.
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I used to caddy at the Golf Club in high school for a bit and have some insight into the place.
- The rule of the first is “hit till you’re happy.” It would be pretty common to see guys hit 2-3 balls of the first.
- It also has the sick feature where 18 green the putting green and 1 tee all blend together
- 3 is the famous par 3 with the railroad ties, and then 13, I think it also has some pretty prominent railroad ties
- 6 was probably my favorite hole, mostly because it had an old Boxcar as a bridge over the creek
- The halfway house is famous for its Beef Jerky
- 10 Green is pushed up by like a foot or two by a ridge, which is sick. No bump and runs into it, you had to carry it on the green
- The caddy policies were pretty strict. “Keep up and shut up.” “Don’t talk to the member unless they talk to you.”
- Also, no tipping for the caddy was something. But a friend of mine was given a fresh Scotty Cameron after the guy had a bad round
- From the road, the course is pretty much invisible. You really have to know where to look, but you can see some through the trees.
- The course was renovated a bit around 2014/2015, and I think it was one of the last places Dye was on-site to work on
- I still to this day use my ball mark repair tools from the place
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Don’t talk to the member unless they talk to you is fucking crazy lol
I’m assuming the owner would rather jump off a cliff than let the caddies ever play the course?
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I’ve now decided I must play Urbana.
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If i remember correctly it was on Monday or Tuesday if you had worked the morning you could play that afternoon
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credit to the folks running The Golf Club. Straight up don’t think I’d ever even heard of that place til this episode. Maybe seen the name on a Top 100 list (is it on one?) at some point and truly thought nothing of it. Getting the privacy they’re looking for and more.
curious as to what will round out the rest of the 10.
- Crooked Stick
- The Golf Club
- Harbor Town
Sawgrass. Kiawah. Whistling. Teeth of the Dog. Dye Course at French Lick. All feel like auto locks to me.
Medalist? Blackwolf Run? CC of Austin?
That’s pretty much how they like it; they truly don’t want to be known. The links below are really the only pictures of the place I’ve seen.
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