Architect was ‘Picasso’ of golf layouts

Pete Dye never thought golf was meant to be fair, inspiring him to build courses that visually intimidated recreational players to the best in the world.

The island green at the TPC Sawgrass. Railroad ties that gave frightening definition of putting surfaces fronted by water. More bunkers than could be counted at Whistling Straits.

Dye, among the forefront of modern golf architecture, died Thursday in the Dominican Republic at age 94, a spokesperson at Dye Design said. He had been battling Alzheimer’s disease.

“You respected him because he built some great golf courses, but in the midst of playing them, you hated his guts,” Brandt Snedeker said with a smile.

His name turned out to be the perfect adjective for his challenging courses — “Dye-abolical.”

“You can’t mistake a Pete Dye. You knew it was his as soon as you played it,” said Vijay Singh, who won the 2004 PGA Championship at Whistling Straits. “He had a different set of rules when he built golf courses and every single one he built was tough.”

Greg Norman referred to him as the “Picasso of golf architecture” who changed golf course design in the 20th century.

His golf courses have held four major championships, most recently at Whistling Straits in Wisconsin, which will host the Ryder Cup this year.

“While Pete designed to torment the most accomplished professional, his forward tees allowed the most inexperienced to play,” said Herb Kohler, who brought Dye to Wisconsin to build courses such as Whistling Straits and Blackwolf Run. “He would challenge the professional both physically and mentally, while remarkably accommodating the raw amateur who was learning the game..”

Dye also had several courses on the PGA Tour, mostly notably the TPC Sawgrass, where the Stadium Course has held The Players Championship since 1982. It was little more than swamp land that the PGA Tour purchased for $1. Dye turned it into a course where there hasn’t been a stereotype for the brand of golf that suits it best.

Many of the courses were designed with his wife, Alice, who died last February at 91.