Pete and Alice Dye on the construction site at TPC Sawgrass in Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida, circa 1980. (Photo by PGA Tour)
The Players Stadium Course is one of Dye’s most famous courses, but did he design the 17th? He gave credit for inspiration for the island green to his wife, Alice, who was a great amateur player and often helped in his designs.
“Alice provided a sounding board of good reason in all the projects the couple worked on, and Pete had profound respect for her judgement,” former PGA Tour Commissioner Tim Finchem said in a statement after Alice’s death in 2019 at age 91. “She was an iconic figure; her humility may not have allowed her to think that, but it was true. Alice Dye was an icon.”
When Pete was digging up dirt to build spectator mounds at the Players Stadium Course, which was constructed in a swamp and required a lot of earthmoving, he was wondering what to do with a giant hole left after so much sand was excavated. Alice surveyed the scene and had an idea, likely influenced by recent rounds at Ponte Vedra Inn and Club.
Pete and Alice Dye speak at the 2014 Golfweek Architecture Summit. (Golfweek photo)
“She said to me, ‘Throw a bulkhead out in the middle of it and put some sand and dirt on top of it,” Pete Dye said, as recounted in Golfweek writer Adam Schupak’s book, “Deane Beman: Golf’s Driving Force,” that details Beman’s quest as PGA Tour commissioner to build the course. “A light went on, and that’s exactly how it (happened).”
The rest is history.
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