Pete Dye Golf Course at French Lick

THE PETE DYE GOLF TRAIL: BACK HOME IN INDIANA

By Mike May

It's not a stretch to say that the late, great, hall-of-fame golf course architect Pete Dye was the Donald Ross of his generation. Dye's footprint on U.S. golf is prolific, just as Ross' golfing 'footprint' remains on full display in the U.S. Golf legend and Ohio native Jack Nicklaus, aka the Golden Bear, himself a world-renowned golf course architect, is a big fan of Dye's.

"I think Pete Dye was the most creative, imaginative, and unconventional golf course designer that I have ever been around," said the Golden Bear.

While Dye's most publicized project is probably the Stadium Course at the TPC in Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida, the roots of his golf design genius are in Indiana. Dye's first 18-hole creation was the Maple Creek Golf and Country Club - opened in 1961 and originally named the Heather Hills Golf and Country Club -- in Indianapolis.

To honor Dye's Indiana ties, The Pete Dye Golf Trail was formed in the Hoosier state. It's a seven-course trail: The Pete Dye Course (French Lick), Brickyard Crossing Golf Club (Indianapolis), The Fort Golf Course (Indianapolis), Maple Creek Golf & Country Club (Indianapolis), Tippecanoe Country Club (Monticello), and the Ackerman-Alan and Kampen courses at the Birck Boilermaker Golf Complex (West Lafayette).

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Revised: 05/18/2020 - Article Viewed 96,276 Times

About: Mike May

Mike May is a Wellington, Florida-based freelance golf and sportswriter, who is also a 25+ year public relations and communications executive in the sporting goods industry. He is also a veteran high school soccer official, an experienced high school basketball coach, an avid athlete, a part-time personal trainer, and a passionate golfer who is forever in pursuit of Old Man Par. He is a member of the Golf Writers Association of America.