Men of vision: Pete Dye (right)
and Herb Kohler survey the
flat land that would eventually
become the rolling terrain of
Whistling Straits.
constantly challenged and has to always be
on edge to what’s really out there and the
visual illusions that Pete loves to use. He
makes you think that certain things are
happening out on the course and that shots
appear to be more difficult than they
actually are. He plays with your mind a lot.
“When you play the Straits, you’re
challenged mentally and you have to think
through every shot. You don’t get a break
throughout the entire round. That was one
of the biggest comments we heard at the
PGA Championship in 2004; that players
claimed the course played with their head.
They said they had to fool themselves into
believing what they knew and not what
their eyes were telling them, and realize
there’s actually space out there to land a
golf ball. It’s not nearly as intimidating a
shot as it first appears to be. That’s the true
Pete Dye nature of the golf course.”
KOHLER CO.
Adds Dye about the process of
developing the picturesque piece of
lakeside property: “Everybody thought we
brought a lot of dirt in. We didn’t. We cut
the bank back and put holes much lower
and closer next to the lake. The mounds are
just from moving clay around. We put sand
in it and pockets in there, so it wouldn’t run
off going down the hill. Every time Mr.
Kohler came back, he’d ask me if I thought
we had enough mounds out there. It was a
big job, but we didn’t bring stuff in. It was
all done right there on the property.”
In addition to his PGA Distinguished
Service Award, Dye has received many
honors, including the Donald Ross Award
from the American Society of Golf Course
Architects (1995); Old Tom Morris Award
from the Golf Course Superintendents
Association of America (2003); the PGA
Tour Lifetime Achievement Award (2005);
World Golf Hall of Fame inductee,
Lifetime Achievement category (2008);
Architect of the Year by Golf World
magazine; Doctor of Landscape
Architecture degree from Purdue
University; Indiana’s Sagamore of the
Wabash award; and Family of the Year by
the National Golf Foundation.
Scott Kramer is a free-lance golf
writer from Carlsbad, Calif., who
contributes monthly to PGA
Magazine.
THE OFFICIAL PROGRAM OF THE 2010 PGA CHAMPIONSHIP 79
