The USGA has acquired a collection of more than 50 items important to the lives and careers of Pete and Alice Dye, which will ultimately be made available at the USGA museum in New Jersey.
The collection was made available by Joe and Marcia Luigs, members of the Dye-designed Crooked Stick Golf Club, and the club’s director of golf, Tony Pancake. The items were obtained from the Dyes' home on the grounds of Crooked Stick in Carmel, Ind., which served as their summer residence for many years.
Some of the items include:
- trophies from Alice Dye's remarkable amateur career
- other awards and accolades presented to Alice Dye
- her gavel from her term as the first female president of the American Society of Golf Course Architects
- Alice's blazers from her time on the USGA Women’s Committee, the Women’s World Amateur Team Championship and the Women’s Western Golf Association
- architectural plans and course drawings done by Pete
- additional personal photographs, correspondence and documents
“Pete and Alice Dye were longstanding pillars of the golf community, contributing to the game through their inventive golf course designs and mentoring those who followed in their footsteps,” said Hilary Cronheim, director of the USGA Golf Museum and Library. “This donation will allow us to more fully share their story with future generations. We are very fortunate to be continually entrusted with legacies such as the Dyes’.”
Dye courses have hosted dozens of USGA championships, including the 2009 US Senior Open at Crooked Stick. Alice Dye had a long association with the USGA through her competitive career, including two U.S. Senior Women's Amateur victories, and volunteering with the governing body.
The Dyes married in 1950, blazing a trail together as architects. Pete would produce initial designs, then turning to Alice to edit and round-out Pete's initial ideas, including the idea to create the island green on the par-3 17th at TPC Sawgrass' Stadium Course. Alice Dye also advocated for providing female golfers with a wider array of teeing-ground options and encouraged more women to get into the profession of golf-course architecture.
Alice Dye passed away in February 2019, and Pete Dye died in January 2020 at the age of 94 after a battle with Alzheimer's.
