Pete Dye, a name synonymous with innovative and challenging golf course architecture, left an indelible mark on the world of golf. His designs are known for their dramatic features, strategic playability, and ability to test even the most skilled golfers. Inspired by a trip to the British Isles with his wife Alice, Dye revolutionized American golf course design, moving away from conventional layouts to create masterpieces that are both visually stunning and strategically demanding.
This article celebrates Pete Dye’s legacy by ranking his best golf courses in the United States. Drawing upon the expert opinions of Golf Digest’s course-ranking panelists, we present a definitive list of Pete Dye’s top designs, showcasing the courses that best exemplify his genius and continue to challenge and inspire golfers today. From diabolical creations designed for major championships to hidden gems cherished by discerning players, this ranking explores the diverse brilliance of Pete Dye Golf Courses.
1. Kiawah Island Golf Resort: The Ocean Course
Kiawah Island, SC
The Ocean Course at Kiawah Island Golf Resort is often cited as Pete Dye’s most challenging and dramatic creation. Designed specifically for the 1991 Ryder Cup, this public course is a manufactured links-style layout that blends seamlessly with lagoons and the Atlantic coastline. Every hole is framed by treacherous sawgrass, and the greens are notorious for their tricky slopes. Exposed to constant coastal winds, the Ocean Course demands precision and strategic thinking on every shot. It gained further fame as the site of Phil Mickelson’s memorable victory at the 2021 PGA Championship, solidifying its place as a must-play Pete Dye golf course.
2. Whistling Straits: Straits Course
Sheboygan, WI
Pete Dye transformed a flat, former army air base along Lake Michigan into Whistling Straits, a course that evokes the rugged beauty of Ballybunion in Ireland. This public course is characterized by its dramatic, windswept landscape and an astounding 1,012 bunkers. Staying true to its Irish links inspiration, Whistling Straits has no rakes, adding to the challenge and demanding adaptability from players. The Straits Course has hosted numerous major championships, including three PGA Championships and the 2021 Ryder Cup, proving its mettle as a world-class Pete Dye design.
3. The Honors Course
Ooltewah, TN
The Honors Course, a private club, was considered revolutionary when it opened in the early 1980s. Pete Dye’s design featured vast expanses of native-grass rough, durable Zoysiagrass fairways, and intimidating greens perched on rock bulkheads. Today, it is recognized as a well-preserved example of Dye’s “death-or-glory” architectural style. While some minor modifications have been made over the years, Dye largely left The Honors Course untouched, a testament to his original vision and the course’s enduring challenge.
4. TPC Sawgrass: Stadium Course
Ponte Vedra Beach, FL
TPC Sawgrass’s Stadium Course, a public venue, is perhaps most famous for its iconic island green 17th hole. This Pete Dye design, conceived by former PGA Tour commissioner Deane Beman, was intended to test the best golfers in the world. Dye masterfully blended distance challenges with target golf principles, incorporating greens surrounded by unpredictable mounds and hollows, which he famously called his “grenade attack architecture.” The 17th hole, with its no-bailout island green, has become legendary and has inspired countless imitations in golf course design worldwide.
5. The Golf Club
New Albany, OH
The Golf Club, a private course built in 1966, represents a pivotal moment in Pete Dye’s design evolution. Inspired by his trip to Scotland, Dye embraced a lay-of-the-land approach, introducing deception, misdirection, and railroad ties into American golf architecture. During its construction, The Golf Club attracted the attention of Jack Nicklaus, who provided valuable input, leading to a significant five-year design partnership between Dye and Nicklaus. Pete Dye himself returned in 2014 to update the course, subtly refining green contours to accommodate modern green speeds, showcasing his continuous dedication to his craft.
6. Oak Tree National
Edmond, OK
Oak Tree National, a private club originally named Oak Tree Golf Club, is known as one of Pete Dye’s most demanding tests of golf. This hilly course features numerous water hazards, deep bunkers protecting small greens, and is further challenged by Oklahoma’s gusting winds and tough Bermudagrass rough. The par-3 eighth hole is notably similar to Dye’s 17th at Harbour Town. Oak Tree National has hosted prestigious events like the Senior PGA Championship and the Senior U.S. Open, solidifying its reputation as a stern but fair Pete Dye design.
7. Pete Dye Golf Club
Bridgeport, WV
Pete Dye Golf Club, a private course, is uniquely situated on an active coal mine in West Virginia. Originally named Coal Ridge, the course incorporates elements of its mining environment, such as a strip-mine wall, black cinder bunkers, and an abandoned coal train as features. Even a coal mine shaft provides access to the seventh tee. The long construction period meant that the course reflects the evolution of Dye’s design style, with earlier holes showcasing railroad ties reminiscent of Oak Tree National and later holes featuring the echo-chamber bunkering seen at Whistling Straits.
8. Crooked Stick Golf Club
Carmel, IN
Crooked Stick Golf Club, a private club, is considered the birthplace of “Pete Dye” as a distinctive golf course architect. Inspired by British courses, Dye founded Crooked Stick, selected the land, and designed the course, rejecting conventional designs in favor of radical features. He utilized vertical telephone poles for dramatic elevation changes and extensive sand areas to mimic dunes. Remarkably, Dye himself, along with his wife Alice and sons, even participated in the construction. Crooked Stick holds the distinction of being the first Pete Dye course to host a major championship, the 1991 PGA Championship.
9. Blackwolf Run: River Course
Kohler, WI
Blackwolf Run’s River Course, a public option, is a testament to Pete Dye’s willingness to innovate and improve upon existing designs. Owner Herb Kohler tasked Dye with redesigning an already award-winning course. Dye combined the original front nine with nine new holes along the Sheboygan River to create the River Course. It features some of Dye’s most exciting holes, including a reachable par-4 ninth and a unique boomerang-shaped par-5 11th. While the original 18 is sometimes used for major events, Golf Digest’s ranking focuses on the River Course, which is available for general play.
10. French Lick Resort: Pete Dye Course
French Lick, IN
The Pete Dye Course at French Lick Resort, a public course, demonstrated that even at age 80, Dye continued to generate fresh and innovative design ideas. This mountaintop course, named Golf Digest’s Best New Public Course in 2009, features rumpled chipping swales, country-lane cart paths, and distinctive volcano bunkers. While its length of over 8,100 yards is notable, the course is more memorable for its panoramic views, generous fairways, and greens that appear to hang dramatically over the landscape.
11. The Dye Course at White Oak
Yulee, FL
The Dye Course at White Oak, a highly exclusive private course, is one of the most secluded and private golf experiences in recent memory. With no members and minimal structures on-site, it offers complete natural isolation. Pete Dye began the design in 2013, but due to declining health, the project was completed by his longtime associate Allan MacCurrach. MacCurrach skillfully interpreted Dye’s vision, drawing upon years of collaboration and extensive discussions to realize this exceptional and private Pete Dye golf course.
12. Harbour Town Golf Links
Hilton Head Island, SC
Harbour Town Golf Links, a public course at Sea Pines Resort, marked a significant departure from the prevailing golf course design trends of the late 1960s. Initially contracted to Jack Nicklaus, the design was entrusted to his partner Pete Dye, who sought to differentiate his work from Robert Trent Jones. Harbour Town debuted as a Top 10 course on America’s 100 Greatest, featuring a low-profile design with no mounds or elevated features, but instead, abrupt changes and tiny greens perched on railroad ties directly over water hazards. This innovative approach garnered national attention for Pete Dye and launched Jack Nicklaus’s design career.
13. Medalist Golf Club
Hobe Sound, FL
Medalist Golf Club, a private course, is designed to challenge the world’s best golfers, including members like Tiger Woods and Dustin Johnson. This long and demanding course stretches to approximately 7,600 yards and is known for its relaxed atmosphere and challenging driving holes that wind through wetlands and are exposed to strong Atlantic crosswinds. Pete Dye collaborated with Greg Norman on the design, incorporating S-shaped holes, contoured ground, and small, low-profile greens. A 2015 renovation by Bobby Weed restored much of Dye’s original character to the course.
14. Long Cove Club
Hilton Head Island, SC
Long Cove Club, a private course, has an interesting history involving both Arnold Palmer and Pete Dye. Originally routed by Frank Duane and Arnold Palmer, Pete Dye was later brought in to redesign the course after initially declining the project to focus on TPC Sawgrass. Dye created a distinct design from nearby Harbour Town, incorporating knobs, mounds, framing berms, and large greens. Notably, his construction crew included future golf course architects like Bobby Weed and Tom Doak. A 2018 restoration by Bobby Weed revitalized Dye’s original vision, emphasizing the course’s run-up approach to the greens.
15. PGA West: Stadium Course
La Quinta, CA
PGA West’s Stadium Course, now public, is Pete Dye at his most audacious and challenging. Originally private, it was part of the Bob Hope Desert Classic rotation but was temporarily removed due to its extreme difficulty. The course features a dramatic finish reminiscent of TPC Sawgrass, including the “San Andreas Fault” par-5 16th and an island green par-3 17th. While considered by some to be aesthetically severe and overly difficult when it opened, the Stadium Course has matured into a celebrated example of Dye’s bold and demanding design style. A 2024 restoration by Dye protégé Tim Liddy has further refined the course.
16. Austin Country Club
Austin, TX
Austin Country Club, a private club with a rich history dating back to 1899, is deeply connected to legendary golf instructor Harvey Penick. Penick’s association with the club spanned 82 years. In 1984, the club moved to its current location on the Colorado River, and Pete Dye designed the new course. Set against the backdrop of the Pennybacker Bridge, Austin Country Club hosted the WGC-Dell Technologies Match Play for several years, showcasing Dye’s design on a world stage.
17. Blackwolf Run: Meadow Valleys Course
Kohler, WI
Blackwolf Run’s Meadow Valleys Course, a public course, is another example of Pete Dye’s redesign work at Blackwolf Run. Dye combined the original Blackwolf Course’s front nine with a newly constructed nine to create Meadow Valleys. While the Sheboygan River is less prominent than on the River Course, Meadow Valleys still offers plenty of Dye’s signature challenges, including deep bunkers and demanding pin positions, ensuring a memorable round of golf.
18. Nemacolin: Mystic Rock
Farmington, PA
Mystic Rock at Nemacolin, a public resort course, is a unique Pete Dye design characterized by oval greens and rectangular bunkers. Due to the rocky terrain, the course features fields of boulders in the rough and stacked stone bulkheads around water hazards. Mystic Rock concludes with a classic Dye finish: a risk-reward par-5 16th, a challenging par-3 17th over water, and a strong par-4 18th. The course hosted the 84 Lumber Classic PGA Tour event, showcasing its tournament-caliber design.
19. The Dye Preserve Golf Club
Jupiter, FL
The Dye Preserve Golf Club, a private course in Jupiter, Florida, embodies many of Pete Dye’s signature design elements. Located inland from the coast, it features railroad tie-lined water hazards, deep pot bunkers, teardrop mounding, and intimidating sightlines. With a challenging yardage and course rating, The Dye Preserve provides a stern test for golfers, and is a popular club for PGA and LPGA Tour players residing in the Jupiter area.
20. Pete Dye River Course of Virginia Tech
Radford, VA
The Pete Dye River Course of Virginia Tech, a public course, is a result of a significant redesign by Pete Dye on an existing 18-hole layout. Funded by a donation from the Goodwin family, this course along the New River has become highly regarded as one of the best collegiate courses in the United States. It earned recognition as a top remodel by Golf Digest in 2006, highlighting the transformative impact of Dye’s design on this Virginia Tech and Radford University home course.
Explore Golf Digest’s Course Reviews
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