Alice Holliday O’Neal Dye

(Feb. 19, 1927-Feb. 1, 2019). Known as the “First Lady” of Golf architecture, Alice Dye designed acclaimed golf courses in America and abroad, won 50 amateur golf championships, and advocated making courses manageable for women. Dye became the first female member and president of the American Society of Golf Course Architects. The challenges imposed by her trademark design features became legendary among professional golfers.

Born in Indianapolis, Alice O’Neal began playing golf at the Woodstock Club at the age of 11 (see Country Clubs). At Rollins College in Winter Park, Florida, she captained the women’s golf team, played on the men’s golf team, earned a B.S. in zoology, and met and married Pete Dye. In 1950, the couple moved to Indianapolis where Alice Dye worked at Connecticut Mutual Insurance Company. In 1959, she left Connecticut Mutual to start a golf course design company with Pete.

Dye is credited with drafting the course plans and reading the contour maps. Her trademark design features included pot bunkers (sand bunkers with steep faces), wooden bulkheads, and small greens: the 17^th -hole “Island Green” at the TPC Sawgrass in Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida, is legendary among professional golfers.

As an amateur golfer, Dye won 11 Indianapolis Metropolitan Women’s titles; the U.S. Senior Women’s title in 1978 and 1979; and the Canadian Senior Women’s title in 1983 and 1984. In addition to being the first female member and president of the American Society of Golf Course Architects, she also was the first female board member of the Professional Golfers Association of America.

Indianapolis area golf courses that Dye designed with her husband Pete include Brickyard Crossing at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, Crooked Stick Golf Club in Carmel, Dye’s Walk Country Club in Greenwood, and Maple Creek Country Club and Sahm Golf Course in Indianapolis.

In her crusade to make courses manageable for women, Dye developed a chart and video suggesting yardages and positions for forward tees (tees adjusted in length and length to match a golfer’s abilities). Though many golfers claim the “Island Green” at the TPC Sawgrass as her legacy, Dye believed her most valuable contribution to the sport was her devotion to the planting and placement of tees and hazards to create a proper challenge for female golfers.

Dye’s son Perry Dye, who died July 10, 2021, continued the tradition of designing golf courses. He also had a distinguished career, building courses in 15 countries. 

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