While Pete and Alice Dye’s journey into golf course design and building began at El Dorado Country Club, the Dyes combined efforts transformed golf courses around the world. Currently, their resumes include 145 new courses and 24 redesigns. Alice was always Pete’s partner and collaborator, so he ensured she was co-credited with every golf hole. With Alice’s passing in February, the golf world lamented. Indiana’s Pete Dye Golf Trail is an appropriate tribute to Alice and Pete, a couple who first made their mark as accomplished amateur players, and later as the framers of modern golf architecture and design. Each of the area’s Pete Dye Trail courses utilize three distinct terrains—an iconic motor speedway, a former military base, and a flat land prairie parcel.
The Brickyard Crossing
One of the truly unique settings in all of golf is nestled around and inside the famed quad oval in Speedway, Indiana. Pete Dye’s industrial design not only blends, but is literally woven, into Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
The Fort
Entering Fort Benjamin Harrison, much like the speedway, adds a distinct flavor to golf at The Fort which epitomizes form following function. It is necessary to rethink your playing line at almost every tee box. The course’s tranquil setting is a stark contrast to the Dye-abolical playing lines through the green. The little, harmless bunkers are no laughing matter when you are trying to save par. On the contrary, the large, catcher’s mitt bunkers will likely save an errant ball from an early retirement. The rolling landscape and heroic carries instill a northern Michigan feel, but rest assured, you are still on Pete’s Indiana trail.
Plum Creek Country Club
While The Fort and Brickyard Crossing were redesigns, Plum Creek is an original Pete Dye design. Working with Tim Liddy, Pete created movement and interest on flat prairie land. The greens will tickle your interest with numerous pin placements that require precise shot making to score, or to save your scorecard from an unsightly number. With prevailing winds howling to disrupt your alignment, be ready to play a captivating ground game at Plum Creek.
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