Alice Dye

Born in Indianapolis, Indiana, Dye (née O'Neil) was introduced to golf at an early age by her father, winning several tournaments as a teenager. After entering Rollins College, she became the captain of the women’s golf team and also regularly played on the men’s squad. Following her graduation in 1948, Dye settled in Indianapolis, partnering with her husband, Peter, in the firm Dye Designs, which specialized in golf-course architecture. Their first golf course, EL Dorado (now Dye’s Walk Country Club), was built in Indianapolis in 1961. The couple would go on to co-design some of the country’s most prominent golf courses, including TPC Sawgrass in Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida (1981), PGA West in La Quinta, California (1986), and Crooked Stick in Indianapolis (1964). The firm was the first in America to include the Scottish design elements of small greens, wooden bulkheads, and pot bunkers in its golf courses, which inspired future golf course architects to such a degree that the couple became known in some circles as the founders of modern-era golf course architecture. Dye was also instrumental in making courses more accessible to women by advocating for a two-tee system and reducing the yardage required for women players. Known as the ‘First Lady’ of golf course architecture, she was, in 1983, the first woman to be inducted into the American Society of Golf Course Architects and the first to serve as the society’s president, in 1997. Dye passed away at her home in Gulf Stream, Florida, at the age of 91.