No golf course architect has a presence on both the PGA Tour schedule and Top 100 rankings quite like Pete Dye. His designs set the bar for innovation, creativity and challenge. No other living designer has more respect from his peers.
While Dye's courses like TPC Sawgrass, Harbour Town, Kiawah Island and Whistling Straits are all fixtures of televised golf, there are many other Dye designs that are not only publicly accessible, but even affordable.
Since we began receiving golf course ratings in late-2012, we found more than 6,500 reviews of Dye designs and have compiled the designer's top courses based on ratings by regular golfers like you.
And while the average golfer may find Dye's designs to be difficult, it doesn't mean they aren't appreciated. The mean rating for Pete Dye designs is 4.1/5, compared to a 3.8/5 course average. His average rating for difficulty is sky high. In fact, less than two percent of all reviewers scored his course either extremely easy or fairly easy:
Difficulty ratings for Pete Dye courses
Create pie charts
In the two Top 10s below (one for overall, one for value), each ranking features some solo Pete Dye designs, Pete & P.B. Dye collaborations, as well as also courses that were originally Dye designs but have since been renovated by another firm. In fact, Dye's first-ever gig in Indiana made our Top 10 designs for value.
Top 10 Pete Dye courses as rated by our community
1. Kampen Course at Birck Boilermaker Complex, Purdue University
West Lafayette, Ind.
2. Straits Course at Whistling Straits
Sheboygan, Wisc.
3. Teeth of the Dog, Casa De Campo
La Romana, Dominican Republic
4. Ocean Course at Kiawah Island Resort
Kiawah Island, S.C.
5. Harbour Town Golf Links at Sea Pines Resort
Hilton Head Island, S.C.
6. Pete Dye Course at French Lick Resort
French Lick, Ind.
7. Southern Hills Plantation
Brooksville, Fla.
8. River Course at Blackwolf Run
Kohler, Wisc.
9. Players Stadium at TPC Sawgrass
Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla.
10. Wolf Course at Las Vegas Paiute
Las Vegas
Top 10 Pete Dye courses as rated by value
1. Tippecanoe Country Club
Monticello, Ind.
2. Gypsum Creek Golf Club
Gypsum, Colo.
3. Sun Mountain at Las Vegas Paiute
Las Vegas
4. Mystic Hills Golf Course
Culver, ind.
5. Snow Mountain at Las Vegas Paiute
Las Vegas
6. Rum Pointe Golf Course
Berlin, Md.
7. Bulle Rock Golf Club
Havre de grace, Md.
8. Kampen Course at Birck Boilermaker Complex, Purdue University
West Lafayette, Ind.
9. Southern Hills Plantation
Brooksville, Fla.
10. Oak Hollow Golf Course
High Point, N.C.
Do you have a go-to Dye course you love to play? Let us know which one in the comments below.
Oak Tree National, hello!!??
I divide my time between living in the US and Guatemala. The Fuego Maya Golf Course at the La Reunion Resort was inaugarated in 2008. I played with Mr. Dye's grandaughter and husband in the inaugaration "tournament". Since then the course was my favorite venue until the Fuego volcano erupted on June 3, 2018. Playing this course provided many memorable rounds of golf engrained in my mind. I was actually practicing on the driving range on the fateful day in prepartion for playing the course in the coming week. Fortunately, I left the area about 90 minutes before the eruption reached the course and covered much of the resort in pyroclastic flows and lava. I miss this favorite site!
The Cardinal in Greensboro, NC is an extremely tough track. And one of Pete Dye's favorite designs..he told me so himself!
Played Royal Hawaiian. What a beautiful golf course. Make sure you have your camera with you.
I have played 11 Dye designs including Ocean Course, and Pete and Alice are my favorite designers. If you're a big fan of there's you should try to play Royal Hawaiian,carved out of the jungle of the Koolau mountians. It's an unforgetable experience,that is suprisingly scoreable.
The Dye course in Colleton River! Site of a large part the Legend of Bagger Vance filming .
Yeah, it would be top 10 if the public could play it. It's a beautiful course.
I've had the chance to play there. Definitely one of my favorite Dye courses. No public access though.
We were lucky enough to stay at Casa de Campo several times. Both Teeth of the Dog and Dyefore golf courses are going to test you. Neither are long courses, but Pete’s love of optical challenges makes them both courses that demand your attention for every shot.
Experienced them a couple years ago and loved both. Dye courses don't typically fit my eye the first time around, but Dye Fore was a big exception. I was feeling it on that one.
Pete Dye's Old Quarry Golf Course in Curacao is absolutely outstanding and incredibly fun to play. Plus, it's part of the wonderful, family-oriented Santa Barbara Beach Resort.
Actually, it is not part of the resort. See my anti-review of the course from last summer.
Brickyard Crossing and The Fort are both excellent tracks!
The Wolf @ Paiute is pure golf at it's best. All three Dye courses on site demand good shot making decisions and execution. Always in great condition .