When you’re the son of Pete and Alice Dye, a career in golf course architecture is somewhat inevitable. Perry Dye got his first taste of course design when he was just 12 years old, before going on to build more than 80 courses of his own. On Thursday, according to the American Society of Golf Course Architects, Dye died of unknown causes at age 68.
“This is a great loss for golf design, but right now we should all be sending our love and support to the Dye Family,” said Forrest Richardson, ASGCA president. “Perry and I shared many good times, and I am so grateful to have spent time with him at the 2020 Golf Industry Show just before the COVID lockdowns began. As usual, he was full of life, smiling and telling stories. We will miss him.”
While working on projects with his parents throughout his career, Perry also established his own architecture company, Dye Designs, in 1984 and went on to build courses in 15 countries, including nearly two dozen in Japan. His courses were known for focusing on being environmentally friendly layouts. Among the more notable: Pound Ridge Golf Club, Pound Ridge, N.Y.; West One’s Country Club, Kato, Hyogo, Japan; Desert Pines Golf Club, Las Vegas; Auburn Hills, Wichita, Kans.; and Lykia Links, Antalya, Turkey.
He also had an award named after him from the ASGCA, the Perry O. Dye Service Award, which honors “exceptional individuals who have unselfishly contributed their influence to foster positive changes for the association and have continually endeavored to make it better.”
Alice Dye died in 2019 and Pete in 2020. Perry is survived by his brother, P.B. Dye, ASGCA, wife Ann, children and their spouses Lucy (Erik) Bowman and Lilly (Ross) Harmon, and grandchildren Brooks and Margaret Harmon.
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