Crooked Stick golf course
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Crooked Stick golf course
Scotland's Martin Laird plays a bunker shot during the 2012 BMW Championship, the last time the FedEx Cup playoff event was held at Crooked Stick Golf Club, one of Pete Dye's first heralded designs. Scott Halleran/Getty Images
Radrick Farms Golf Club
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Radrick Farms Golf Club
Radrick Farms Golf Club, owned by the University of Michigan, celebrated its 50th anniversary in 2015. It is the first 18-hole course designed by Pete and Alice Dye. Courtesy of Radrick Farms G.C.
Harbour Town Golf Links at Sea Pines
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Harbour Town Golf Links at Sea Pines
The Sea Pines Resort's Harbour Town Golf Links is one of the longest running venues on the PGA Tour. The famous Jack Nicklaus/Pete Dye design began hosting the tournament as soon as it opened in 1969. Courtesy of Sea Pines Resort
Teeth of the Dog golf course - Casa de Campo - hole 5
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Teeth of the Dog golf course - Casa de Campo - hole 5
Pete Dye often calls his work on Teeth of Dog in Dominican Republic�۪s Casa de Campo one of his finest accomplishments, thanks in part to the economic benefit it provided the country. Courtesy of the Dominican Republic Ministry of Tourism
TPC Sawgrass - PLAYERS Stadium Course - hole 17th green
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TPC Sawgrass - PLAYERS Stadium Course - hole 17th green
Pete Dye's PLAYERS Stadium Course at TPC Sawgrass in Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla. revolutionized golf with so many design concepts: mounding for "stadium" seating, waste bunkers as cart paths and the island green at no. 17. Chris Condon/Getty Images
PGA West - TPC Stadium golf course
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PGA West - TPC Stadium golf course
The PGA West's Stadium Course became the West Coast version of TPC Sawgrass in 1986. Jason Scott Deegan/GolfPass
Blackwolf Run River Course - No. 13
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Blackwolf Run River Course - No. 13
When Pete Dye's River Course at Blackwolf Run opened in 1988, The American Club in Kohler, Wisconsin became a legit golf destination that has only grown in status. Jason Scott Deegan/Golf Advisor
Kiawah Island Golf Resort - Ocean course
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Kiawah Island Golf Resort - Ocean course
Pete Dye's use of marshland, raised greens and daunting bunkers on the Ocean Course at Kiawah Island Golf Resort cemented his status as the architect of "Dye-a-bolical" designs. It opened in 1991 and immediately hosted the Ryder Cup. Courtesy of Kiawah Island Golf Resort
Brickyard Crossing Golf Course
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Brickyard Crossing Golf Course
In 1993, Pete Dye completely revamped Brickyard Crossing, rebuilding four holes inside the famed Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Courtesy of visitindy.com
Nemacolin Woodlands Resort - Mystic Rock G.C.
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Nemacolin Woodlands Resort - Mystic Rock G.C.
Pete Dye had to blast away rock and carve Nemacolin Woodlands Resort's Mystic Rock Course from a mountainside. It opened in 1995. Courtesy of Nemacolin Woodlands Resort
Paiute - Snow Mountain golf course - 8th
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Paiute - Snow Mountain golf course - 8th
The Snow Mountain Course, one of three Pete Dye designs at the Las Vegas Paiute Golf Resort, opened in 1995. It showcases a more playable, forgiving side of the architect. Courtesy of Las Vegas Paiute Golf Resort
Straits golf course - Whistling Straits
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Straits golf course - Whistling Straits
Pete Dye set a new record for bunkers on a golf course with more than 1,000 on the Straits Course at Whistling Straits, including one on the 18th hole that led to controversial finish at the 2010 PGA Championship. Courtesy of Getty Images
Bulle Rock Golf Club
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Bulle Rock Golf Club
Pete Dye's Bulle Rock Golf Club in Maryland opened in 1998 and held The LPGA Championship from 2005 through 2009. Courtesy of Bulle Rock G.C.
TPC Louisiana golf course - 18th hole
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TPC Louisiana golf course - 18th hole
Perhaps only Pete Dye could get away with mixing such devilish pot bunkers with traps of all shapes and sizes like he did at the TPC Louisiana, which hosts the PGA Tour's Zurich Classic. Courtesy of TPC Network
French Lick Resort - Pete Dye golf course - no. 16
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French Lick Resort - Pete Dye golf course - no. 16
Pete Dye has pushed golf design to the extreme, evidenced by the 8,000-Dye course at French Lick Resort in Indiana that opened in 2009. Pictured is the par-3 16th hole, which plays 301 yards. Courtesy of French Lick Resort
Full Cry Course at Keswick G.C.
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Full Cry Course at Keswick G.C.
Pete Dye showed a softer side in building the new Full Cry Course at Keswick Golf Club in Virginia in 2015. Most greens have bailout areas that make for easier up-and-downs. Brandon Tucker/Golf Advisor
Nemacolin Woodlands Resort - new golf course
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Nemacolin Woodlands Resort - new golf course
Even at age 90, Pete Dye stays busy. The green pole signifies where a green is being created for the new Dye course at Nemacolin Woodlands Resort in Pennsylvania. Jason Scott Deegan/Golf Advisor
17 Images

The design evolution of Pete Dye: From Crooked Stick Golf Club to Nemacolin Woodlands Resort

The 2016 BMW Championship, the third event of the 2016 FedEx Cup playoffs, returns this week to Crooked Stick Golf Club, the venerable Pete Dye design in Carmel, Ind.

In many ways, Crooked Stick, which opened in 1964, launched Dye's legendary career. When Dye stuck his shovel in the ground in farm country outside of Indianapolis, he had only worked on one other 18-hole layout: Radrick Farms Golf Club at the University of Michigan, which he designed in 1962 but wouldn't open until 1965.

Crooked Stick -- home to multiple major tournaments over the years -- was the breakthrough that led to higher profile jobs. Dye collaborated with Jack Nicklaus on Harbour Town Golf Links in South Carolina in 1969, now one of the longest-running venues on the PGA Tour. The Teeth of the Dog at Casa de Campo in the Dominican Republic followed soon after. The rest is, shall we say, history. Dye, in cahoots with his wife Alice, has designed more than 80 courses and mentored many top architects, including those who worked for him (including Tom Doak) and his sons, P.B. and Perry Dye.

In this photo gallery, Golf Advisor tours the best of Dye's public courses in chronological order. Perhaps no architect in history has done more ground-breaking work (pun intended). Dye didn't invent the island green, but he brought it to prominence with the PLAYERS Stadium course at TPC Sawgrass in 1980. His mounding at Sawgrass -- which created a stadium effect -- led to an entire brand of tournament courses, the TPC network, built around the nation.

Building bunkers lined by golf railroad ties and penal holes that pros fear became Dye's signature "M.O." Many of his designs are considered some of the toughest ever built: Sawgrass, the Ocean Course at Kiawah Island Golf Resort, the Straits Course at Whistling Straits, the River Course at Blackwolf Run Golf Club, the Pete Dye Course at French Lick Resort, Pound Ridge Golf Club and the TPC Stadium Course at PGA West, among others.

Video: History of Pete Dye's Crooked Stick

As he has aged, Dye's style has mellowed somewhat, bringing more playability and fun to his routings. His 54-hole Las Vegas Paiute Golf Resort and more recently, the full 2015 makeover of Full Cry at Keswick Golf Club, now one of the best golf courses in Virginia, are perfect examples.

Even at age 90, Dye continues digging on various projects. He recently donated his time to finish a remodeling of the Ackerman-Allen Course at Purdue University. He's also busy at the Nemacolin Woodlands Resort in Pennsylvania, completely redefining its Links Course by building a new course called Shepherd's Rock on much of the same land. It is scheduled to open at least nine holes, if not the whole routing, in summer of 2017.

Love or loathe his style, Dye's legacy is one of a kind.

Jason Scott Deegan has reviewed and photographed more than 1,100 courses and written about golf destinations in 25 countries for some of the industry's biggest publications. His work has been honored by the Golf Writer's Association of America and the Michigan Press Association. Follow him on Instagram at @jasondeegangolfpass and Twitter at @WorldGolfer.
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The design evolution of Pete Dye: From Crooked Stick Golf Club to Nemacolin Woodlands Resort