The Pete Dye Golf Trail

IT ZIEHMS TO ME: Mystic Hills was a fun ending to Pete Dye Trail tour.

2014-11-03T11:09:00.002-08:00

CULVER, Ind. – Mission accomplished.

It took four years, but my attempt to play all seven courses on Indiana’s Pete Dye Golf Trail ended with a bang on a cold but sunny November afternoon – a most pleasant way to finish a most pleasant golf odyssey.

While Alabama’s Robert Trent Jones Golf Trail is the most famous of the few such golf ventures, the Dye Trail is special, too. There may be fewer courses, but those included offer plenty of variety and an historical touch as well......Read More!

WAY BETTER THAN PAR

2014-06-23T09:52:00.002-07:00

The Fort Golf Course merges nature with legendary design
By Nick Werner, OI Staff
Photography by Frank Oliver, OI Staff

Conditions were tough on an already tough course.

“The course is difficult, and today is more difficult,” Roper said. “But we’re not here for our scores. We’re here to relax and get away for a bit.”

Golf, nature and history meld as deer roam The Fort during a summer sunset. The course is on property that was once Fort Benjamin Harrison army base, which closed in 1991.

Golfers looking for an escape in Indiana will find it tough to do better than The Fort. That’s surprising, perhaps, given its location. The course is in Marion County, just a couple of miles from the hustle of Interstate 465 and 15 minutes from downtown Indy.

Since opening in 1997, The Fort has been considered one of the state’s finest public courses and is ranked annually by golf publications as a Top 10 among Indiana courses. The Fort has two main selling points. The first is natural beauty. Tucked in the wooded Fall Creek valley, the 238-acre course offers an uncommon amount of elevation change in otherwise flat central Indiana.READ MORE

New look for Ackerman Hills at Purdue.

2014-06-07T06:29:00.002-07:00

Pete Dye sees a bright future for Ackerman Hills

By Rob HughesPublished: June 6, 2014, 10:31 pmUpdated: June 6, 2014, 10:54 pm

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. (WLFI) – Ackerman Hills, formerly known as the Purdue South Course, was built in 1934. Since that time the course has undergone two separate renovations.

About ten years ago Director of Golf Operations Devin Brouse and alumnus Jim Ackerman decided that the course was due for another upgrade.

Who better to head up the job than the most famous of all modern golf architects and the designer behind Purdue’s Kampen course, Pete Dye?

“Everybody and anybody in golf knows Pete Dye, and knows what his impact has been on the game, and golf course design,” Brouse said.

Dye’s connection with the Purdue courses began in 1994, when a walk along the North course, now Kampen, turned from a minor reconstruction project into a complete renovation. Now 88 years old, Dye isn’t slowing down. Ackerman Hills is his newest project, and according to Dye the land and the location are what make the renovation the most appealing. Read More!

From our Friends at Golf Digest! Coming soon to Ackerman Course at Purdue

2014-05-28T07:49:00.002-07:00

Thursday, 5/15/2014

Courses & Travel

This is what it looks like when Pete Dye redesigns a golf course

By Stephen Hennessey

Ford Plantation in Richmond Hill, Ga., is undergoing a complete redesign from tees to greens. Six greenside bunkers will surround the green (middle).

Pete Dye was the golf course architect of discussion last week when the PGA Tour visited his TPC Sawgrass' Stadium Course for the Players.
There's no rest for the 88-year-old Dye. He's active this week at the latest club he's redesigning.
Dye arrived on site this week at Ford Plantation in Richmond Hill, Ga., about 25 minutes south of Savannah, where he's overseeing a $7 million-plus, year-long redesign along with architect Tim Liddy. Sod started being laid the last week of April, and Dye stopped by to get a look at the changes.
"There aren’t many golf courses from Florida all the way to Maine that have this ambience. It’s really something," Dye said on his visit.

Dye met with Ford Plantation folks and the construction team this week.

Dye originally designed the golf course, which was ranked No. 17 on Golf Digest's 2013-'14 Best in State ranking, in the 1980s. Most of the dirt has already been moved in the project, and the majority of grassing is happening over the next couple of months. Read More!

Big Ten Women's Championship Comes to The Fort!

2014-05-26T17:02:00.003-07:00

Big Ten Conference Selects The Fort Golf Course
As Site of 2015 and 2016 Women’s Golf Championships

For Immediate Release:May 22, 2014

Contacts:Olivia Truby, Big Ten Conference, (847) 696-1010

INDIANAPOLIS – The Big Ten Conference announced that The Fort Golf Course in Indianapolis, Ind., will be the site for the 2015 and 2016 Big Ten Women’s Golf Championships.

The 2015 championships are April 24-26, 2015, while the 2016 event dates are April 22-24, 2016.

Michigan State and Ohio State shared the 2014 Big Ten title as the championships were played at the Pete Dye Course in French Lick, Ind. Five Big Ten teams were selected to the NCAA Women’s Golf Regionals field in 2014 with three of those teams – Michigan State, Northwestern and Ohio State – advancing to the 2014 NCAA Women’s Golf Championships.

The Fort

As part of the former Ft. Benjamin Harrison military base that was decommissioned in the early 1990s, the state of Indiana took over the facility as well as the surrounding 1800 acres. The wooded acreage was transformed into a state park. The golf course was redesigned by renowned architect Pete Dye and reopened in 1997. The Fort is consistently ranked by numerous national golf publications as one of the top facilities in Indiana. In 2014, GolfWeek magazine said that The Fort was the top ranked public golf course in the Indianapolis area and the highest ranked course not associated with an accompanying casino in the entire state. More information is available at TheFortGolfCourse.com.

About the Big Ten Conference: The Big Ten Conference is an association of world-class universities whose member institutions share a common mission of research, graduate, professional and undergraduate teaching and public service. Founded in 1896, the Big Ten has sustained a comprehensive set of shared practices and policies that enforce the priority of academics in student-athletes’ lives and emphasize the values of integrity, fairness and competitiveness. The broad-based athletic programs of the 12 Big Ten institutions provide in excess of $141 million in direct financial aid to more than 8,200 student-athletes playing on more than 300 teams in 43 different sports. The Big Ten sponsors 26 official conference sports, 13 for men and 13 for women, and will add men’s and women’s lacrosse as the 27th and 28th official sports for the 2014-15 academic year. For more information, visit www.bigten.org.

The Prince of Dirt...Golf World Magazine

2014-05-13T07:57:00.000-07:00

Mr. Dye at Gulfstream

Click here for a great article about Mr. and Mrs. Dye.

Thank You FortWayne.com

2014-05-07T12:18:00.005-07:00

Indiana golf trail honors famed course designer Pete Dye

Dye designed all seven courses on the trail.

By Rod King of The News-Sentinel

MORE INFORMATION

Learn more

For more information about Pete Dye Golf Trail courses, go to www.petedyegolftrail.com or to www.visitindiana.com for golf discounts and trip ideas.

Attention golfers of all skill levels: Two years ago, Indiana inaugurated a golf trail comprised of seven courses.
They range from scenic Culver on Lake Maxinkuckee and the college atmosphere in West Lafayette to Hamilton County suburbs and the urban experience in Indianapolis where one course has four holes inside the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. The trail culminates at Golf Digest's 2010 Public Course of the Year at French Lick Resort.
All the courses have one thing in common: Each was designed by Indiana resident and legendary golf course architect Pete Dye, who resides at Crooked Stick Golf Club in Carmel, which he designed with his wife, Alice.
The Pete Dye Golf Trail is a collection of unique courses from the more than 20 around Indiana designed by Dye, who many consider to be the father of modern golf course architecture.
Three of the courses are in Indianapolis. They are Maple Creek Golf & Country Club, Brickyard Crossing Golf Course and The Fort Golf Course, the latter of which is located on the former Fort Benjamin Harrison military post — now Fort Harrison State Park.
Dye redesigned the Fort Harrison course for just $1. He provided his expertise for the same price to redesign the Kampen Golf Course at Purdue University in West Lafayette, and students in the Agriculture School provided the labor to move the dirt, create the huge waste bunkers and numerous ponds, and seed the fairways and greens.
The remaining three courses are Mystic Hills Golf Course in Culver, Plum Creek Golf Club in Carmel and the Pete Dye Course at French Lick.
All seven courses are unique and challenging. Gov. Mitch Daniels said at the golf trail announcement, “This trail is a treasure that will take visitors on an incredible golf journey throughout the state and showcase some of Pete's most prominent works.”
Be advised that the Pete Dye Course at French Lick costs $350 for 18 holes, another $30 for a caddie (everyone must have a caddie) and, of course, a generous tip for the caddie. The other courses on the trail range from $45 to $90 for 18 holes on a busy weekend.
Before getting into designing courses, Dye was an insurance salesman and a champion amateur golfer.
He won the Indiana State Amateur Championship in 1958 and was runner-up twice. He posted a better score in the 1957 U.S. Open than Jack Nicklaus and Arnold Palmer.
His wife won nine Indiana State championships, two U.S. Senior Women's Amateur Golf Championships, the 1968 North & South Championship at Pinehurst, N.C., and two Canadian Senior Women's Championships.
The two of them worked together to build their first course, a nine-holer, south of Indianapolis called El Dorado, which now is known as Royal Oak Country Club. Their next venture was an 18-hole course they named Heather Hills; it's now Maple Creek Golf & Country Club.
In 1963, a tour of Scottish golf courses profoundly influenced Dye's subsequent designs. He began incorporating features such as pot bunkers, wooden bulkheads, undulating fairways and smaller greens.
Dye is only the fifth course architect to be honored by the World Golf Hall of Fame with the Lifetime Achievement Award.

Maple Creek Open House!

2013-10-03T14:15:00.001-07:00

Maple Creek10501 East 21st Street
Indianapolis, IN 46229
317.894.3837

Sunday October 6th at 1:00p.m. Come and visit with Mr. and Mrs. Dye. You can contact the club at the number above for more information.

The Pete Dye Course at French Lick

2013-07-30T06:45:00.001-07:00

The Pete Dye Course at French Lick

Follow this link for a great review and photographs of the Dye Course at The French Lick Resort.

The Fort Golf Course, Golf Now and The Golf Channel - Total Agreement

2013-07-13T08:01:00.001-07:00

In the heart of the Midwest, among the farm fields and near the home of the Indy 500 sit some of the more underrated and fantastic golf courses in the U.S.

Indiana – and Indianapolis in particular – is not only a playground for some of America’s most-devout basketball fans, but also an exciting locale for enthusiastic golfers.

Enjoy golf in the Hoosier State no matter what your price range with these three great Indianapolis-based GolfNow courses.

- See more at: http://blog.golfnow.com/golf-indianapolis-on-3-budgets/#sthash.4T2r78tW.dpuf

French Lick Resort featured on Cybergolf Website.

2013-07-05T08:27:00.000-07:00

Dual Courses Make the Trip to French Lick Seem Easy

I am used to "remote." Born, raised and a resident of Texas, I've traveled all over the back roads and through the tiny towns of the largest state in the Contiguous 48. I know all about getting away and have been to my fair share of crossroads in burgs with single blinking lights as the only traffic control.

Vistas are Amazing at the Dye Course

But I've never felt as isolated as when I drove from Indianapolis to French Lick in the far southern part of the Hoosier State. A map will show that French Lick is just a two-and-a-half-hour drive from Indy and an hour less than that from Louisville, Ky., to the east. But the journey - though a series of increasingly smaller roads and through rolling fields and dales - is almost a step back in time as well as a trek to remoteness.

It's at the fabulous French Lick Resort where the well-heeled have come in droves since the mid-1850s to escape the city, to enjoy the healing waters of the area's mineral springs, to revel in the opulence of the West Baden Springs Hotel and to play golf at, initially anyway, a course designed by the legendary Donald Ross that opened in 1917.

In 2009, with the approval of casino gambling in French Lick attracting visitors and their money not seen since before the Great Depression, a second course was built - this one by Indiana's own Pete Dye, arguably the most important golf architect of the 20th century's last 25 years.

The two courses, both notable in their own right for their individual challenge and beauty, have combined to make a trip to French Lick a must for golfers. The fact that the other amenities in the tiny town are also top-drawer just adds to the appeal.Read more at..... http://www.cybergolf.com/golf_news/dual_courses_make_the_trip_to_french_lick_seem_easy

News from our Friends at the French Lick Resort.

2013-06-29T16:08:00.002-07:00

The Legends Tour Championship
French Lick Resort

September 23-29, 2013

http://www.frenchlick.com/golf/events/legends2013/about

In 2013, women’s professional golf returns to French Lick Resort for the first time since 1960. The Legends Championship will be held on the highly acclaimed Pete Dye Course at French Lick Resort and features Nancy Lopez, Jan Stephenson, Pat Bradley, Beth Daniel, Betsy King, Patty Sheehan, Joann Carner, Rosie Jones, Meg Mallon and all of the greats of women’s golf. These storied players represent more than 650 career tournament wins.

In honor of the Legends Championship, French Lick Resort has planned a week-long tribute to women’s golf, beginning Monday, September 23 with the fourth annual Alice Dye Invitational. This is a popular two-day women’s amateur event filled with great golf, food, and fun. An all-day golf clinic for women will be conducted by the Legends on Wednesday and on Thursday the Pro-Am Sponsor match will be played at the Pete Dye Course. The Legends Championship will be played Friday, Saturday, and Sunday on the Pete Dye Course.

Along with golf there will be plenty of opportunities to network and socialize during the week. The opening of the Legends Hall of Fame to be housed in the West Baden Springs Hotel will be celebrated with a reception on Thursday evening and the induction of its first three members. There will be exclusive hospitality tents for top sponsors at the Pete Dye Course as well as hospitality areas at each hotel during the tournament. The title sponsor will receive a reception at West Baden Springs Hotel for up to 100 associates, employees and guests. Other levels of sponsorship will host a reception and have access to hospitality areas.

French Lick Resort is honored to invite your company to participate in this fabulous week-long celebration of women and their contributions to the game of golf. There are a variety of sponsorship levels available that will afford valuable marketing, networking and entertainment opportunities for your employees, clients and guests. Contact French Lick Resort today to declare your sponsorship intentions 888-936-9360.

TOUR TIDBITS

The Legends Tour has over 100 members, including 10 World Golf and LPGA Hall of Fame members.

Legends Tour players have compiled over 650 LPGA victories, including 65 major championships.

The Legends Tour is in its 12th season and has played for over $9,000,000 in prize money.

Over $11,000,000 has been awarded to charity through Legends Tour events.

The Legends Tour has played events all over the world and across the nation. Tournaments have been held in Arizona, Connecticut, Florida, Hawaii, Indiana, Iowa, Maine, Massachusetts, Michigan, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, Wisconsin, Japan and Australia.

The Legends Tour was founded in 2000 by 25 LPGA Tour veterans who wanted to provide opportunities for professionals 45 and over to continue competing. • For more information about The Legends Tour, log onto the official website, www.thelegendstour.com.

LPGA at The Fort? an article by Phil Richards of the Indy Star.

2013-06-16T18:05:00.003-07:00

There is much to be done if the City of Lawrence is to realize its ambition of bringing an LPGA Tour event to The Fort Golf Course, a reality acknowledged last week by mayor Dean Jessup’s chief of staff.

“We’ve put our toe in the water,” Tim Joyce said.

There has been contact with the LPGA Tour but the effort is in its earliest stages. A working group is being assembled, issues are being identified and strategy is being formulated.

The tour has been receptive. Read More!

Larry Bush-Jupiter Courier: Pete & Alice: 'Wanted to build golf courses'

2013-06-04T07:32:00.001-07:00

Life for golf course architects Pete and Alice Dye has become like a quote from the Bible, and I’m paraphrasing here: “Whither thou goest, I will follow.”

They have been married for 63 years, they have lived in Gulf Stream since 1970, and they spend 300 days a year on the road.

Plum Creek Country Club

And most of it is in the U.S.

Unlike many equally well-known architects who number their new and renovated projects in the hundreds, the Dyes have only 90 to 95 identifiable courses. There’s the famed Casa de Campo in the Dominican Republic, a couple of projects in Switzerland, and the rest carry the label of Made in America.

Included are The Dye Preserve west of Jupiter and the Dye course at the PGA Golf Club in Port St. Lucie.

Not bad for a World War II greenskeeper who decided he didn’t like the insurance business despite achieving Million Dollar Roundtable membership status back in Indianapolis.

“I wanted to build golf courses,” he said recently during a PGA Speaker Series appearance in Port St. Lucie. “I’ve always been interested in golf course maintenance. The only way I could get done what I wanted was to build it myself.

He started with a nine-hole course in his native Urbana, Ohio.Read More

Book a Tee Time!

Brickyard Crossing Has Unique Setting & Much to Like

2013-05-25T05:15:00.000-07:00

From our friend Steve Habel

This weekend, as upwards of 290 million households around the world watch the television coverage of the Indianapolis 500 - the biggest sporting event on the planet - most of the focus will be on the race cars whipping around the 2.5-mile track at speeds exceeding 230 miles per hour.

Brickyard Crossing GC on Indy 500 Race Day

Expect golfers to pay a little more attention to the overhead shots of the action, especially those who have played the unique and ultra-challenging Brickyard Crossing Golf Course that borders- and even enters - the Indianapolis Motor Speedway along the massive edifice's backstretch.

Because four of Brickyard Crossing's 18 holes are set within the infield of the huge oval, the course is surely distinctive for its setting. But, thanks to the handiwork of native Indianan and famed designer Pete Dye, there's a whole lot more to like about Brickyard Crossing than its location. This is one of the testiest golf courses in America, one that demands your best, especially on its home stretch. Read More.

The Golf Channel features Mr. and Mrs. Dye.

2013-05-03T04:00:00.003-07:00

The Golf Channel will air a segment on Pete and Alice Dye at approximately 3 p.m. ET on May 9 and 10 as part of its coverage of the Players Championship.
The 2013 Players Championship will be contested from May 9-12 at TPC Sawgrass, designed by the Dye duo and recognized as one of the most difficult courses in the world. The course is known for its signature hole, the par-three, 132-yard 17th, simply known as the "Island Green."
Pete Dye received the 2003 Old Tom Morris Award from the Golf COurse Superintendents Associate of America, their highest honor. In 2005, he became the sixth recipient of the PGA Tour Lifetime Achievement Award, and he was inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame in 2008. He has been awarded a Doctor of Landscape Architecture degree from Purdue.
An accomplished amateur golfer in addition to her prowess as a designer, Alice Dye is known as the "First Lady of Golf Architecture" in the United States. The Indianapolis native was a 1970 U.S. Curtis Cup Team member and won the U.S. Senior Women's Amateur in both 1978 and 1979. She has been a member of the USGA Women's Committee, the LPGA Advisory Council and a member of the Board of Directors of the Women's Western Amateur, which has honored her with its Woman of Distinction Award. In 2004, she was honored with the PGA's First Lady of Golf Award.
The state of Indiana proudly lays claim to having more Pete Dye-designed courses than any other place in the world. The Kampen Course at the Birck Boilermaker Golf Complex is part of the Pete Dye Golf Trail, a collection of his courses in the state of Indiana intended as both a showcase for the golf traveler and a tribute to the golf visionary.

Bury Me In a Pot Bunker

2013-04-18T07:32:00.000-07:00

For Immediate Release:

April 17, 2013

New Special Edition of Pete Dye’s Bury Me In A Pot Bunker Released

as 60 Minutes Sports on Showtime Appearances Near

Delray Beach, Florida – Coinciding with his appearance on 60 Minutes Sports on Showtime (April 21st, Noon. EST), a new special edition of World Golf Hall of Famer Pete Dye’s autobiography Bury Me In A Pot Bunker has been released. Written with co-author Mark Shaw, this book not only chronicles the evolution of 25 magical Dye courses including The Ocean Course at Kiawah, The Players Stadium Course featuring the infamous island green 17th created by Pete’s wife Alice, Whistling Straits, Teeth of the Dog, Crooked Stick and Harbour Town Golf Links, but includes new creative insights, design philosophies and humorous “Dye-isms” from the world’s most challenging golf course architect.

“By understanding the architect’s mindset while creating the holes, golfers can improve their game playing our courses or any courses using sound strategies instead of just winging it,” Dye said. “If players pay attention, they can out-think me or any designer who’s trying to hoodwink them into attempting the difficult, gambling shot.”

Packed with dramatic photos from Ken May’s Rolling Greens Photography, Bury Me In A Pot Bunker features quotes from Tiger Woods, Rory Mcllroy, and many other PGA Tour headliners chronicling Dye’s remarkable career, one that has seen his courses host 28 Major Championships. No wonder Golf Digest’s Ron Whitten says of Dye: “No other [golf course] designer continues to re-invent his architecture the way Pete Dye does.”

Intended for golfers of all skill levels, Bury Me In A Pot Bunker will, as Greg Norman says, “Change forever the way players look at the game of golf.”

******************

Published independently to immediately launch the book to coincide with Pete and Alice Dye’s media appearances, Bury Me In A Pot Bunker is available at Amazon.com in both paperback and on Kindle and at bookstores through Baker and Taylor and Ingram. More information about the book including interview requests and review copies may be obtained by contacting co-author Mark Shaw via email at mshawin@yahoo.com or telephone at 970.618.2027.

Watch for this television special on the Dye's

2013-04-01T11:28:00.002-07:00

Mr. and Mrs. Dye will be featured on a 60 Minutes segment on Premium Channel Showtime CBS Sports:

April 3 9:00pm 11:00pm 12:00pm

April 7 12:00pm (night)

April 11 12:00pm

April 13 3:30pm

April 20 12:30am

April 21 12:00pm

April 27 2:00am

We hope you will get a chance to watch.

Have you booked your Pete Dye Golf Trail visit?

2013-03-07T07:48:00.000-08:00

The office phone has been ringing at a steady pace as spring approaches. We truly enjoy speaking to fellow golfers looking for a unique golf experience.

Where are you traveling to play golf this summer? I highly suggest a trip that includes the Pete Dye Golf Trail for this summer.

On the right hand side of the blog you will see a list of links for the member golf courses. In addition the following websites have packages and promotions that include our member courses.

Visit Hamilton County

Birck Boilermaker Golf Complex

Marriott - Indianapolis Downtown

French Lick

The Fort

and as always you can reach us directly at petedyegolftrail@gmail.com

and at 574-933-1610

DON'T MISS THE CHANCE FOR A GREAT EXPERIENCE.

An Opportunity for the Friends of the Pete Dye Golf Trail

2013-02-01T10:08:00.001-08:00

For those of you who have been influenced by this recent blast of Midwest winter and are thinking about warmer climates and new places to play golf, I have a suggestion. I just recently returned from a short business trip to the PGA Show in Orlando. After a couple days at the show, a friend and I drove to Brooksville, Florida to play a course Mr. Dye completed in 2006, Southern Hills Plantation Club.

Brooksville is located in Hernando County bordered on the west by the Gulf of Mexico. While modernized in many ways, it still retains much of the charm of what is referred to as Old Florida. The town was incorporated in 1880 and many of the original historic buildings still stand. The rolling topography and sand based soil of this area has lent itself to some of the most beautiful golf courses in Florida. The best of which might be Southern Hills. From the back tees, the course measures 7557 and at the time of its opening it was the second longest golf course in Florida. Of course like all of Mr. Dye's golf courses, you don't need to go all the way back to have a great golf experience. My friend and I played from the Blue Tees, plenty of golf at 6995 yards and I will say without reservation, it was a great golf experience. The following video describes it better than I ever could.

As a private club it is not that well known to the public, however it is well enough known to have hosted the second stage of the PGA tour qualifier last fall. It is a great golf facility, challenging, but not punishing. A straight forward layout that requires just about every club in your bag. It has an extensive practice area that includes a walking only, short game course off the back of the range. You can spend a whole afternoon there just working on your wedge game and putting. Finally, there is a clubhouse worthy of the name Southern Hills Plantation. Left click the following picture to see the first hole and the clubhouse.

Now for the best part! The club is currently offering member for the day opportunities. Arrangements can be made through me by contacting the Pete Dye Golf Trail Office at 574-933-1610 or you can call the Pro Shop at Southern Hills and let them know you are a friend of the Pete Dye Golf Trail. In addition, home and real estate tours are available by contacting the Pro Shop as well. The number there is 352-277-5000. Either way, I hope you will take advantage of this generous offer and after you play let me know what you think. I think you will agree that this one is a gem.

Golf Advice - A Different Perspective

2013-01-21T12:34:00.002-08:00

This past summer I have become a fan of The Dan Dakich Show on the ESPN radio affiliate in Indianapolis, 1070 The Fan WFNI. One of the reasons I enjoy his show is Dan's ability to use the sports issues and developments of the day as teachable moments to help his audience in their day to day lives. Once a coach always a coach. One of the things I hear Dan stress on a regular basis is that the key to success in sports, business or really any aspect of your life is to make a consistent effort in whatever you do, every day.

As I have thought about this over the course of the summer, I have found that not only is it great advice in how you determine to live your life, but that it has major applications in the fun, but probably less important aspect of playing a round of golf. I have been fortunate in my life to be able to make a living by promoting a game. Currently by promoting the Pete Dye Golf Trail, but throughout the majority of my career to promote golf as an instructor. I learned early on that the game is more fun for my students when they play better. In an effort to play better golf I have found we are tempted to try all manner of things. Often trying something new on almost every shot. So much so, that when we do hit a good shot we have no idea what we did to produce the improved results.

My suggestion is to use the Coach's advice and make a consistent effort. Do the same things every time you hit a golf shot. Even down to making the same swing in the same sequence of motion, regardless of results. Will you miss some shots? Of course, we all miss shots regardless of skill level. But by recognizing the effort and trying to repeat it in every swing, we can learn something about our swing and making educated changes as opposed to random moves.

One thing you can do in the off season to help is to try and verbalize your swing. Tell yourself how you swing the club. An example would be as a right handed player , my left arm starts the club back as my hips clear out of the way. When the club gets past my back foot I start to use my shoulders to finish the backswing. To start back to the ball, I start my downswing with my knees, clearing the way for my arms and hands to swing the club to the ball. There are countless number of combinations so the best way to start is to describe simply what you do. Don't worry about right or wrong just identify what you do. Two good things will happen. It will be easier to identify the need to make a change for improvement and when you indentify that need, you will have a guideline to base your decision. More important you will have the basis of making the consistent effort that is a key to successful golf game.

Visual Advice - Influence of the Dominant Eye

2013-01-14T05:36:00.000-08:00

When it comes to golf, vision is the most influential of all the senses. Where are we and where do we intend to go are constant and critical questions. Where to align the body to swing the club? What direction does the club appear to be pointed as viewed from the side? What is our perception of the target’s location when viewed from a side on position? Getting an accurate picture to use when making these decisions can be difficult.

The problem is we trust what our eyes tell us, even if the “picture” they create is not accurate. This inaccuracy occurs much more often than we realize. Since visual and perceptual inaccuracies have an influence on the basic fundamentals of our golf shots, it has to be difficult to set ourselves correctly if we don’t see the direction accurately.

While we all see things in the same manner, our perception of what we see is different for everyone. Much of this is caused by the concept of a dominant eye and its position relative to the image. Since there isn't any agreement about how a dominant eye influences us as golfers, we are left to our own devices to find the “best way” for an accurate view of the target. Do you know your dominant eye? The classic method to evaluate the idea of a dominant eye is to make a circle with your index finger and your thumb. With both eyes open hold the circle at arms length put an image in the circle. Now close one eye. Does the image stay in the circle or move? If the image stays in the circle, the open eye is your dominant eye. If when you close one eye it moves, the closed eye is the dominant eye. Now do the test again closing the opposite eye first and see if the results are the same.

For any golf shot it helps to create an imaginary line at the ball, but many of my students have trouble with this concept. What I have found is that it is easier to create reference points either from behind the ball ending at the ball or in front of the ball going toward the target. In an interview with my online clients I found there seems to be a correlation between the dominant eye and which side of the ball they look to create this imaginary target line. The following is a test I have had some success with. Get a 12 inch ruler and a golf ball. Set the ruler on the ground pointed to a target across the room and put the ball at one end of the ruler. Now with a golf club set the club behind the ball and set up to the ball using the ruler as a reference to the target. How does the ruler look in relation to the target? Now put the ball at the opposite end of the ruler and do the test, again setting up to the golf ball. Was there a position that looked like the ruler was aimed more accurately? If there was we suggest that you focus on that side of the ball when try to create an imaginary reference for your set up.

While it might seem that for right handed golfers the line behind the ball would be most accurate for right eye dominant players and the one left of the ball for left. After more than a year of testing I can tell you there is no pattern or rule. Each player has been different. Head position tilt of the head, How we approach the ball, visual patterns on the putter all seem to have an influence. Yet all agree that how the information pertains to them has been helpful. At the end of the day for me how to help the individual means more than finding a rule that pertains to everyone.

We have found one pattern as it pertains to the actual stroke. The following are generic and average images of the path we see on PuttLab, relative to the target line. One for players who see a line to the ball and for those who focus on the line past the ball. These are average arc shapes, in the real world some are smaller and some are bigger. I don't have enough data to make any claims. What I don't know yet is whether stroke mechanics influence a visual preference or if vision forced the mechanics. But we do have enough to know that those that match one of these patterns in general are less conflicted and more consistent than those who don't.

Play Golf or Play Swing?

2013-01-07T13:17:00.000-08:00

A couple of years ago I was lucky enough to attend the opening of the Harbor Shores Golf Club in Berrien Springs, Michigan. Designer Jack Nicklaus was joined by Arnold Palmer, Tom Watson and Johnny Miller for a clinic and a round of golf. The clinic began with Tom Watson explaining his beginnings in golf. He described how his first lesson came from his Dad. Mr. Watson showed young Tom how to hold the club, how to make the ball curve left and how to curve the ball curve to the right. He taught him how to hook and slice it on the very first day and then how to use that knowledge. Not one way to stand, or the proper positions during the swing, but how to control the clubface and make the ball curve.

As a former employee of Arnold Palmer I was well aware of the story of Mr. Palmer’s first lesson from his father that was in essence the same story. What I didn’t realize was that the first lessons for Johnny Miller and Jack Nicklaus were the same as well. They were taught to hit shots, not how to swing a club. Experiment, not with the thought of good or bad, but with the intention of gaining information by experience. All of these Hall of Famers started the game with the concept that to play successful golf requires a variety of shots.

#7 The Fort Golf Course and Resort

I think for many inexperienced players the idea of a shot curving is considered a negative thing. Poor shots curve and good shots go straight. The truth is just the opposite, most golf courses are not built to be played effectively with a straight ball. Using the member courses of The Pete Dye Golf Trail as examples, each requires different types of shots to get around the golf course successfully. The mastery of Mr. Dye's build strategy is that each hole is a puzzle to be solved and more easily solved if you can bend the ball around some of the trouble.

Over the course of the offseason we will continue this conversation of strategic play and how it will benefit your scores as you challenge the Trail next season.

Understanding YOUR Golfswing

2012-12-12T04:54:00.002-08:00

I look at golf swings every day, all of them a little different. I also get requests every day to explain the issues people have with their golf swings. Whether I interact in person or online, I will never feel what it is like to swing the club like those I analyze. I watched Arnold Palmer swing a golf club thousands of times, and though I felt I was as familiar with that swing as my own, I would never know how it felt to swing the club as he did. The best I could do is to understand how my interpretation of his golf swing felt to me. He and I found that was not a very efficient way to communicate. So as an instructor I had to find a way of understanding his swing and communicating my thoughts to them so we were both in agreement.

I found this to be a tough task until I was introduced to the idea of verbalizing a golf swing. Originally, the application of the theory was if I could verbalize the movements of my swing in the proper sequence I could use that “check list” as a way to work through any issues I might be having. As time went along I found if I could verbalize the proper sequence of my students and we both used the same words I could easily see where they had gotten off track with a conversation we both understood. The idea of verbalizing the swing has now grown to the point that I work with the majority of my students online. It has proven to be a much more efficient and productive use of time for both myself and the client.

Step One in this process is to find a way to start. Historically, there have been three types of swings. One is where the arms swing around the body in conjunction with the rotation of the torso. This swing was called flat. Mr. Palmer and Ben Hogan are good examples of this move. There were the upright swings, where the shoulders turned as the arms lifted the club into position. Jack Nicklaus, the late Payne Stewart, and many famous LPGA players like Nancy Lopez and Juli Inkster use this method. Finally, there are those who split the difference, arm on top of the shoulder is the way I describe these players. Tiger Woods of 2000, Adam Scott and Greg Norman have had a great influence on this method.

The following diagram shows the three arm positions at the top of the swing.

So which one are you? Each of these methods has a sequence of motion that puts the clubin the position they find at the top of the swing. The player on the left starts with his arms, and his shoulders follow the club to the top. The player on the right starts with his shoulders, and then lifts his arms into position. The player in the middle uses a combination of shoulders turning and as the arms swing back. How you get to this position is important, and pretty much a preference and matter of comfort. It is not as important as this:

The sequence of motion that gets you back to the ball for impact is dictated by the position of the arm at the top of the swing. The sequences are different, not the same and

NOT INTERCHANGABLE.

So as you read this winter and the authors are sharing their idea of the best swing. Be very aware if the description of their method matches the description of yours. You can save yourself a lot of issues come spring if you stay with your method.

Salute The Fort, One of Indiana's Finest

2012-12-10T11:27:00.003-08:00

Among the pantheon of golf courses emblazoned with the name of legendary architect Pete Dye, The Fort is not the flashiest. It’s not the most recognizable. It’s not the newest. It is the most historically significant, and a damn fine golf experience at that.

Dye, along with associate Tim Liddy, re-tooled The Fort in 1998 to create the wonderfully wooded layout you’ll find tucked away in the shadows of downtown Indy. Read More...