In the fifty years since Pete Dye built his first golf courses, the Dye name has become one of the most famous in golf. Many members of the extended Dye family have become golf designers, leaving a trail of courses around the world. None, till now have been in the UK. But that could be set to change.
Developer Tony Menai Davis, the owner of the Shire course near Barnet, north of London, has announced that his new project, to be built at Bury Farm, Edgware, near the intersection of the M1 and the A41, will be the UK’s first Dye course. Pete's son Perry is leading the project, which Menai Davis hopes to start building in early 2015. A planning application for the course was filed in October.
If planning consent is granted, the Dye London course will stretch to over 7,000 yards and incorporate a hole modelled on Pete Dye's famous island green seventeenth at TPC Sawgrass. As at Menai Davis’s Shire course, it will have a small membership, but offer seven day public access.
“Dye Designs is thrilled to announce our latest project, the Dye London,” said a company spokesperson. “The course will feature a Dye signature island green, similar to the famous 17th at TPC Sawgrass. Dye-designed courses have hosted over fifty championships worldwide, and our team is looking forward tremendously to creating our first golf course in the United Kingdom.
“This is a beautiful piece of ground, with magnificent views across London, one of the world’s great capital cities. The ambience and the setting are brilliant, but most of all it’s the people involved which will make this project so special. We are passionate about what we have planned here.”
“The Dye London will compete in quality with other facilities in the south such as the Grove and Woburn, but at more accessible prices,” said Tony Menai Davis. “Initial demand for the Dye London has been phenomenal, among those who knew that it was coming, and we hope to repeat the success of the Shire, which launched with a fully-sold membership in 2007.”
“Golf is changing,” he continued. “Many golfers these days, especially younger ones, don’t want to be part of a traditional members’ club, and prefer to play less frequently but at spectacular high-quality golf courses – like the Tour venues they see on TV, or when they go on a golf holiday. We look forward to a time when the detailed facts about this project – including accurate information about how it will enhance the surrounding area, and including matters regarding public access, biodiversity and other important environmental aspects – are widely known and recognised.”
Planning documents show that the design calls for only limited earthworks across most of the site, but that around 245,000 of inert landfill disposal is included in the scheme. This fill would be used to screen the course from the nearby M1.