29 Photo: credit Crooked Stick was one of the first courses Pete Dye used railroad ties as a design element that position and working closely with Pete set the path for Tom’s impressive career. Over the years, Pete continued to be an influence and mentor, helping him become one of the world’s most in-demand golf course architects. Part of Tom’s success is his minimalist approach to design, which made him a perfect fit to help lead the renovation of Crooked Stick. In the video, Tom says: “It’s fun to be back. I have some very pleasant memories of hearing Pete tell stories about this place and what he did to build it. Hopefully we have a very light touch, and people can’t really remember what I did five years from now.” From the beginning, this project has focused on preserving the legacy of the club and Pete and Alice’s original vision, while making updates that will improve the health and playability of the course. Eric Iverson, a member of the Renaissance Golf Design team responsible for much of the shaping work, summed up the significance of the project in a way that resonated with me. “This is a very important course in the history of golf course design, and in particular the architectural branch of the tree that Tom and I both come from,” he says. Around the same time Tom started his journey with Pete, Eric began an internship with Pete’s son Perry, in Denver. Iverson also highlighted how aware the renovation team is of the project’s historical importance. “It’s a heavy weight when you’re working on the golf course that Pete Dye lived on and tinkered with for all these years,” he says. “Exactly what you’re going to take that back to is subject to a great amount of debate. We’re just trying to honour Pete’s legacy and his overarching philosophy for Crooked Stick and iron out some things that might have occurred through cultural practices over the years.” Expanding on the historical importance of the project, Doak adds: “This was really Pete Dye’s first world-class golf course when he built it in the 60s. In the original version, you could see the evolution of his design ideas. It was a much more eclectic course than most. There were bunkers that looked like those of Alister McKenzie, Donald Ross and CB Macdonald, based on him actively travelling around during the two or three years that he was building it and seeing other places and bringing back an idea, here or there, to use on the golf course.” Some of the changes from the renovation will focus on unifying the diverse features found from hole to hole. As Iverson explains: “From a design perspective, what we’ve settled on is that it’s OK to have an eclectic collection of bunkers course-wide, but kind of keep them in the same family.” “ We’re just trying to honour Pete’s legacy and his overarching philosophy for Crooked Stick” Photo: Crooked Stick
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