Pete Dye didn’t invent the terrifying par-3 hole, but he revolutionized it. Architects from the beginning have positioned greens in precarious places that require extreme tee-shot precision—across lakes and rivers, on benches above deep bunkers and ravines, in dunes surrounded by sand and gorse—but Dye took it to another level.
His all-carry par 3s played tough, but they often looked even more threatening than they were. Dye’s concepts were innovative: Setting greens into a nest of multilevel bunkers on the far side of a pond (The Golf Club); angling them diagonally against the sharp edge of a reflective bulkheaded water feature (Harbour Town); and placing them on an island in the middle of a lake, where missing the green means re-teeing the shot (TPC Sawgrass).
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Golfers would be able to sense the glee Dye derived from these concoctions if they weren’t too busy shaking in their spikes. As the years passed, his par 3s seemed to grow in intensity, packed with evermore horrific accoutrement.
One of his most arresting creations is the 17th hole at the Straits Course at Whistling Straits near Kohler, Wis. Leveled into a steep bluff on the shore of Lake Michigan, the hole is magnificent, beautiful and fearsome. Standing on the tee, players are in awe of the scenery, equal parts excited and exacerbated at the prospect of having to hit a long shot over sand, fescue and land tumbling toward the water at a green that looks too small for the part.
The 17th is the spectacular climax of the round at one of the most visually dazzling and eccentrically built courses in the U.S. You can imagine anything can happen once the courage is summoned the to pull the club back. That’s just what Pete Dye wanted you to think.
Watch the video below as Golf Digest architecture editor Derek Duncan reveals some history and lure about the 17th hole at Whistling Straits.
This article was originally published on golfdigest.com
