Marco Croze is considered Italy’s most diligent golf architect and one of the best European golf designers, born in in Venice in 1940 within a prestigious family filled with love for golf. As a child, thanks to his father, the President of the historic Venice Golf Club, he discovered his great passion for the green, and grew up in the heart of Venice, Piazza San Marco, where the family owns, since 1846, the Missiaglia Jewellery Shop, the most ancient and famous in the city. He graduated at the University of Venezia with a degree in architecture in 1965, at the beginning of his career; he had as teachers and masters two great architects in golf history: the English architect John D. Harris, whom he represented in Italy, and Pete Dye. He joined them both in realizing important projects.
Posts Tagged ‘Pete Dye’
Golf Architects/Designers: Bobby Weed
Bobby Weed was born in April 13, 1955 in Irmo, South Carolina, USA. His parents were Robert C. and Margie Johnson Weed. Robert Sr. worked in construction, but his grandparents were farmers. The Weed family farm was large, and some of the land was sold to a developer who built the Coldstream Country Club. Bobby learned to play golf when he was ten, and while a teenager, convinced his father to allow him to use a family soybean field near the golf course to build a Driving range because the club didn’t have one. Bobby did much of the work himself. Thirty years later, the Weed family still owned it.
In the university he played and baseball and graduated with the class of 1973 at Irmo High School. Weed played on the school’s golf team while attending Presbyterian College, then transferred to Lake City Community College in north Florida, where he enrolled in the Golf Course Operations and Landscape Technology program, recognized as one of the finest in existence. While working a summer golf internship at an Amelia Island Plantation course, Weed was introduced to golf architect Pete Dye, the most notable golf architect in the second half of the twentieth century, who was revising the Amelia Links course. After graduating in 1977, Weed returned to Amelia as assistant superintendent. He was invited to join Dye’s crew in 1980 at Hilton Head, South Carolina.
Golf Architects/Designers: Alice Dye
Alice Dye was born in Indianapolis, USA, in 1927; she is an American golf champion and golf course designer. Known as the “First Lady” of golf architecture in the United States, she began to play golf at a young age, winning eleven Indianapolis Women’s City titles. In 1946 she won the first of her nine Indiana Women’s Golf Association Amateur Championships. While a student at Rollins College in Winter Park, Florida, she was captain of the golf team. During this period she met Paul “Pete” Dye who later became a legendary name in the field of golf course design and construction and that is considered in many circles to be one of the most influential golf course architects of the last five decades.
Involved in the game of golf most of her life, Alice Dye is best known as a leader, a champion and a golf architect. As a golf player she has won 50 Amateur Championships, including nine State Championships in Indiana, three State Championships in Florida, the Women’s North and South, the Eastern, and was a member of the 1970 Curtis Cup Team. As a senior, Alice won two USGA Senior and two Canadian Senior tournaments, as well as five Women’s Western Senior tournaments. She also won a gold medal in golf at the Senior Olympics.
Golf Architects/Designers: Tom Doak
World-renowned architect Tom Doak of Renaissance Golf Design is one of America’s most successful golf architects, he currently has 4 courses ranked among the top 100 in the world according to Golf Magazine’s “Top 100 Courses in the World” list, including Pacific Dunes (Oregon,USA), Ballyneal (Colorado, USA), Barnbougle Dunes (Tasmania, Australia) and Cape Kidnappers (Napier, New Zealand). Tom Doak attended Cornell University where he studied Design and Landscape Architecture. After graduating Cornell, he won the Dreer Award from the Department of Floraculture and Horticulture. He used the Dreer Award to travel to Great Britain and Ireland and spent a year as a caddie at St. Andrews and studying traditional links courses throughout the United Kingdom and Ireland.
Although perhaps his greatest influence comes from Alister MacKenzie (whom Doak wrote a book about), designer of Cypress Point, Royal Melbourne, and consultant to Bobby Jones at Augusta National. Tom Doak credits most of his accomplishments and success to Pete Dye. Doak worked with Dye to learn how to construct golf courses during graduate school. Doak was exposed to several different schools of design on multiple continents in a variety of conditions. Dye taught him how to run a bulldozer allowing for Doak to think in three dimensions and how to use the materials around him. 
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Mission Hills Golf Club, China (Part 3)
Mission Hills Golf Club has announced its recent recognition as the “World’s Largest Golf Club” by the Guinness World Records for the fifth straight year. Following the yesterday’s post we give a brief description of the remaining Mission Hills Golf Club courses.
Olazabal Course – The venue of the 2007 and 2008 Omega Mission Hills World Cup, the 7,400-yard Olazabal Course is the longest at Mission Hills. Jose Maria Olazabal’s course at Mission Hills is his first in China. The design philosophy behind this course is to create a beautiful, unique, harmonious and playable course for all golfers. Olazabal’s reputation as one of the game’s best sand savers is reflected on his course at Mission Hills.
Numerous majestic vistas of untouched jungle and natural flowing streams create outstanding backdrops throughout the golf course.
The signature square tees, along with undulating concave paspalum fairways, are two distinguishing features of this true championship course. Sand bunkers contain numerous contoured fingers, thick grassy vertical lips and deep ‘bowled’ bottoms, which are sure to attract the attention of golfers as each shot is played. Golfers will often be faced with an option on how to play each hole – take the safe and conservative route, or the risk/reward route that may result in anything from an eagle to a double bogey.
The Designer – Jose Maria Olazabal’s professional career is full of color. After winning the U.S. Masters in 1994, he had to stay in a wheelchair because of surgeries. In these two years, he spent a lot of time and energy on researching course design. His strong will and perseverance finally brought him back and he won the Celebrity Tournament the second time. He is considered one of the best sand players in the history of golf. But wait, there’s more
Mission Hills Golf Club, China (Part 2)
Mission Hills Golf Club has announced its recent recognition as the “World’s Largest Golf Club” by the Guinness World Records for the fifth straight year. Following the previous post we continue with a brief description of the courses at the Mission Hills Golf Club.
Duval Course – Duval Course (David Duval), a complex topographical layout that provide holes embracing a full range of golfing challenges The David Duval Golf Course at Mission Hills features numerous water hazards, deep groundcover and a mixture of long, short and multi-angled dogleg holes, providing a unique challenge for any golfer.
The course is designed in such a way that half of the course is situated on an uphill and the other half on a downhill slope. The first half of this course works its way up to a secluded natural valley in the northeastern part of the site, and the finishing holes work back down to the spacious, clubhouse setting. A stream meanders throughout many of the golf holes, forcing players to accurately place their golf shots to avoid this natural water hazard. Deep green groundcovers and large leafy trees mirror the natural setting of a tropical lush environment, resulting in a memorable golfing experience for players of all levels.
The Designer – David Duval is an American player full of character. He won the British Opens in 2001 and is the first player who has beaten Tiger Woods to become the World’s No.1 player, even before Vijay Singh.
Els Course – Els Course (Ernie Els), with a core layout as opposed to corridors. As the 5th signature course of Mission Hills, the theme of the Els Course is to create a lush look of dense trees, wide swaths of manicured turf to evoke a unique flavour of his South Africa homeland. Measuring over 7,000 yards, it follows a unique core layout, as opposed to corridors. Invigorating is the 4th tee, sitting atop the highest point of the course, with commanding panoramic views of Mission Hills and the outlying properties.
The Designer – Coming from South Africa, Ernie Els is a professional golf player full of energy and passion for winning. His intrinsic drive to excel earns him the nickname, “the Model Student”. He impressed the world by winning the U.S. Opens in 1994, while in 2001, his team beat many top players to win the World Cup championship. But wait, there’s more
Mission Hills Golf Club, China (Part 1)
Mission Hills Golf Club landed on the international golf map in 1994, when Jack Nicklaus designed the club’s signature World Cup Course; set in Southern China’s spectacular Pearl River Delta, this luxury Golf and Spa Resort is just 30 kilometers from the cosmopolitan city of lights Hong Kong. In May 2004 it officially surpassed eight-course Pinehurst for title of “World’s Largest” when its 10th layout opened. In the summer of 2007, an additional two courses – the Pete Dye and Zhang Lian Wei – were completed to bring the club’s grand total to 12.
The game of golf in China is gaining popularity in leaps and bounds, and like anything else, when the Chinese take a liking to something they quickly make it their own, so don’t be surprised to find Chinese professional golfers ranking among the best in World Cup of Golf events in years to come. And don’t be surprised if soon China has as many golfers and golf courses as any country in the world, because Mission Hills Golf Club is just the beginning.
The 12 golf courses at Mission Hills – designed to honor China’s 12-year horoscope – will challenge any golfer. The 216 holes at the Mission Hills Golf Club were rated by the Guinness Book of Records as the world’s largest golf club. By itself, that claim to fame doesn’t mean very much, but a look at the list of designers of various 18 hole sections of the course will tell you that this is an exceptional club by anyone’s standards: Jack Nicklaus, Greg Norman, Annika Sorenstam, Ernie Els, Vijay Singh, Nick Faldo, Jose Maria Olazabal, David Duval, Jumbo Ozaki, and David Leadbetter, Pete Dye and Zhang Lian Wei.
Mission Hills is not only about golf, however, as its rapidly developed into Asia’s premier sports and lifestyle destination resort. The club’s other outstanding amenities include three world-class spas featuring an array of treatment options; a 317-room, five-star hotel; a wide variety of restaurants offering succulent cuisine from around the globe; golf academies from renowned instructors David Leadbetter and Cindy Reid; 51 tennis courts and a professional tennis academy at Asia’s largest tennis center, pro shops with a comprehensive selection of golf gear and apparel at the world’s largest clubhouse, and more. Playing golf at Mission Hills isn’t cheap – expect to pay at least $250 for a round – but you’ll get your money’s worth. But wait, there’s more
Golf Architects/Designers: Pete Dye
Paul (“Pete”) Dye, born December 29, 1925 in Urbana, is a legend in the field of golf course design and construction throughout the expanding world of golf. Considered in many circles to be the most influential golf course architect of the last five decades, Pete is now in his mid 80’s and still designing golf courses. Pete comes by his career naturally. His father designed and built a nine-hole golf course on his mother’s farm in Urbana, Ohio, and Pete grew up playing and working on this course. He won the Ohio State High School Championship and was medalist in the Ohio State Amateur.
World War II interrupted his high school education and Pete served in the 82nd Airborne Infantry of the United States Army. Upon his discharge, he attended Rollins College where he met Alice O’Neal. He started his golf career and won the 1958 Indiana State Amateur Championship after a runner-up finish in 1954 and 1955. He also won the Indianapolis District Championship, participated in The Western Amateur and five USGA Amateurs, and played in the 1957 United States Open where he finished ahead of both Arnold Palmer and Jack Nicklaus.
Although he was a champion golfer, Pete’s interest was really in the design and maintenance of a golf course. He decided to leave the life insurance business to devote his time to designing and building golf courses. Pete and his wife Alice began their carrier by building a nine hole course just south of Indianapolis called El Dorado, now titled Royal Oak Country Club. Accomplishing this feat, they built their first 18-hole course, Heather Hills, now named Maple Creek Country Club.
In 1963 a trip to Scotland profoundly impacted Pete’s subsequent designs. Touring the great Scottish courses, he was influenced by the features he saw small greens, pot bunkers, undulating fairways and wooden bulkheads. He began incorporating these concepts into his designs. This, in turn, influenced future golf architects and Pete has been hailed as the father of modern golf course architecture.
Pete is also acclaimed for his innovative, environmentally friendly designs. He lent his expertise in the renovation of the Kampen Course of Purdue University’s Brick Boilermaker Golf Complex. The Kampen Course incorporates Pete’s drainage and irrigation designs and wetlands areas that help recycle and purify water that drains onto the course. The course additionally serves as a living laboratory, combining turfgrass research and environmental studies. Pete was honored by the World Golf Hall of Fame in 2008 with the lifetime achievement award. He is only the 5th architect to be inducted to the Hall. source…
