If you would have asked me what my favorite golf course was in 1998 I would have said The Ocean Course at Kiawah Island. In 2012 I would have answered Pebble Beach. North Berwick was at the top of the list in 2017, and currently my favorite golf course in the world is Cypress Point. However, the one thing that has remained a constant over the years has been Pete Dye, my favorite golf course architect in the world. If you sit down and look at his entire portfolio of work, it is simply outstanding.
From Casa De Campo to TPC Sawgrass, Pete has given us so many wonderful places to play. His influence on golf courses across the world is perhaps the strongest over the last 75 years. As many lamented his designs as being too difficult, I found joy in the challenge of golf holes that test the limits. Countless times I have grumbled to myself, “Man, that Pete Dye is a real son of a bitch.” But it’s always grumbled in an oddly satisfying manner. It’s a “You win this time.” type of grumble.
The 17th at TPC Sawgrass
They say that behind every good man is a great woman and in Pete’s case this is certainly true. While I do not have any insights into the working relationship between Pete and his wife, Alice, I do know that she was certainly a major influence on many of their golf course designs.
For example, the Dye’s most famous creation, the island green 17th at TPC Sawgrass, was inspired by Alice. So when I say Pete Dye, I really mean Pete and Alice Dye.
“Originally, the water was just supposed to come into play on the right side. But we just kept digging. And then one day Alice came out and said, ‘Why don’t you just go ahead and make it an island?’ So we did.”
In August, I received an offer to come visit The Links at Perry Cabin. Dye has routed courses in northern Florida and Indiana that others are now building, but the Links at Perry Cabin is the final full design of his career. I decided to pull some strings in order to make things work out. I was coming in hot from a trip to Scotland and had just enough time to get the full tour of The Links at Perry Cabin.
The Inn at Perry Cabin is nothing short of spectacular and offers some of Maryland’s finest accommodations. Set on Maryland’s iconic Eastern shore, the Inn is loaded with quaint goodness. Perhaps you would like to pedal into town and explore the charming town of St Michaels, or maybe you’d prefer to get out on the Chesapeake Bay for a quick sailing session. Just make sure that when you come off of the tennis courts in the afternoon, you take advantage of the dining at the Inn. It’s not really dining, it is a coastal culinary adventure.
For movie buffs, they will instantly recognize the Inn from the 2005 smash comedy hit, Wedding Crashers. While it was crab cakes and football for Vince Vaughn, it was crab cakes and golf for me.
The Inn at Perry Cabin sits right on the water and offers some serious sailing options.
Your first glimpse of the golf course starts out with a walk right by the monstrous 487 yard, par 4, 18th hole. I love it when a golf course gives the golfer a preview of the challenges that lie ahead. In this case, The Links at Perry Cabin is teasing you with Pete Dye’s final hole on his final design. Even before you have played a single golf hole, the finishing “monsterpiece” is already on your mind. For the purposes of this blog, you won’t have to play 17 holes… just scroll a little further.
The Adirondack chairs behind the 18th green
The course starts off by winding its way through the forest and giving the golfer an opportunity to score. The course is fun to play and encounters many typical Dye design elements along the way. However, the par 3 7th (shown below) is the only Biarritz that you will find on a Pete Dye golf course. It was a request from course owner, Richard Cohen, that the Dyes granted.
The C shaped finishing 18th hole on the left with the 1st hole on the right.
The short par 4 9th hole.
The biarritz green on the par 3 7th hole.
The view looking down the first hole.
The course finally reaches its apex as you enter the final 3 holes, or as Pete Dye calls it, the “Goodnight Kiss.” The sixteenth is a short par 4 that provides all sorts of options off of the tee. It’s a great chance for birdie if you can execute. The 17th hole is an island green held together with railroad ties. It screams Pete and Alice Dye about as loud as possible. If you can make it through these two golf holes unscathed, you will have your hands full with the Dye’s final creation.
The 16th green on The Links at Perry Cabin
The island green 17th hole.
The black and white version of the 17th.
As we walked toward the back tees on the 18th hole, the course’s owner, Richard Cohen, greeted us with a smile. “If any of you guys can make a par from back there, I will give you $100.” The 18th is a 487 yard par 4 with water down the entire right hand side, but I wasn’t going to argue with an opportunity like this. “Actually, lets make it $200,” said Richard.
On this particular day, the golf hole was playing dead into a 30 mph wind. “You know what? How about $300,” Richard upped the stakes once more. “I bet if we stay on this tee box a while longer, we could get him up to $400.,” I joked.
The only real chance was to play it as a par 5 and hope to make birdie, but I swung as hard as I possibly could and hit a low bullet down the middle with a draw. “Hmmm this could be interesting,” voiced Richard.
As the others in our group squandered their chances, I decided to go for broke. I had about 210 left into the green with a howling wind into my face. “I could probably get a 2 iron there if I really hammer one,” I thought to myself. I pulled the club and struck one hard at the left edge of the green. As the wind pushed my golf ball back toward the flag, a hush fell across the crowd. “This one has got a chance,” exclaimed, Richard. We waited quietly as the ball began to fall from the sky. Moments later, we watched it splash down into the water just feet away from safety and a certain par. A chorus of groans arose from our group, and as a smile came across my face, I uttered some of my favorite words. “Man, that Pete Dye is a real son of a bitch!”