Geoff Shackelford interviews legendary golf course designer Pete Dye, who is not exactly a fan of the United States Golf Association:
“God bless the United States Golf Association. They have escalated the cost of maintenance, they have slowed down play, and they have completely lost control of the equipment. Outside of that, they have done a pretty good job.”
Interestingly, Dye is also not a supporter of the trend toward ever-faster putting surfaces:
“The other cost escalation the USGA has encouraged is with speed of greens. When Ben Hogan won the U.S. Open at Oakmont [in 1953], then considered the fastest greens in the history of the world, the Stimpmeter was maybe six or seven. One of the things Iím doing in renovating my courses is reducing contour and slope to match todayís speeds. . .”
Read the entire interview. Dye is a true original.