Pete Dye's Net Worth - How Rich Was He?

Pete Dye's net worth was approximately $50 million at the time of his passing.

Overview

Pete Dye's net worth stats

Net worth:	$50 million
Source of wealth:	Golf
Date of birth:	December 29, 1925
Place of birth:	Urbano, Ohio

Early life

Peter Dye was born in Urbana, Ohio, on December 29, 1925. He was one of three children born to Paul F. "Pink" Dye and Elizabeth Johnson Dye. Pink Dye was an insurance agent. He was also a keen golfer who helped build a local golf course.

Pete started to play golf as a child in Florida, where he spent the winter months.

Education

Dye attended Urbana High School in Ohio. He showed early golfing talent, winning the Ohio state high school golf championship in 1943. He was also awarded a medal for the state amateur golf championship.

In 1944 at 18, Dye enrolled in the army, but World War II ended before he could head into action. He maintained the greens at the Fort Bragg base for a while before enrolling at Rollins College.

He dropped out of college without graduating.

Family life

Pete Dye met Alice O'Neal at Rollins College in 1948. They were both on university golf teams. He married her in 1950, and they moved to Indianapolis, where he sold insurance. The couple had two sons.

Dye died on January 9, 2020, due to Alzheimer's disease. He was 94. His wife Alice had died in February of the previous year.

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How did Pete Dye build his net worth?

Pete Dye made his fortune not from playing golf, but as a golf course architect. As they say, the people that make money in a gold rush sell spades.

Pete Dye was in his mid-thirties when he began designing golf courses. His wife joined him in the venture. Their first course was the El Dorado nine-hole course. In 1962, they designed their first 18-hole course called Heather Hills. In 1963, he visited Scotland to study classic golf course design. After that, he designed golf courses across the country, working with Jack Nicklaus on some designs. Finally, in 1986, he went international, designing a course in Brescia, Italy.

Dye's golf course architecture has distinctive features that made him one of his most influential golf course designers. He had great talent and could design golf courses that challenged professional players while accommodating beginners.

Over the years, Dye designed over 100 golf courses. He also mentored some of the great course architects of today. In 2003, the Golf Course Superintendent's Association of America awarded Pete Dye the highest honor for course design. He went on to take many other honors and awards.