Dye’s Teeth of the Dog Paves Way for Dominican Golf Boom

As Pete Dye stood at the podium accepting his induction into the World Golf Hall of Fame, the legendary designer looked back thoroughly and fondly on all of the places his "digging" had taken him, and all of the people he had met along the way.

While Dye told tales of his love-hate relationship with the Tournament Players Club at Sawgrass, his frenetic finish at Harbour Town and his humble beginnings at Fort Bragg, it was clear that his true love, aside from his wife Alice who was seated in the front row for the ceremony, resided an ocean away in the Dominican Republic.

Dye first came to the small Caribbean island nation in 1968 with hopes of building a golf course, but more than 40 years later his contribution to the DR has greatly exceeded his initial intention.

Surely Dye was smiling today when he heard the news that the once underdeveloped and infrequently visited Dominican Republic had been named “Golf Destination of the Year for the Caribbean and Latin America” by the International Association of Golf Tour Operators.

Dye’s first Dominican design, Casa de Campo’s Teeth of the Dog, was the epicenter of the Dominican Republic’s golf tourism industry explosion. According to Golf Digest, the DR is now home to at least 25 golf courses. The official tourism Web site of the DR also boasted that the next few years were especially important to the country, as five new golf courses were scheduled to open throughout 2008 and 2009.

When all is said and done, Dye is expected to have 90 holes built in the Dominican. Teeth of the Dog is joined by The Links, private La Romana Country Club, Dye Fore and Punta Cana Resort’s La Cana Golf Course, which is currently under construction.

Dye isn’t the only world-renowned designer or golfer to construct a course on the island. His son, P.B. Dye, Jack Nicklaus, Robert Trent Jones, Gary Player, Tom Fazio and just recently, Nick Faldo, have all contributed to the DR golf scene.

Nicklaus built the initial golf course at luxurious Cap Cana in Punta Espada, the Punta Espada Golf Course, which is managed by Troon Golf.

The newest DR golf offering was built by Faldo, and has already received national and international attention. Travel + Leisure Golf chose the Faldo Legacy Course at Roco Ki as one of the “World’s 10 Best New Courses for 2008.” The Legacy Course is the first golf course in the Caribbean designed by Faldo. Troon Golf also manages the Faldo facility.

“The award affirms that the DR has arrived on the international scene as an important new “it” destination for golf,” DR Minister of Tourism Francisco Javier Garcia said. “The world is taking notice of our world-class golf courses set amid stunning sea sides, beaches and mountains in an accessible and affordable destination.”

While the considerable boom in golf courses has provided visitors an abundance of layouts to choose from in the Dominican Republic, Teeth of the Dog is still “King of the Caribbean.”

Golf Magazine’s listing of “Top 100 Courses in the World” in 2007 ranks Teeth of the Dog at No. 43, just behind Nicklaus’ Muirfield Village and slightly ahead of a regular in the Open Championship rotation, Royal Troon.

Golf Digest’s rankings of the “100 Best Courses Outside of the United States” place Teeth of the Dog at No. 20, but also recognize Punta Espada Golf Course at No. 77.

When Dye reminisces about his experience building Teeth of the Dog, the growth of Casa de Campo and his love for the Dominican Republic, he talks about golf, but doesn’t forget the people who made it all possible and those whose lives the golf industry boom has affected. He is always quick to remind us that when he first encountered the land that would become Casa de Campo, there wasn’t a paved road within 35 miles of the place. And that was in 1970; the area immediately surrounding Casa de Campo now features 3,500 homes, an airport and about 50,000 workers.

“When I was in the Dominican Republic for the first time in 1968, the women wore burlap dresses,” Dye said. “It’s not just the courses, but the development around the courses has been as much a part of my life as anything. At that time, the road from San Pedro was only dirt and there was no bridge, either.”

At the present time, golf is one of the Dominican Republic’s top attractions, bringing in tourists by the thousands. What makes golf so popular is the combination of outstanding year-round summer weather and the varied terrain. In 2006, tourist arrivals increased by 16 percent with 4.4 million guests choosing the Dominican Republic as their top vacation spot. In addition, the number of visitors to the DR from the U.S. holds steady, with more than one million for the second consecutive year. The DR was also named the “Caribbean’s Number One Destination” in 2006, a title given by the World Tourism Organization and one that was owned by Puerto Rico for the last 40 years.

It’s almost unimaginable that the Caribbean’s “Most Complete Resort” and one of the most sought after golf destinations in the world began with 300 local laborers, and Pete and Alice Dye digging in the dirt.

“I just love the damn place,” Dye told Cigar Aficionado a decade ago. “The people have been awfully nice to me. It was the Dominicans who built this course, virtually by hand. It’s got a lot of their soul in it.”

For more information on visiting the Dominican Republic or to learn more about its golf courses, visit www.godominicanrepublic.com.