66 Top Junior Golfers face off at Pete and Alice’s Dye’s “firstborn” championship course
CARMEL, IND. (June 2, 2022) – The third edition of the Pete and Alice Dye Junior Invitational begins Monday, June 6, featuring a field of elite national and international Junior players. “The Dye,” which began in 2020, honors champion golfers and world-renowned course designers Pete and Alice Dye—who founded and designed Crooked Stick Golf Club and made their home along the 18th fairway. The 66 Juniors – 33 boys and 33 girls – begin 54 holes of medal play on June 6 and conclude on June 7th.
About the Championship The Dye is the only invitational where elite boy and girl golfers play for a national title on the same Top 100 course at the same time. The field also competes for points from World Amateur Golf Ranking (WAGR), National Junior Golf scoreboard (NJGS) and Golfweek Sagarin Junior Rankings.
Growing rapidly in prestige and strength of field, this year’s slate features 44 players with commitments to play collegiate golf at the Division I level. The remaining 22 competitors are still too young to commit. In 2021, 38 collegiate coaches attended the Dye Junior to observe the competition.
The girl’s Alice Dye division includes returning champion Leigh Chien who claimed the 2021 title with a score of 219, including -3, 69 in round two. Karoline Tuttle, returning for her 2nd Dye is a University of Florida commit and a 2021 US Women’s Open qualifier. Top finishers over the past two years, Kynadie Adams, Kaitlyn Schroeder, and Reagan Zibilski, all return for 2022.
Last year’s winner in the boy’s Pete Dye division, Drew Wrightson, who carded -5, 211 now competes for Baylor University. Top finishers from 2021—Cayden Pope, Rylan Wotherspoon, Jay Brooks, Luke Poulter, and Nicholas Gross all return.
Tournament Chairman Wayne Timberman, a lifelong friend of the Dyes, said the Dye Junior has exceeded expectations since its 2020 launch. “We knew this unique tournament, on a renowned course like Crooked Stick, would capture the imagination of top Juniors and those who appreciate golf,” said Timberman. “Even so, response has been overwhelming. It’s gratifying to know that Pete and Alice’s desire to encourage young people in the game continues through “The Dye,” added Timberman.
Live TV and Web Streaming Coverage Expanded for 2022 New for this year’s final round broadcast is coverage of the 16th and 17th holes. As in past years, coverage also features live play from the 18th hole, and every competitor in the field will be shown on the broadcast. Comcast will deliver the TV broadcast to 1.3 million homes. In the past, viewers from 20+ countries have watched via live stream.
For more information – Additional details, including the announced field for 2022 can be found at the championship’s website www.dyejuniorinvitational.com and on social media: @TheDyeJunior (Twitter), thedyejuniorinvitational (Instagram) and @TheDyeJuniorInvitational (Facebook).
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION – The Dye Junior at Crooked Stick
About the host: Crooked Stick Golf Club Crooked Stick first climbed into the U.S. Top 100 echelon in 1971, just four years after Pete Dye completed construction of all 18 holes. In all, Crooked Stick has been awarded Top 100 rankings in six different decades. As a tournament site, “The Stick” has hosted five USGA National Championships, the 1991 PGA won by John Daly, the 2005 Solheim Cup (won by the U.S.), and two BMW Championships – won by Rory McIlroy in 2012 and Dustin Johnson in 2016.
About Pete and Alice Dye Paul “Pete” Dye, Jr., born in Urbana, Ohio, learned golf on a course built by his father. He would become an accomplished junior player, winning the 1942 Ohio Boys High School championship. As an amateur, Pete played his way into five U.S. Amateur Championships, the 1957 U.S. Open (where he missed the cut but finished ahead of Jack Nicklaus and Arnold Palmer) and a British Amateur (1963). A 2008 inductee into the World Golf Hall of Fame, Mr. Dye designed more than 100 courses throughout the world in a career that spanned six decades. He passed away on January 9, 2020 at the age of 94.
Alice (O’Neal) Dye was born and raised in Indianapolis, Ind. And learned the game at an early age. She would go on to become a champion golfer and earn more than 50 amateur titles, including two USGA Sr. Women’s Amateur crowns and a place on the victorious 1970 U.S. Curtis Cup team. Mrs. Dye would later become the first woman member and first woman President of the American Society of Golf Course Architects (ASGCA). In 2004 she received the PGA of America’s First Lady of Golf Award and in 2017 Alice joined husband Pete as a recipient of the Donald Ross Award, ASGCA’s highest honor. Mrs. Dye died in February 2019 at age 91.
About “The Dye” Championship Trophies Dye Junior Champions receive a unique award, a hand carved likeness of the club’s iconic ‘Crooked Stick.’ The award ceremony take place near the club’s 18th green, located a few hundred yards from where Pete and Alice Dye made their home for nearly 40 years. The 18th green is the same site where champions John Daly, Rory McIlroy, Dustin Johnson, the victorious U.S. Solheim Cup team and many other winners at Crooked Stick have been crowned over the past half-century.
