Rory McIlroy plays a practice round Wednesday at Merion Golf Club in Ardmore, Pa. (Getty Images).

Mired in muck, the mud-splattered masses now have only one question about Merion: How low will the pros go? Months ago, Lee Trevino predicted, “If you can’t control the rain, Merion will get slaughtered.” On Monday, the waters flowed aggressively and chaotically through the fabled East course. Nature dumped more than five inches of precipitation since Friday. Contingency plans were dusted off to use hole 4 and 5 on the West course in case 11 and 12 on the East were flooded and unplayable. No question, Merion is sodden -- and vulnerable. So will it hold up for the week? I say yes.

Chatter from Twitter to Merion’s locker room was full of low-score doomsday prophecies on Tuesday. Johnny Miller’s record 63 is in jeopardy. So are Rory’s 268 and 16-under-par totals from 2011. A couple of sleep-deprived wags from Golf Channel brought up the unthinkable: breaking the 260 barrier. It’s tempting to tag a short, softened Merion with all of these possibilities. The fact is, some of these speculations were offered up for a dry Merion as well. Nevertheless, even with thunderstorms in the forecast for Thursday, I still say the course will stand up. I’ll let a few past U.S. Open champions back me up.

Everybody understands what Trevino stated in Golf Magazine’s June issue: “If there’s a lot of moisture, it will keep the ball from running into the rough. The greens will be softer, making it not only easier for putting, but for chipping the ball, too and for holding shots out of the rough with a wedge. And rain will make it much harder for the USGA to find difficult pin placements.” Sounds like a defenseless golf course.

That said, Mike Davis, USGA Executive Director, said of the course on Monday, “It may be the best draining golf course I have ever seen.” The 15-18 mph breezes expected Thursday and Friday might help dry a saturated course more quickly than many think.

Given defending champion Webb Simpson’s assessment that you should be hitting nine wedges into the first 13 greens, sounds like a bunch of birdies, right? Not so fast, counters 2010 U.S. Open champ Graeme McDowell. “Like I said about the greens, they’re soft and fast, which is a bad combination for Tour players,” said McDowell at his Tuesday presser. “We’ll spend the week trying to take spin off wedges. You’ll see guys over the back of the greens to the back pins in massive trouble…It’s going to be quite difficult getting to the back pins.” So -- with hole locations expected to be higher up (near the back) of the classically back-to-front-sloping greens, birdies might not be quite as plentiful as some have predicted.

McDowell also cautioned that mud balls will be a problem, especially if there’s no “lift, clean and place” in play. And generally, the USGA would rather see its threesomes leave the first tee in golf carts before they would invoke the dreaded rule that purists term “lift, clean and cheat.” Three-time U.S. Open winner Tiger Woods echoes McDowell’s sentiments. “We haven’t dealt with teeing it up in a tournament yet with it raining and drying out for a couple of days and the mud balls appearing,” said Woods on Tuesday. “That’s going to be interesting. Especially the longer holes. The shorter holes, if you catch a ball that’s got a little bit of mud on it, you can’t be as precise.” Bottom line -- you can hit as many wedges as you want, but if there’s water, mud and back pin placements, the anticipated red number-fest could easily vanish.

Then there’s the argument that the softer conditions will entice players to be more aggressive off the tee and perhaps hit more drivers, with less fear that it will run into the rough. OK, but one thing the extra rain has done -- and will continue to do—is make the already jungle-like rough even rougher. On the PGA Tour, softer fairways and greens invariably mean lower scores. But the Tour doesn’t see rough like they have at Merion, a brutal concoction of bent, zoysia, fescues, Kentucky bluegrass, rye and fistfuls of hair from boxing promoter Don King. This rough might just be sufficient deterrence to keep drivers in the bags and approaches on the conservative side.

Simpson said that he played nine practice holes on Sunday, hit two balls three or four feet in the rough -- and lost the balls. “I’m asking the marshals out there to help us.” Added Luke Donald, “It was pretty thick and gnarly last week. I don’t think I got one lie in the rough where I could get more of a 7-iron or 8-iron out of it. With the rain we’ve had, I believe the greens staff haven’t been able to cut it. Those 7- or 8-irons are going to become wedges.”

Finally, it bears repeating that even a damp Merion isn’t guaranteed to play easy. The short holes won’t play as short as advertised -- Simpson said he’d likely be hitting 4-irons off the tee at two small par 4s, the 7th and 8th—and the long holes will be brutes, no matter what the weather. Woods called the 256-yard, par-3 3rd, “a drivable par-4,” and spoke of the 521-yard, par-4 18th as “driver and 3-iron” from the back tee. Merion closes with a quintet of frightening tests, made even more terrifying by U.S. Open pressure, and splashes in potential card-wreckers at 2, 4, 5 and 6 before the home stretch. For architecture buffs like Woods, Geoff Ogilvy and Phil Mickelson, it’s like being a kid in a candy store in terms of design variety, then finding out that each hole is a stale Bit-O-Honey that could easily break your teeth with one bite.

Graeme McDowell, a man who knows something about contending in U.S. Opens, said Tuesday, “I don’t see 62s or 63s being shot on this golf course. I think I’d certainly take 8-under par right now and take my chances.” I predicted 8-under-par myself on Sunday night -- and I’m sticking to it. Battered and bruised by Mother Nature, Merion will still win the fight.

Pebble Beach has a driving range? Who knew? I’ve been lucky enough to play Pebble six times since 1980 and I’ve never once hit balls there. I think I warmed up one time at Poppy Hills, elsewhere within fabled 17-Mile Drive on the Monterey Peninsula, but that’s about it. Otherwise, my first tee preparation was pure nervous energy and nothing else.

It turns out that Pebble Beach offers a practice ground, maybe a mile from the course that seems adequate for shaking off the rust, but little more. On the plus side, if you’re camped at Pebble Beach Resorts, you can catch a ride in a Lexus to take you to your pre-game session.

This past week, however, the powerbrokers at Pebble, led by CEO Bill Perocchi, announced sweeping changes to the range, the resort and even the course itself. Well, tweaks, rather than wholesale change to the course -- but much needed, including an ongoing renovation of the 9th green, which will restore putting surface to its left side, creating a new hole location behind the yawning bunker that fronts the green. Current work on that green also includes calming the contour in the center of the green, to make it more puttable at faster tournament speeds. Perocchi hinted at other green alterations, likely at the par-5 14th and par-3 17th, greens that elicited heavy criticism at the 2010 U.S. Open.

Still, the larger story was the plan for the new Pebble Beach Driving Range, accompanied by an expanded Golf Academy. The improvements make up the major part of Phase I of the Del Monte Forest Project, a multi-phase development and conservation plan intended to protect native habitat, enhance guest experiences, and solve the traffic snarls that occasionally gum up the entrance to 17-Mile Drive at the Highway 1 gate. Eventually, over 10 years, plans call for new rooms at the Lodge at Pebble Beach and the Inn at Spanish Bay, a new 100-room hotel near Spyglass Hill, extra parking, 90 residential home sites and most significantly, the preservation of 635 acres of native habitat.

First up, though, is the range and academy. It’s never really bothered me that the practice and teaching facilities were so meager -- it just seemed kind of “Old World.” Honestly though, when compared to facilities at other great golf resort destinations, Pebble lagged -- and clearly, that was obvious. Pebble always had superb instructors: Current staffers Laird Small and Dan Pasquariello have both been ranked among Golf Magazine’s Top 100 Teachers. In the near future, they’ll have triple the space in which to operate, as well as access to a larger club-fitting area. The new range will be double-sided and almost twice the size of the existing range. Situated across Portola Road from the present range, the new facility will occupy the same ground that housed the media center at the 2010 U.S. Open. Expected opening date for Range and Academy is January 2014, prior to the AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am.

Part of me will miss the old simple setup that characterized Pebble Beach. A bigger part of me welcomes the progress as a necessary step towards keeping my favorite destination resort among the elite. I’m still going to head to the first tee ice cold, but it will be of comfort to know that a primo practice park awaits nearby in case I change my mind.

Photo: The 18th hole at Pebble Beach (Even Schiller).

The 441-yard, par-4 7th hole at Justin Timberlake's Mirimichi.

I'm not sure why the FedEx St. Jude Classic draws such second-tier fields.

Maybe it's the hilly TPC Southwind course that's usually smothered in high humidity. Perhaps it's the timing, seemingly always in front of, or sandwiched between, higher-priority events.

All I know is that if I were a PGA Tour player, I would make Memphis a must-stop on my schedule, for one reason: I'm partial to barbecue. Give me a hollowed out oil drum or a backyard open pit, slap the meats on the grates and let's smoke this joint out!

I'm pleased for Memphis fans this year. Brandt Snedeker and Phil Mickelson are among the attractions. Always an attraction is Graceland, a pilgrimage for Elvis fans, and Beale Street, where rock, jazz and blues clubs, such as B.B. King's, stand side by side. A special, more sobering experience is the National Civil Rights Museum, on the site where Dr. Martin Luther King was assassinated.

Memphis even has quality public golf, starting with Mirimichi. Formerly known as Big Creek, this is the course where 5-handicap (and Ryder Cup motivational speaker) Justin Timberlake learned the game. It faced demolition a few years back, and Timberlake emptied his wallet that day to save it. Today, it's been transformed into 7,479 yards of serious golf, with water in play on 12 holes, memorably on Timberlake's favorite, the 181-yard, par-3 11th.

I'm also partial to Cherokee Valley, just across the border in Olive Branch, Mississippi. This enjoyable romp through forest and wetlands features first-rate zoysia fairways, where the ball sits up just begging to be hit, as well as uphill closing holes on each nine that lead to a handsome hilltop clubhouse.

Still, you better be walkin' in Memphis because you're going to have to burn off some calories. (Did you know that Marc Cohn, who wrote and performed the song, is married to ABC journalist Elizabeth Vargas, after being introduced by Andre Agassi at the 1999 U.S. Open? Now you do.)

You could warm up your taste buds at Graceland with Elvis' favorite, the fried peanut butter and banana sandwich, or chase worthy upscale cuisine at the top hotels in town, the Peabody and the Madison. Still, the reason you booked a flight to Memphis is to sample the 'cue, so that's what we must do.

You'll always get serious arguments (though in this case, there are no losers), but my picks for the top three BBQ joints in Memphis are, in order, Jim Neely's Interstate Bar-B-Q, Charlie Vergos' Rendezvous and Corky's.

The original Interstate on 3rd Street is still supreme, and it's a perfect stop on the way to or from the airport. Interstate cooks its meats for five hours in specially-built pits that combine natural gas and hickory wood, then pairs them with some of the finest sweet-smoky sauce on the planet. Start with the chopped pork and beef platters or sandwiches, but save room for their one-of-a-kind barbecue spaghetti. I kid you not.

Charlie Vergos' Rendezvous has been packing them in since 1948 and it's easy to see why. It's the closest great barbecue restaurant to downtown and it occupies a funky, memorabilia-filled basement, giving you the sense that you have left the real world behind -- which you have, at least for an hour of drive-you-out-of-your-mind barbecue fragrance. Rendezvous is renowned for their dry-rub ribs that are so tender and spicy, there's no need for sauce.

Finally, there's Corky's in East Memphis, which spends little time or money on décor. Instead, they pour all their cash back into the product and it's worth waiting in line for, especially the ribs or pork platter. While it's true they've spread their barbecue gospel to supermarkets nationwide and even to QVC, there's nothing like chowing down at the original.

So here's to good golf -- and to exceptional barbecue -- in Memphis this week. I won't miss a minute on TV. It's tough to click the remote when your fingers are slathered in sauce.

By Tom Mackin

If there was one amenity lacking at Pebble Beach, a perennial Golf Magazine Platinum Premier Resort, it was a world-class practice facility. By next January, that will no longer be the case.

Ground was broken this week on a new double-ended range (pictured above) located directly across from the existing facility (which means a short drive or shuttle ride to Pebble's first tee will still be necessary).

Plans also call for a new 3,000-square foot Pebble Beach Golf Academy (led by Golf Magazine Top 100 Teachers Laird Small and Dan Pasquariello), plus a club fitting area and indoor hitting bays (floorplans below).

Expected to open right before next year's AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am, the facility is just one of numerous new developments coming to the famed resort. Approximately 100 new rooms will be added to The Lodge, and a 100-room hotel will be built near the Spyglass Hill golf course. No start date has been announced yet for the latter two projects, but current plans call for both to be completed over the next decade.

Now, if they could just do something about that $495 green fee ...

(Photos: Courtesy of Pebble Beach Company)

1. Cypress Point
For a multitude of obvious reasons, this Alister MacKenzie design is still my favorite. I grew up down the road and learned to play both here and on the other courses within Pebble Beach. I love it for many reasons. It breaks all the "rules" with back-to-back par 5's and par 3's, uneven par for the nines, it's short, you hit over roads, etc. I try to use the concept of creating three distinct environments in many of our designs in the same way Cypress has pine forest, dunes, and ocean front. Great site, great course, and great reason to visit Mom!

2. Sand Hills
Probably the most influential course of the last 20 years. The Coore-Crenshaw masterpiece plays gently over very dramatic, treeless terrain with massive sand-based dunes covered in native grasses. The use and re-creation of "blow-out" bunkers kick-started the ongoing movement toward minimalism and its rugged, natural look and sensibilities. Unbelievable visuals.

3. National Golf Links
Old, classic Long Island course with odd, quirky features and plenty of room to negotiate them. With its nod to historic template holes, it is like playing golf in a museum.

4. Friar's Head
Another Coore-Crenshaw beauty on Long Island. It might be the most artistic course ever created with wonderful, informal expanses of white sand and tall grasses in stark contrast with the native trees. Like Cypress Point, it weaves through distinct environments and stresses beauty and playability over difficulty and resistance to scoring, a basic philosophy we are trying our best to push as well.

5. TPC Sawgrass
One of my favorite "manufactured" courses. Our mentor, Pete Dye, did not create the first island green, but he certainly made the most infamous. I love the Players Championship, and the drama the last few holes always bring. Probably the strongest course/architect name recognition of all - everyone knows who designed it.

(Photo: Mike Ehrmann/SI)

If you want to ask Travelin' Joe a question, e-mail him at askjoe@golf.com.

Dear Joe:
I'm headed to Washington next month to play Chambers Bay. What other courses in the Seattle/Tacoma area would round out my trip—or should I just play Chambers over and over?
–Jack Smith, Orinda, Calif.

I'm a fan of 2015 U.S. Open host Chambers Bay, pictured, ($99-$219; 877-295-4657, chambersbaygolf.com), but with its gargantuan length and sprawling layout on a slope overlooking Puget Sound, the walking-only track is a strenuous hike to do day after day.

Nearby is Salish Cliffs ($59-$99; 360-462-3673, salish-cliffs.com), a gorgeous two-year-old Gene Bates design for the Squaxin Island tribe's Little Creek Casino Resort that features artfully sculpted bunkers and mountain and valley vistas—and they have carts.

And Gold Mountain's Olympic course ($24-$81; 360-415-5432, goldmt.com) in Bremerton is not only a frequent venue for USGA events, it's one of the nation's best bargains.

Hi Joe:
My dad and I have opening-round tickets to the U.S. Open at Merion this year and have time for one round while we're in the Philadelphia area. Where would you recommend playing?
–Todd Gray, Hampton, Va.

The Golf Course at Glen Mills ($50-$95; 610-558-2142, glenmillsgolf.com) is a handsome 1998 Bobby Weed design that emphasizes strategy and scenery, plus superior pace of play.

Due west of downtown in West Chester is the Rees Jones–designed Broad Run Golfer's Club ($40-$75; 610-738-4410, broadrungc.com), which features plenty of water woes in the from of three ponds and Broad Run Creek.

If you like cunning contours and imaginative green configurations, let'er ride at Lederach ($35-$75; 215-513-3034, lederachgolfclub.com), a Kelly Blake Moran offering in the northern suburb of Harleysville.

Hey Joe:
My group is making our fifth trip to Myrtle Beach, and we've played most of the top courses. What are your top three on the Grand Strand?
–Joe Hernandez, Ft. Pierce, Fla.

A power trio of tracks stands out. First up: Caledonia Golf & Fish Club ($110-$200; 843-237-3675, fishclub.com), next to the Waccamaw River. It hooks me with Lowcountry charm and a superior closing hole.

Next is the Dunes Golf & Beach Club ($75-$225; 843-449-5914, thedunesclub.net), an early Robert Trent Jones Sr. masterpiece that tests your approach game, notably on the watery stretch from No. 11 to No. 13.

My surprise bronze medalist is Barefoot Resort's Love course ($65-$185; 866-638-4818, barefootgolf.com). With its plantation-house ruins, Pinehurst-style greens and character, Davis Love III's layout tops those of fellow Barefoot designers Tom Fazio, Pete Dye and Greg Norman.

Dear Joe:
I've got a free day in downtown Dallas, I'm looking for a bargain track, and I'd rather not travel very far. Whaddya got?
–Greg Fuller, Waukesha, Wis.

Greg, can you handle a five-minute drive? Stevens Park ($20-$50; 214-670-7506, stevensparkgolf.com) has been refurbished, and the transformation is remarkable. Dating to the 1920s, the muni has a brand-new appeal, thanks to clever rerouting on a tight, hilly tract by John Colligan and Trey Kemp, the same design team that fixed up San Antonio's legendary Brackenridge Park.

Skyline views and a makes-you-think creek on six holes make Stevens a must-play for Dallas bargain hunters. Tee it up in the morning, then head to Pecan Lodge (pecanlodge.com) for my favorite barbecue in D-Town.

(Photo: USGA/John Mummert)

The 14th hole at Old MacDonald at the Bandon Dunes resort (Courtesy of Bandon Dunes).

The news from coastal Oregon on Wednesday was encouraging. Bandon Dunes domo Mike Keiser met with the governor of Oregon and the Oregon State Parks Department to discuss the fate of a new course he has planned, tentatively called Bandon Muni Golf Links. “There’s no official announcement at this time,” says Bandon Dunes spokesman B.R. Koehnemann, but sources indicate that the meeting resulted in a preliminary agreement for a land swap to take place that will allow for the creation of the 27-hole course. To that, I say, “Bring it on!”

From Day 1 in the spring of 1999, passionate course connoisseurs flocked to Bandon Dunes Golf Resort, the greatest “must-play” public-course mecca ever built in the United States. So significant was its impact that in 2004, Golf Magazine named it No. 34 of the 45 Greatest Golf Moments of the past 45 years. Since then, Keiser has only enhanced the product, exponentially. Naturally, environmentalists from a fistful of factions have raised stop signs -- or at least caution flags -- but if there’s one guy to trust to get things right on the Oregon coast, it’s Keiser.

The plan Keiser has in mind is to create a St. Andrews-style muni operation; while his would be privately owned, it would be operated to benefit locals especially, as is the case with how the St. Andrews Links Trust administers its golf offerings. To that end, Keiser acquired several coastal parcels roughly 15 minutes south of Bandon Dunes and hired golf’s hottest architect, Gil Hanse, to craft 27 holes. That plan has been in place for at least two, perhaps even three years, and Hanse has completed several preliminary routings. However, Keiser has had his eye on some virtually untouched State Park land, replete with massive dunes, scrubby vegetation and magnificent ocean views that would turn his good golf course into a potentially outstanding one. He proposed a land swap with the state government, but his proposal had stalled -- or at least had been idling for many months. Optimism on Keiser’s part had clearly faded -- until now.

The age-old issue of land tampering now rears its head. Do we really need more golf in Bandon? Is it worth it to intrude on such a pristine piece of property? For the state or Oregon to part with such a parcel, there has to be an “overwhelming public benefit,” says a state parks spokesman. Keiser makes a compelling case. He’s asking for a small slice of an otherwise inaccessible plot that’s covered with gorse and other invasive plant species. In exchange he would give up land of equal or greater value, plus cash. He would offer state residents substantial discounts and invite locals from Coos and Curry Counties to play for nominal, even miniscule rates. Juniors would play free of charge and a caddie program will be established to provide jobs for young people.

So long as the bulk of the duneland is maintained in its natural state, this sounds like an “overwhelming public benefit” to me. Thinking that Keiser has kept every promise in keeping Bandon Dunes sustainable and that Gil Hanse embodies the lay-of-the-land, don’t-fight-with-nature-but-rather-work-with-it-kind of architect, the Bandon Muni project seems like a certain home run. There remain many hurdles to overcome, but for now, I’m excited to place Bandon Muni on the front burner.

The 16th hole at Hershey East, the Pennsylvania State Capitol in Harrisburg, and Gettysburg re-enactors.

An old political joke about Central Pennsylvania goes, "What's in between Philadelphia and Pittsburgh? Alabama." Yes, the middle of the state is a wide expanse of farmland and wilderness between the state's two major cities, but there's plenty to see amid the cows and countryside: the historic Gettysburg battlefield, the old-time ways of the Amish, and the Nittany Lions on Saturday afternoons in State College. And for golfers, Central Pennsylvania is home to some first-class golf at reasonable prices, no joke.

The Golf:

Hershey Country Club, Hershey Pa.

West Course: 6,860 yards, par 72; Greens fees: $145

East Course: 7,061 yards, par 71; Greens fees: $130

The West Course is an American parkland classic, site of the 1940 PGA Championship. It was also where Ben Hogan plied his trade as a teaching pro from 1941-1951. You won't find many holes with more local flavor than the par-3 fifth--you tee off in front of the smokestacks of the chocolate factory to a green in the front yard of Milton Hershey's estate, positioned so the old man could keep an eye on his business. The George Fazio-designed East Course was designed to host Tour stops and it will test even accomplished players with demanding tee shots and elevated greens.

Dauphin Highland Golf Course, Harrisburg, Pa.

7,121 yards, par 72; Greens fees: $45-$59

Locals know that Dauphin Highlands, a varied, well-maintained track near a bend in the Susquehanna River, is one of the best bargains you'll find anywhere. This course in the state capital is full of challenging and memorable holes like the par-4 seventh, where a well-placed drive will leave you a short-iron over a fishing pond into a shallow green.

Penn National Golf Club, Fayetteville, Pa.

The Founders Course 6,972 yards, par 72; Greens fees: $65-$79

The Iron Forge Course 7,009 yards, par 72; Greens fees: $65-79

Just a short drive from the Gettysburg National Historical Park, Penn National features two high-quality tracks. The Founders Course is a traditional parkland course, notable for its collection of par 5s (including the 615-yard eighth) and mountain views. The newer Iron Forge Course has a distinctive tree-less look and a cool risk-reward option on 18.

Where to Stay:

The Hershey Hotel has the charms of a grand, old-style hotel with full modern amenities, thanks to a recent renovation. Penn State fans will want to book at room at the Atherton Hotel  right in the midst of State College's shops and restaurants. Central Pennsylvania is known for charming inns and bed-and-breakfasts -- you can find a complete list at PaInns.com

What to Do:

History still lives and breathes in the fields of the Gettysburg National Military Park; kids will love the roller coasters and water rides at Hersheypark; one of the best way to tour Amish Country is by bicycle and the Lancaster Bike Club has tours for beginners and expert riders; and finally everyone know that State College jumps on Penn State home football game in the fall, but the Northeast's best college town also hosts the four-day Central Pennsylvania Festival of the Arts in July.

Photo: The 16th hole of the West Course at Hershey Country Club (Fred Vuich); Pennsylvania State Capital (Courtesy of State of Pennsylania_, Gettysburg (Getty Images).

When Pound Ridge Golf Club opened in 2008, players gasped at its difficulty (146 slope) and pre-recession price.

Still, many in New York City's public-golf-starved suburbs paid the flat $235 fee for the memorable test, eye-catching aesthetics and Tour-caliber conditions (narrow fairways; small, contoured greens).

Today, fees are hardly cut-rate, but various price points and stay-and-play hotel packages let more people enjoy this wild ride for as little as $100 per round.

Pete Dye and his son Perry crafted the layout from the remnants of a nine-holer on a site studded with rocks, wetlands and mature trees. The result is stunning — and punishing.

You may lose a sleeve (or two) of balls from the 6,279-yard middle tees (140 slope), but you'll play unforgettable holes, like the 480-yard, par-5 13th, which demands a semi-blind drive over "Pete's Rock," and the 174-yard, par-3 15th, its slender green sandwiched by wetlands and rock outcroppings.

Don't fret if invites to nearby private treasures Winged Foot and Quaker Ridge never come your way. Public Pound Ridge is every bit as challenging.

Pound Ridge Golf Club
Pound Ridge, N.Y.
7,165 yards, par 72
Green fees: $100-$235
914-764-5771, poundridgegolf.com

(Photo: Jim Krajicek)

Pete Dye rescued golf-course architecture from the Dark Ages. He ushered visual excitement into the game in the form of tumbling fairways, island greens, bulk-headed hazards, pot bunkers and grassy mounds -- all of which are on display at this week's Tour venue, the Stadium Course at TPC Sawgrass.

More important, however, he served up the steak to accompany the sizzle. Borrowing from classic Scottish and early-American designs, Dye reintroduced short par-4s, blind shots, small greens and risk/reward options, which placed a renewed premium on shotmaking and strategy.

In short order, the flattish, repetitive, "championship" layouts that defined post-World War II architecture through the 1970s yielded to character-filled courses that demanded cunning, creativity and patience.

But he had help.

Over time, the truth emerged about how valuable a collaborator Pete's wife, Alice, had been. A superb player in her own right, she championed the proper positioning of forward tees -- both for yardages and angles -- that provided distance-challenged golfers the chance to enjoy a course as much as the scratch player.

It was Alice's idea to raise the fairways at the Ocean Course at Kiawah, just to make the views -- and hence the round -- more memorable. It was also Alice who suggested turning the 17th at TPC Sawgrass into an island-green hole, recalling a similar one she and Pete had played more than 30 years earlier just up the road at the Ponte Vedra Inn & Club. She also convinced Pete to raise the back portion of the 17th green; originally, he had it sloping toward the water.

Not only was Alice active in the designs, but in the Dyes early days, she also performed the drafting duties for Pete, who hadn't yet learned to decipher contour maps.

In 1982, she became the first woman elected to membership in the American Society of Golf Course Architects, and became its first female president in 1997. Two years later, I enjoyed the pleasure of her company during a round at Yeamans Hall Club, a low-key Seth Raynor classic near Charleston, S.C. After only one hole, I was in awe. I'm not sure I had ever met anyone so right-out-of-the-blocks brainy about design, and so straightforward in her pull-no-punches critique, yet so easy to warm to because of her humor and style. No wonder she and Pete have made such a formidable team for more than 60 years.

For any of us who have hit and held a shot at Sawgrass' 17th hole, or peered out at the ocean from Kiawah's fairways, or simply enjoyed our game more because someone in our group played a sensible set of forward tees at a Dye creation, here's a tip of the hat. Thanks, Alice. You're one of a kind.

(Photo: David Walberg/SI)