The Tournament Players Championship is currently being contested at the Tournament Players Club at Sawgrass in Ponte Vedra, Florida. Weather has extended the play to the point that the last round might not be played until Tuesday. The announcers for the tournament have commented that the TPC at Sawgrass is tough enough without Mother Nature lending a hand. The course is one of the most brutal that the PGA plays.
When it opened back in the 80s it was even more severe. That was what the PGA wanted supposedly. But the players complained declaring it almost unplayable. So the architect tweaked his design a tad. The architect? None other than Pete Dye. When the course opened one person saw the number of railroad ties that Dye used (they have become his signature design quirk) and commented, "Leave it up to you, Pete, to build a golf course that could burn down."
Funny thing about Dye. He's well off financially and yet does not own a vehicle. He travels some 300 days a year. His response? "Why invest $30,000 in a car that sits in my driveway all year? I don't pay for parking at the airport. Plus, I get enough points in the program to get my wife, Alice, the use of a car free for a year, so right now I have a two-for-one deal."
The architect of golf's version of March Madness makes use of his perks. Rather than be just like every other man he takes advantage of the lifestyle his niche in life has afforded. On the other hand, men in the same situation as Dye have garages full of expensive vehicles for which they have paid through the nose. That evidently doesn't make sense to the man who created the monster at Sawgrass. He'd rather use his money wisely than invest in ostentation.
His lifestyle is an example of stewardship done right. "Now therefore, thus says the Lord of hosts: 'Consider your ways! You have sown much and bring in little; you eat but do not have enough; you drink but you are not filled with drink; you clothe yourselves but no one is warm; and he who earns wages, earns wages to put into a bag with holes.' " Haggai 1:5, 6 Pete Dye may have created a monster at Sawgrass but he killed one with his frugal lifestyle. His example is one we might wish to emulate.