Groundbreaking for New Indiana Golf Headquarters

Source: Pete and Alice Dye Indiana Golf Center

INDIANAPOLIS –There’s now a new Pete and Alice Dye Indiana Golf Center on the grounds of the Fort Golf Resort at Fort Benjamin Harrison State Park in Indianapolis.

Donors have contributed more than $5.5 million to that center.

Pete Dye designed more than 200 courses internationally during his lifetime. Alice Dye was an American amateur golfer and golf course designer known as the “First Lady” of golf architecture in the United States. Alice died in 2019 and then Pete died in 2020.

The groundbreaking for the center was Wednesday morning. It’s meant to serve as a centralized location for the Indiana Golf staff to serve courses, events, and programming throughout the state. The grand opening is supposed to happen sometime in the spring of 2025.

“It means so much to our family that their legacy continues even though they’ve passed on. To still be a strong part of golf in Indiana and Indianapolis where they lived for so many years means an incredible amount to our family. I’m excited for future generations to know what Pete and Alice did for the golfing community,” said Lily Dye Harmon, Pete and Alice’s granddaughter.

The 13,000-sq.-ft. headquarters will include administrative space for the Indiana Golf staff that manages the Indiana PGA, Indiana Golf Association, Indiana Women’s Golf Association, Indiana Golf Course Superintendents Association, Indiana Golf Foundation, and First Tee-Indiana. The facility will also include the Indiana Golf Hall of Fame, a new indoor golf academy, and a short game practice facility.

“This is just the perfect location to really expand our programming and get more kids to the game of golf,” said Gina Giacone, president of the Indiana Golf Foundation.

First Tee-Indiana is a youth development organization that enables kids to build the strength of character that empowers them through a lifetime of new challenges.

Blaze Chapman was at the groundbreaking. He’s taken part in First Tee-Indiana and he says it’s been a blessing.

“First Tee-Indiana teaches more than just golf. It teaches morals as well. It provides invaluable life experience at a very young age. It also gives opportunities for scholarships which will help you get off on the right foot when you leave your home,” said Chapman.

Indiana Golf also has a capital campaign and they are trying to raise money for projects including:

-Capital improvements to First Tee program sites like facilities at Frederick Douglass Golf Course in Indianapolis

-A Dryvebox Mobile Golf Simulator to take state-of-the-art technology on the road in 2024 to visit schools, children’s hospitals, VA hospitals, festivals, and other interested groups

-Scholarships for youth to attend First Tee-Indiana programming at their school or local golf course

A 2022 Economic Impact Report from the National Golf Foundation found that golf contributes more than $2 billion in total economic impact and $1.042 billion in direct expenditures annually to Indiana’s economy.

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