Cynthia was born in Urbana, Ohio and grew up learning the fundamentals of traditional golf course design from her father, golf course architect Roy Anderson Dye, and her uncle, golf course architect Pete Dye. When she was young she would go to the Dye office after school to color maps and hand draw golf course layouts. Cynthia began her career in Phoenix, Arizona designing landscapes for commercial and residential buildings. In 1988 she became a full–time consultant for the family business and for close to 11 years worked as a design consultant around the world. In 2001 Cynthia started her own golf course design company, Dye Designs Group, in order to implement her own signature version of the family design philosophy. She believes seeing one of her ideas on paper develop into a physical golf course is one of the most gratifying experiences she has had. Cynthia's design philosophy is to enhance golf course architecture and strategy through sound design principles. She aims to work with her clients to provide the most cost–effective and environmentally sensitive design. Her mission is to promote and serve the game of golf.