Sorry for this, but is one of my favorite parts of the Lido story:
Macdonald had stolen the great Peter Lees from Mid Surry and brought him over the the US to help with the project, esp the grow in. They brought him out to the swamp-site.
* *
(Peter) Lees' defection across the Atlantic touched off a major scandal, as furious readers sounded off in Country Life with a chorus of condemnation and disapproval. First this arrogant Macdonald sailed over and plagiarized their finest golf holes, and now he was stealing Peter Lees from their shores to grow grass for a new course - in America yet!
But the transition was anything but smooth, as related by Horace Hutchinson in an article in (British) Country Life in 1914. The following exchange was witnessed first hand by famous golfer and writer, James S. Worthington when Peter Lees was shown the would-be construction site for the first time:
"It was a strange sight to see the famous Peter Lees, when on one bleak day, escorted to the spot by some of the bold pioneers of the Lido Club, he first cast eyes on this veritable desert. Arriving at Long Beach (Island) the party proceeded by slow stages through the sand and bent to their destination. The wind whistles about their ears and blown sand hit into their eyes".
"Eventually a halt was called. Peter looked at his companions and they looked at him. The situation looked gloomy in the extreme. An impasse was at hand. Feeling something was expected of him, Peter in gentle accents, inquired, ‘Where is the course goin' to be?’”.
One of the founders, a bit sheepishly, waved his arm out towards the panorama of sand - and mostly water.
"Oh, all around here," he replied
Peter Lees couldn't believe his eyes. A dour man, he had been offered some silly propositions in his time, but this was the limit. Had he come clear across the Atlantic to see this?
"Oh, is that so,?" retorted Lees. "Well then, if that's the case, I am goin'' 'ome!"