In defense of Lido, the current Muni

[Ted Kramer]

Ok, the current course called Lido is a cheap daily fee Muni. on Long Island. The conditions are ok at best. The greens are usually very slow. The course is built on a smallish piece of land. And the pace of play can be HORRIBLE!!! I don't think anyone would argue with what I just wrote . . .

However, the course does offer the following:
#5 - a beautiful par 3 alongside Reynold's Channel.
#7 - a very tough and strategic long par 3 into an elevated green which usually plays through a very strong left to right cross-wind.
#9 - a straight away 600 yard par 5 dead-nuts into the wind with OB down the entire right side. A par there is a very good 5.
#13 - one of the toughest par 4's that I've ever played. Over 400 yards along the water to very well guarded elevated green.
#16 - a very unique par 5. Play across the water twice to a back to front sloping green set against water. Visually intimidating hole that must be played a few times to get the hang of.
#17 - a first class par 3. About 180 yards, bail out right and test your ability to get up and down or try carry the water to the green for a birdie putt.

My experience playing great golf courses is extremely limited. I've played a few classics but not many. I don't think that Lido is great when compared to the very best that GCA has to offer, but in my opinion it is excpetional for what it is . . .a $30 Muni.

You guys can light me up for this post, my feelings wont be hurt, just please don't ban me from the site, I really like it here.

-Ted

[Tommy_Naccarato]

Ted,
Sounds like the typical RTJ course doesn't it! 600 yard into the wind par 5's; beautiful fairway bunkers on the outside of doglegs (I'm guessing) as well as tough and punishing par 3's over water(I'm guessing again) Par 4's that are over-demanding, yet beautiful enough to be called good. Its all typical snake oil salesman architecture.

But as a muni.........

I should have no qualms or complaints because I have never played Lido Muni and probably never will, and if I did, I would always be comparing it to its more famous N.L.E. neighbor, trying to get the feeling of what it must have felt like to play THOSE fairways and what the area ONCE looked like.

But there is nothing wrong with liking a cheap and afforable muni. In fact, I think anyone that put a cheap and affordable muni down doesn't know about the heart of the Sport or understand the importance the Muni has in the realm of the Game. If Lido is indeed one of these then God bless it!  I hope it prospers for years to come! I wish there were 500 more just like it, spread throughout the country.

[blasbe1]

The current Lido was not always a muni, it was private and some of our current members were once members at the now muni-Lido.

[Tom Dunne]

I'll refrain from commenting one way or the other on many of the holes at Lido, but I have to say I find #13 to be a really obnoxious hole. By the time you get there, because of the aforementioned pace of play you are often teeing off directly into the setting sun, making it nearly impossible to track the ball. I suppose that's no good reason to condemn a golf hole in and of itself, but the second factor is that the 13th is a major hangout for hundreds of geese and it's all too easy to lose your ball in the fairway. Those two practical considerations tend to override any architectural ones when it comes to that particular hole.

[Andy Hughes]

Ted
Ditto your comments re 16. Its been years, but that was a very cool par 5, and as I recall required some cajones to go up the right 'neck' with the wind blowing. But it made the green quite reachable in 2.  Is that the same hole?

http://www.lidogolf.com/thecourse_overhead.htm

[Ted Kramer]

Ted
Ditto your comments re 16. Its been years, but that was a very cool par 5, and as I recall required some cajones to go up the right 'neck' with the wind blowing. But it made the green quite reachable in 2.  Is that the same hole?

http://www.lidogolf.com/thecourse_overhead.htm

Yes, that's the same hole.
From the "right neck" the green is plenty reachable, but anything short or right is wet. . . a very fun hole!!

but,

I don't know what takes more cajones . . .
hitting it up that right side or posting a pro Lido thread on GCA

-Ted

[Ted Kramer]

I'll refrain from commenting one way or the other on many of the holes at Lido, but I have to say I find #13 to be a really obnoxious hole. By the time you get there, because of the aforementioned pace of play you are often teeing off directly into the setting sun, making it nearly impossible to track the ball. I suppose that's no good reason to condemn a golf hole in and of itself, but the second factor is that the 13th is a major hangout for hundreds of geese and it's all too easy to lose your ball in the fairway. Those two practical considerations tend to override any architectural ones when it comes to that particular hole.

**Lots of geese? Yes.
**Setting sun? Yes, if you're playing that late, I was always in the parking lot at 4am so I could play in one of the first groups (no pace of play issues or sun in the eyes on 13 at sunrise)
**I'm really surprised that anyone who played Lido would consider #13 to be anything less than a very stong hole. . .but hey, to each his own.

[astavrides]

I just did a search for Lido.  There are 23 pages.  I only read page 1, and this was the only thread about Lido, the current muni.  I imagine I wouldn't find too many more references to the muni among the 23 pages on the NLE Lido.

Anyhow, I played it for the first time yesterday and had fun there.  Yes, it is a Jones, Sr. course, with the elevated greens and big deep greenside bunkers.  One could also find fault in the fact that there are many ponds, perhaps dug out to build up greens and for drainage purposes on this flat island.  But otherwise, it is pretty linksy.  Plays firm and fast, and you can run the ball into almost all of the greens.  The greens were fairly interesting (for a Jones, Sr. course), and surprisingly they were in great shape and ran pretty fast.  Slow pace of play, but cheap, and some nice views.  It was definitely worth playing.