Don--
I have been rooting for a reborn Lido to be built for many years now. It's the one classic course that was much talked about that is totally gone. It would be neat to see it recreated and frankly I was hoping that it was going to be build on the site that became Old MacDonald at Bandon.
There are a couple of things that have popped to my mind that I don't think have been discussed here that need to be mentioned.
1. If it's going to be at Streamsong, then it will obviously not be a seaside site like the original. That means the winds that are prevalent on the south shore of Long Island will not be the same in South Central Florida. They may attempt to route it in a direction where the winds will be comparable. From a setting standpoint though, the only the thing they cannot replicate is the setting of the Biarritz with the ocean to the right. Admittedly, the original Lido was site was totally created from a swamp, so it's not like you have recreate some great piece of property..... although if it does happen, I look forward to seeing how they pull the Alps off.
2. Being as it's in Florida, the grasses will be different. If memory serves, the grass used in the rough at the original Lido was something pretty unique and was extremely difficult to play from and of course, the fairways in Florida will be Bermuda. They have been able to achieve firm ground conditions at Streamsong so they may be able to come up with a similar type firmness that we see at NGLA.
3. I know a person whose father played the original Lido and the comment made about it that was forwarded to me was that, "it was a very hard course." Can the resort player handle a really tough course and will they be willing to play it again? It's too early to tell whether Streamsong will work as well as Bandon has in the long haul, but it looks like the clientele there is different than say at Pinehurst, Pebble Beach or the Greenbrier and is the avid player that appears more at Bandon.
4. Lido is the one course that I think could be replicated for the most part because the original was basically built on a clean slate. The original site was a swamp and they had to create it. The legend of Peter Lees first look at the site tells it all. Recreating ANGC, NGLA, or even GCGC in whole would be nearly impossible or grossly expensive because you'd have to totally create the landforms and ANGC and NGLA both have significant hills that would need to be created or positioned perfectly. Lido was totally created from nothing so it would seem that it would be easier to create than the other courses mentioned. Outside of the Alps, do those responsible have any idea how much movement the course had and is the original model that appeared in The Evangelist of Golf still exist to give them something to work off of?
Of course, it's a replica so a perfect duplicate is not what Mr. Keiser is after. I was hoping that they could find a site in the Northeast to pull this off, something close to sea preferably, but sites large enough to do it are very few and farther between today and are uber expensive. I've always wanted to see a "Channel" Hole and a "Raynor's Prize Dogleg" (although Dr. G tells me 6 at Southampton GC is one) I hope they can pull it off!
I'm sure Mr. Mucci will give me an earful about my thoughts.
