The Lido (2023)

Golf’s version of Atlantis is Lido. A Lost C.B. Macdonald golf course on the Altantic Coast of Long Island, prior to its closure in 1942, it was regularly praised alongside other layouts like National Golf Links, Pine Valley, and The Old Course as one of the finest golf courses in the world (or, in the eyes of Bernard Darwin as illustrated later in this write-up, THE finest). Lido opened in 1917, following other acclaimed C.B. Macdonald designs like the National Golf Links and Piping Rock.

Unfortunately, The Great Depression and World War Two were largely the reason behind the demise of The Lido, with a Navy Base finally putting the golf course to rest in 1942. A version of Lido Golf Club exists on Long Island near the original golf course, though Robert Trent Jones Sr. designed the current version and bears no resemblance to the original.

Beginning in the mid 2000s, rumours of the possibility of re-creating Lido began to swirl in the industry. The first likely location was where Old Macdonald is now, though that never happened. Rather, Old Macdonald is Tom Doak and Jim Urbina doing their best C.B. Macdonald impression at Bandon Dunes. The site didn’t work for the relatively flat Lido and the Pacific Ocean was on the wrong side of the golf course! Next, rumours about Florida-based Streamsong re-creating the lost layout, but that, too, never materialized.

In 2020, word began to spread that Lido would be re-created in Wisconsin, some 1,000 miles from its original location, and in early 2021, Sand Valley announced that Tom Doak with then-associate Brian Schneider would be the architecture team to bring it back to life. The re-created Lido opened in 2023.

The “Long” Seventeenth

Also part of the project is Peter Flory, who meticulously re-created Lido using the online video game software The Golf Club. Flory used old photos, an anaglyph, and other source material to re-create Macdonald’s original layout as exact as possible. Brian Zager then turned Flory’s video game model of Lido into a GPS topographical blueprint, which was used to re-shape Lido through GPS bulldozers down to the inch of Flory’s 3D video game model, with only minor changes for some practical use like drainage and some added space between the thirteenth (“Knoll”) and the fourteenth (“Short”) for safety. Doak and Schneider added ~400 yards from Lido’s length in George Thomas’ Golf Architecture in America to adapt to the modern ball and the increase in distance, but largely, The Lido we play today is identical to C.B. Macdonald’s Lido on Long Island (minus the ocean).

Given the momentus feat of re-creating a lost golf course, there is a reasonable case that every single hole is a hole to note, though this write up identifies just over half of the standout holes, with the possiblity to add a handful more if so inclined.

Holes to Note

Second hole, 441 yards | Plateau; The first hole at Lido is a perfect palette cleanser for what’s to come, riddled with blind bunkers, a joint fairway with the tenth, and an attractive green complex sitting up above its surrounding area. Especially in contrast to the rest of the resort, the opener is a wonderful introduction, but this isn’t a write up on the first—given all that’s said about the charming introduction, the second hole does all the same, though with a significant increase in intensity and impressive feeling of grandeur.

With its blind tee shot over the abrupt hillside, The Lido kicks into full gear with this tee shot.

The ideal line is over the aiming rock, with the walking path being as far left as possible

From a drone’s view, the fairway’s width is revealed: a shared fairway with both the 17th (way left) and 11th provide, quite literally, 200 yards of fairway to the left, while the proper route of the hole piches the golfer between native sandy scrub up the right, a fescue/natural area left, and eventually, bunkers, though most golfers will struggle to get to the cross bunkers regardless of how far they hit it.

The 17th fairway (far left, playing in the opposite direction), 11th (middle frame), and the 2nd (far right portion of the fairway)

On a middle-to-longer par 4, playing further out left not only adds length into the green, but dramatically increases the difficulty coming into the green playing over a short-left bunker. With water long and the firm and fast conditioning provided day-in, day-out, anything from left of the naturalized area (above) is near-impossible to land on and hold the green.

From the middle of the fairway, the gentle contour rolls can add a bit of flavour, but getting the ball in play off the tee sets everything up for a relatively straightforward approach to the bigger side of the green on the right, and a much more difficult approach over the bunker on the left. Perhaps the most subtlely brilliant feature on the entire golf course is the fairway bunkers working up to the green hiding the left greenside bunker, which is a key feature for any pin on the left-half of the green.

The flag sits over the bunker complex, mostly obstructed from the line of sight. Any pin on the left side forces play up the right, whereas pins in the middle or right side are more accessible.

Notably, the green complex is chock-full of character, with its close-proximity to the 11th green being somewhat jarring for those coming from Sand Valley or Mammoth Dunes across the resort and their well-documented spacious routings. Throughout the round, Lido’s greens are—much like the landscape it traverses over—abrupt, with specific ridges, tiers, and pads largely defining the surfaces. Given the sheer size of the green complexes here, approach shots played to the correct portions of the green are clearly rewarded against mildly wayward shots.

Third hole, 168 yards | Eden; Among the collection of Macdonald’s fine quartet of one-shot holes, the Eden template is often the most subtle. The Biarritz, with its pronounced swale running perpendicular to the line of play; the Redan, featuring a severe right-to-left tilt and running away from the golfer; and the Short, often highlighted by its moat bunker surrounding the green, a fingerprint in the middle, or a wild, unhinged green complex (thinking National Golf Links). Further, it is the most “Americanized” version of its source material: very few Eden’s in America replicate what makes the Eden at St Andrews brilliant to the same intensity, unlike the Redan (North Berwick), Alps (Prestwick), or other templates that provide a similar inspired feeling as the original. That is partially due to the Eden’s playing characteristics: how many North American eden’s have a water hazard long of the green to replicate the River Eden?! Lido’s version does just that.

That water feature behind the green used-to-be the Long Island Channel (which set up the famed Channel hole at the fourth). From the tee, the obvious back-to-front contour and the pronounced ridge separating the green’s left and right portion’s is evident even some 170 yards away. A closer inspection provides clarity: this is one of the more dramatic (and faithful) Eden renditions:

Fourth hole, 550 yards | Channel; Arguably the most famous hole on the used-to-be lost Lido, the Channel hole was certainly a leading componant in re-creating the layout for its brilliant strategic decisions and uniqueness in not just Macdonald’s catalogue, but the Golden Age in general. Its uniqueness is largely due to the plethora of options and routes on this strategic marvel: the left fairway is the easiest tee shot, though water lurks all up the left and lengthens the hole considerably; up the right is a second fairway, though a much longer forced carry awaits. The right is a more direct route but a long carry and smaller fairway; the left is a safer tee shot, though water is left the entire way. For those trying to get home in two, a tee shot up the right is paramount.

A better view of the playing corridors and the options presented from the tee. At its widest point, the fourth measures nearly 150 yards across (!).

The second shot’s difficulty is almost exclusively determined by which route is chosen from the tee. Play out to the left, and the layup becomes more difficult with water both left, right, and short depending on how far one wants to push the ball up the hole. In general, second shots from the left are a longer, more intimidating second shot. From the right fairway, a more direct route awaits with a clear challenge presented: carry the water, or else. Further complicating the shot is the gargantuan bunker sitting into the hillside the fourth green rests atop of, but a successful layup or second shot in most cases is over the water, which works on an angle to the right with any shot up the right requiring a longer carry.

Even after successfully navigating to the right fairway, the second shot is equally intimidating, though easier than the left side’s version of the same shot.

After crossing the water inlet for the second and final time on the fourth, the sheer intimidation factor of the bunker short of the green is much more evident. Two great swings to here gets you this visual… not easy!

A secondary angle shows the pronounced green pad, seemingly protruding from its low-ground surroundings. This is the first of many bunker or bunker groups across the golf course that cross the entirety of the golf hole in a perpendicular, abrupt manner to the line of play: on each occasion, the hole tells the golfer they have to play over a hazard regardless of the previous decisions or regardless of the line they choose to play the hole on, rather than asking the bold player to challenge the hazard—which would be more in line with the strategic school of design. Yes, Lido is a very strategic golf course in general (as evident by the tee shot at this same hole!), but combining both Victorian-esque features with obvious Golden Age-influenced strategic options, Lido provides a unique experience and layout even among other C.B. Macdonald layouts that do not embrace the Victorian Era as much as Lido does. This golf course in particular is seemingly not afraid to both be daring and downright difficult, penalizing and strategic, Victorian and Strategic, all in one (and sometimes in the same hole). In doing so, it separates itself from contemporaries immediately.

Finally, anything played long of the hole—presumably to avoid the massive bunker short—is ill-advised and likely in the worst-possible spot on the entire hole, other than wet of course!

Eighth hole, 236 yards | Ocean; On both the original Lido on Long Island and the current Lido in Wisconsin, the eighth is the furthest southern point of the golf course and on the opposite side of the property from the famed Channel Hole. On the OG, the ocean flanked the entire right side of this girthy Biarritz; in Wisconsin, a surplus of sand awaits.

Nevertheless, that reality takes nothing away from the excitement of this Biarritz, with the front pad of the Biarritz cut at a fairway mower height, and the green set back on the other side of the swale. A single bunker, short of the fairway pad, awaits, but for most that will be easily avoidable. The question is, can one get it through the swale? Given the length of this Biarritz, a long iron or wood coming in will require nearly everyone to play through or, at the very least consider, the effects of the swale.

The inconspicuous nature of the Biarritz from the tee hides much of the swale, once again showcasing how Lido is the ultimate hole course that rewards multiple rounds and a home field advantage

It is worth noting that when this hole first opened (at least according to a 1915 Golf Illustrated article posted by Sven Nilsen to the Golf Club Atlas Discussion Group) it measured a whopping 220 yards in 1915! In George Bahto’s The Evangelist of Golf, Ocean is listed as 234 yards, or roughly the same length as the current rendition (Bahto’s book is likely sourcing its scorecard from George Thomas’  Golf Architecture in America, which also had the hole listed at 234 yards on a Lido scorecard).

A better look at the Biarritz green and its accompanying swale:

Ninth hole, 364 yards | Leven; Derived from the 16th at Lundin Links, the ninth at Lido has a strong case for being on the shortlist as one of the finest Leven template in America. That is, in large part, due to the tee shot, bending to the right. With its mounding short of the green from the left-side fairway, the tee shot’s curve further enunciates what the Leven is asking golfers to do coming into the green. First, though, picking the proper line is key. At such a short distance, long hitters can take the ball way up the right side, but an awkward pitch awaits. Playing out to the left is safer, though the long balls will run out of real estate and into the native areas.

Perhaps the mound short and left of the green at the Leven ninth could be more pronounced to better capture thie Leven template or concept, but that is beside the point: strategically, this is a nuanced golf hole. With all that in mind, shots from the left side of the fairway, over the mounds and a bunker to a small green by Lido standards, are far more difficult than taking on the slew of bunkers up the right and opening up the mouth of the green! A fitting conclusion to a superb front nine.

Tenth hole, 401 yards | Alps; Lido has a handful of standout holes, as evident by a whopping eleven individual holes featured in this Course Profile (!), yet the tenth might be the most awe-inspiring, especially for first-time visitors to Lido or any Macdonald or Raynor golf course. With its green tucked behind the hillside on the left, playing way right opens up a potential view into the green, though a string of bunkers dividing the first and tenth fairways await. For those feeling adventurous, the option to play to the first fairway does exist (on the other side of the bunkers), though much like the options at the second hole… you add length coming into the green. Any tee shot up the left is severely blind over the hillside to a green well-bunkered and guarded.

Even from the middle of the fairway, only a sliver of the right side of the green is visible, with nearly every pin blind coming into the green for those not uber-aggressive up the right.

Perhaps the most interesting characteristic of the Alps template here is how interesting the green complex is, in both the surrounds and the actual green surface. Given the extreme nature of the hole’s tee-to-green journey, a reasonable choice would be to provide a bit of relief with a toned-down green as a reward for simply achieving what the hole wanted. Not the case: the actual surface itself is a curious green complex that one would want to spend hours on playing shots from above, below, in the bunkers, and from the fairway into. Notably, the front tab works away from the line of play, kicking balls to the centre, while the trough running through the front-centre of the green collects balls. The upper tier is more subtle, though still interesting.

Given how dramatic the hole is, there is little doubt this is firmly in the best hole debate at Lido. Perhaps one might cite the Channel Hole, for its iconic strategic choices, or the forthcoming closing hole, with a multitude of options and a blind tee shot to an epic, sprawling green, but given all there is to digest about the tenth, this is one of the finest holes around, and certainly one of the most fun to decode and play with repeat visits.

Looking at the tenth green from the 11th tee, drone view

In reverse, the dramatics continue, but also provides a sense of how impressive this singular hole truly is from both a strategic and engineering feat:

Eleventh hole, 446 yards | Lagoon; On the description of the opening hole at The Lido, it was set out as a palette cleanser for what was about to come, especially related to the second hole that turned the intensity up a notch. Well, the eleventh, running in conjunction with the second, is similar: what the second hole is to the first is what the eleventh is to the second. A larger, harder, bolder hole, turned up a notch as the routing progresses.

Yet another blind tee shot awaits, with another aiming rock helping guide the golfer to the middle. From the back tee, a long carry over the sea of bunkers of roughly 290 yards from the 7,000 yard tee box awaits, with those pulling off the feat reaping the benefits of a shorter and easier shot coming home. The shorter player has to play out to the left towards the seventeeth fairway, or out to the right and closer to the second—in either instance, trouble looms for those who play far far away from the middle.

The bunkers are seemingly unavoidable from the tee shot, especially out to the right. Numerous trips around The Lido reveal there is room, even when it doesn’t look like there is. The left side is likely the best chance for shorter hitters to survive, with only a single bunker that also comes into play from the seventeenth tee shot, but the right can also be useful, especially when pins are on the far left side of the green. One characteristic that makes Lido such a challenging, difficult golf course and a true mental exercise throughout the round is the severity of penalty waiting at any moment, with more-likely-than-not pitch-out bunkers awaiting errand shots. In some instances, players advancing the ball 50 yards is a success! The eleventh is certainly among those holes with deep bunkers awaiting the misplayed shot. Similarly, the eleventh perfectly captures the spirit of Lido: it is a true “choose your own adventure” golf course, with trouble and consequences looming at every moment, but good shots being rewarded for either the aggressive player or the strategic plotter.

The sea of bunkers scattered throughout the eleventh’s tee shot landing zone

Thankfully, the approach shot is subdued compared to the last ~three full swings, which have all been choatic and intense. With an open-fronted green and the Channel Hole’s water feature looming long (plus a bunker), playing short and letting the ball bounce up is the best play, though the ripples in the fairway do potentially complicate any low shots.

To end, an engaging green defined by a ridge running east-west across the line of play and a nipple in the front middle.

A different drone pilot standing on the edge of the 11th green, also admiring the view!

Twelfth hole, 450 yards | Punchbowl; There are a handful of demanding holes at Lido, but none more than the Punchbowl twelfth. A sharp dogleg right around the water coming off the Channel Hole, played to a green on the other side of four bunkers 10+ feet from the fairway’s height… this is hole designed to separate the good players from the great.

Truthfully, much of Lido is hard. Even in 1922, Bernard Darwin, arguably the finest golf writer at the time, identified Lido as being unusually difficult.

Bernard Darwin, the noted British critic, considers Pine Valley, Lido, and The National Golf Links [of America] to be the three finest golf courses in America. Pine Valley he considers the hardest; Lido the best, not only in America but in the world, and the National the one he would prefer to play on as he is not a good enough player for the other two.

Golfers Magazine, December 1922

Simply getting the ball in play off the tee is the mandate, with the obvious presenting itself that the inside corner of the dogleg (or closer to the water) grants the shortest and easiest second shot in. Regardless of where the approach shot is played from, a punishing approach shot awaits. With its green similarly protruding around its low-surroundings like the nearby fourth, a high shot into the punchbowl over the four bunkers cut into the enbankment will likely find the surface, but missing offline presents a near-impossible up-and-down chance.

Could this be the most severe and demanding punchbowl in the Macdonald/Raynor catalogue? There is a strong argument for it.

Fifteenth hole, 422 yards | Strategy; Lido is without reservation a C.B. Macdonald design, but the most unique feature of the layout is Macdonald’s inclusion of two holes from two other famous architects: Alister Mackenzie’s entry for the Country Life design contest at the eighteenth, and Tom Simpson’s entry for the same contest for the fifteenth. Unlike Mackenzie’s entry, Simpson removed his entry from the competition because Herbert Fowler, his design partner, was a judge. All the same, Simpson’s hole made the Lido routing. Interestingly, the seventh is also an entry from that same Country Life design contest, though the entrant never entered a career in golf architecture.

Dubbed “Strategy,” this middle length par 4 features six bunkers to avoid off the tee and a centralized natural area. In essense, the fairway is broken into two portions (long and short) with two direct lines (left and right) Every golfer eventually has to carry a bunker.

The tee shot angle from the fifteenth

Playing way left unlocks the best angle, but on this gentle dogleg right, the hole plays longer when doing so. That, and the triangular bunker on the far left side of the hole is the most menacing and is immediately brought into the tee shot’s landing area when playing left. The two bunkers up the right side are shorter carry numbers off the tee, but provide a worse angle coming into the green with two deep bunkers short right.

Below, Simpson’s entry to Country Life’s design contest:

Sixteenth hole, 216 yards | Redan; a classic one-shot hole in every sense of the word, the Redan at Lido is a big, beefy version with its raised right side and the green feeding to the left around the bunker short-left.

A closer look at the severity of the green complex, which, when paired with the firm and fast conditioning presented on a daily basis, means you have to play out and to the right and let the slope bring the ball down.

Eighteenth hole, 449 yards | Home; Given the seventeen holes of chess the golfer endures prior to arriving at the eighteenth tee, the routing ought to finish on a high note. As such, Dr. Alister Mackenzie’s submission for the Country Life design contest is the stupendous finishing hole at The Lido with nearly 120 yards of options from the tee.

First up, the sprawling bunker complex in a “Y” shape, which acts as a guide to help players figure out the line of play. Up the middle of the gap is perfect, whereas up the left finger—the longer carry—removes the bunkers on the other side from the line of play—is the most aggressive, though eventually you run out of room if you deviate any further left. Playing well to the right is the safest route and shortest carry with the most fairway, though it is the worst angle coming into the green over a couple greenside bunkers.

When The Lido was built, there was use for the island fairway up the left because of how far the ball travelled. Golfers who wanted to gain the left-side angle but could not get over the bunker could play short of the hazard and then up, but with how far the ball goes in 2024, most golfers will likely take on the challenge of flying the bunker and over the hillside.

The severity of the bunkering at Lido is certainly evident on the final tee shot of the day. Missing in this bunker provides a sour taste in one’s mouth coming home!

From the sky, the options are evident and provide a good sense of what’s awaiting upon cresting the hillside. From a blind tee, all the bunkers in the driving zone are blind. The final hoorah in a string of holes that overwhelmingly favour repeat visitors. Much like the finest links in Scotland, those who know the golf course and play often will unlock a distinct advantage against those who have only played the layout once or twice, and on the final hole, it could be the difference between a match won or lost.

Cresting the hillside, the sprawling 22,000 square foot green greets golfers. As with a handful of other tee shots here, three fairway bunkers on the other side of the Y bunker await that were not visible from the tee. Certainly, Lido’s motif is discovered upon its conclusion, seemingly taunting golfers to want to go back out and try again knowing what they know now.

The green complex is remnicent of a Maiden, with two elevated back plateaus, a low portion in the front, and a swale dividing the two high back sides. It is the biggest green on the golf course with the most movement—a proper end to a divine golf course.

Mackenzie’s 1914 Country Life winning entry:

Interestingly, the 18th green at Lido is located near the 9th tee… some 410 yards from the clubhouse! Without question an unusual quirk of the golf course, though Macdonald prioritizing the quality of the golf holes in exchange for an unusual walk following the round’s completion is evident that the property’s maximum potential was fulfilled.

Truthfully, Macdonald’s decision to have the eighteenth hole finish where it did is the general ethos of Lido: with a handful of unusual decisions—from using Tom Simpson and Dr. Alister Mackenzie holes in his routing, to not returning to the clubhouse after the 18th, or a handful of blind tee shots, and so forth—Lido immediately stands out from the ground. These unique choices bring the golf course as close to Scotland as a golf course in America… perhaps equally as spirited as the National Golf Links of America, another Macdonald masterpiece.

The Road Hole at National Golf Links

Furthermore, Macdonald’s willingness to create unique holes while incorporating his expected templates provides a unique flavour. In this write-up, standout templates like Eden, Alps, Punchbowl, Biarritz, Redan, and Leven are present, but there are also holes like Channel, Lagoon, Strategy, and Mackenzie’s Home hole that are new and unique to Macdonald’s catalogue of great golf courses. Macdonald certainly wanted to use his “Ideal Holes” of the British Isles whenever possible, but was not afraid to produce his own (or others) original thoughts, and Lido benefits from that dramatically.

One of the unique aspects of Lido’s resurrection has been the discourse following first-time visits: on one hand, Lido seems to invigorate with its almost mind-numbing, overwhelming number of strategic options from start-to-finish. On the other hand, first-time visitors can be disorientated by the amount of blind shots throughout the round, hazards awaiting nearly every shot (even golf shots where the player thinks they hit a proper shot), and the copious routes, options, and choices. That, and how downright difficult nearly every shot is: there is rarely, if ever, a moment you can take a swing off. Truth is, Lido is a dizzying experience, but one that captivates in ways very few golf courses this side of the Atlantic can.

The first (top) and tenth (bottom) at The Lido