The New Lido Club
One of the most anticipated new golf courses will open in 2023, the Lido Club at Sand Valley. It’s a replica of the highly acclaimed Lido Club course, designed by C. B. Macdonald which opened in 1917, on Long Island. The new Lido Club joins Sand Valley Golf Course and Mammoth Dunes, near Wisconsin Rapids, WI.
According to noted golf writer, Bernard Darwin, the Lido course was “The finest course in the world”. This may be a bit of an overstatement but the Lido course would have been some of Macdonald’s finest work.
Macdonald believed there were 20 designs for golf holes. Called template holes, he incorporated many of them into each of his courses. Several template holes are found at Lido including redan, biarritz, and punchbowl.
For many years Mike Keiser, the developer of Bandon Dunes, had been intrigued by the Lido course. Lido opened in 1917 and operated until the mid 1930’s. Falling victim to the Great Depression, the US Navy bought the course located at the extreme eastern end of Long Island at Montauk. It operated as a Naval Air Station until 1963, destroying the golf course.
Peter Flory, a Chicagoan, became interested in Lido after installing a golf simulator in his home. Using old photographs he started building the Lido Club course for his simulator. He was well on the way to completion when he met with the Keisers in 2019. By that time he had built a model true to within one foot of the entire course.
There are several aspects of the new Lido location that made it attractive to Keiser. The soil is sandy and topography flat, just like the original Lido. All of Keiser’s developments, including Bandon Dunes in Oregon, Cabot Links in Nova Scotia and his original course, The Dunes, are on sand. In addition the wind is similar in strength to Long Island. The course could be situated such that the wind will be from the prevailing direction as the original course. Top golf course architect, Tom Doak was hired for the project and subsequently met with Peter Flory.
An interesting side light of the original Lido is that a contest was held for amateurs to submit drawings for one hole. Unknown at the time, Alister Mackenzie submitted the winning design. Mackenzie went on to be one of the great golf course architects, with such courses as Augusta National to his credit.
The new Lido will be a private club with two hours of tee times per day during the week open to the public.
The Keisers have acquired 13,000 acres of land attached to the current two courses. 8,000 of the acres will be a managed forest. “There will be hiking trails, biking trails, swimming and fishing. We also have plans for a spa and tennis courts” said Mike Keiser Jr. who owns Sand Valley along with his brother Chris. “It will be like a national park.”
There are a limited number of private homes sites available, most completed homes going into a rental pool. A new clubhouse will also be built.
Located in one of the most economically stressed areas of Wisconsin, the Sand Valley development has been a boom for employment and vendors to the project. “We like to go where we are appreciated,” said Mike Jr.
“There is an ecology team that works on restoration. Paper companies came in and planted white pines many decades ago. The entire area which is now the course, was covered in white pine.” Every tree over the 200 acre golf course has been cut.
There will be prairie and dune restoration, altered by the white pine planting. “We will also rid the area of invasive species,” added Mike Jr.
A fourth course, Sedge Valley will be under construction in 2024.
“We don’t start developing an area with an idea in mind of how many courses we will build. It’s just a belief we develop as the popularity of the courses build,” said Mike Keiser. “If you build great it will create its own demand.”
Thus, starting with two courses in 1999, Bandon Dunes has grown to six.
At 6582 yards, by today’s standards, Lido is not a long course. “It’s a faithful recreation of the original course,” said Mike Keiser Jr. It’s a big wind swept area. The wind will generate the challenge.
There have been several courses built consisting of holes copied from the great courses in Scotland and elsewhere. To me they haven’t worked. If you’re going to recreate the 18th at Pebble Beach, you better have the Pacific Ocean.
However, the new Lido is a nearly exact replica of C. B. Macdonald’s masterpiece on Long Island. Granted there is no Atlantic Ocean to view, but I believe the new Lido will work. I am looking forward to playing it in A Life In Golf.
