The Lido! My goodness where do we start? This course is very interesting. It is a replica of CB Macdonald's masterpiece in New Jersey, which many considered one of the best courses in the world during its time. The holes are classic Macdonald template holes and if you pay attention you'll definitely see all of the hits from a redan to the alps and so on. But the course itself just feels out of place. I know that may sound obvious as the original course was in New Jersey and this course is now in Wisconsin but from an enjoyment perspective I just found myself scratching my head a lot when looking around.
The course is located on a massive plot of sand that was the previous to a pretty dense pine forest that was 100% clear cut. There's not a single tree on the course and the 100-200 yards that buffer the course look like the remnants of a scorched earth attack.
The holes are mostly fun to play. The day we played, the course played as about as firm as I've ever played a course. You were having to land wedges 10-15 yards short of the pin. One of the highlight holes was definitely the channel hole. It was a fun hole but I think modern technology has rendered it a little less relevant as I hit a driver and 7i into it and two putted for birdie. The alps was also fun. I always enjoy the unpredictability of the alps template holes. And last I really enjoyed the redan, even though I think I hit the green and bounced long.
The course probably photographs pretty well with a drone and in the right light but looks pretty desolate from the pics I have from our 2pm tee time on a sunny day.
Grades (where 1 is significantly below average and 5 is significantly above)
Scenery: 2 stars
Design: 4 stars
Condition: 5 stars
Practice Facilities: N/A
Experience: 4 stars
Click here for a more detailed breakdown of how I think about course ratings.
The bottom line is the I visited The Lido right after it opened and as you would expect all of the surrounding elements of the golf course just don't exist yet. The putting green was still growing in, the driving range at Sand Valley is a mile away, and the area around that course that had been clear cut hasn't started to regrow yet. The course itself has some fun holes but the routing is odd. Many holes run very close to one another and the 18th hole finishes about a 1/4 mile from the pro shop. If you get the chance to play, definitely do as it's amazing to think that someone designed a course with holes as bold as this over 100 years ago but if I put my blinders on, ignore the history element of the course, and simply grade it on my experience I would be a coin flip as to whether or not I would go out of my way to play the course again.
