Lido Golf Club

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Lido Golf Club was a famous 18‑hole golf course in Long Beach, Nassau County, on Long Island, New York. It was designed by Charles Blair Macdonald (with input from others) and opened in 1917 after the shoreline was dredged and land was reclaimed to create the course. The builders pumped out marshland and used local materials to shape the greens, fairways, and irrigation system. The course quickly earned a stellar reputation.

The layout included dramatic seaside holes and a central lagoon, with the 3rd hole named Eden and the 4th hole known as Channel. The regular course measured 6,416 yards with a par of 72 (about 3,264 yards on the outward nine and 3,152 yards on the inward nine). In Walter Hagen’s view in 1921, Lido was among golf’s “Big Three” courses, a rare compliment alongside National Links of America and Pine Valley.

World events reshaped the site. In 1942, during World War II, the U.S. Navy acquired the property and destroyed the course to build a naval base. After the war, a new course was built nearby at Lido Beach in 1953, designed by Robert Trent Jones. While it was different from Macdonald’s original, the RTJ course included a replica of Macdonald’s 4th hole (Channel).

In recent years, Lido’s legacy inspired new projects. In 2021, Sand Valley in Wisconsin began recreating a replica of Lido, with a photorealistic model by golf historian Peter Flory and design work by Tom Doak; the course opened in May 2023 and was slated to host major USGA events in coming years. Other Lido-inspired courses have appeared around the world, including Ballyshear Golf Links in Thailand.

Today, Lido Golf Club is remembered as a landmark early 20th‑century course that helped shape American golf, noted for its bold sea‑side design and its ambitious reclamation project.