A Long-Standing Tradition

Experience NY Public Golf at It’s Finest

Sitting on the thin strand of barrier beach between the Atlantic Ocean and Reynolds Channel in south Nassau is the Lido Golf Club, a true test for both the beginning and advanced golfer. 

A shade under 7,000 wind-blown yards from the tips, this Robert Trent Jones design will leave you mumbling to yourself with every well-struck shot knocked down by the ever-present ocean gusts, and breathing sighs of relief on every shot that finds land. 

Water comes into play on all but seven holes, and one of the toughest five-hole stretches on the Island features the threat of agua on every stroke.  This perilous stretch is undoubtedly one of the main reasons Lido is ranked as one of Newsday’s top public courses on the Island.

The History of Lido GC

“HOLY GRAIL of Lost Courses is Back

In 1921, Walter Hagen listed the Lido as one of golf’s “Big Three” courses, along with the National Links, and Pine Valley.[9] An assessment after completion described the course as “the greatest test in the world, with the possible exception of Pine Valley.”

The Lido was designed by Charles B. Macdonald, with contributions from other designers, and constructed in 1915.[1]

Overseen by engineer Seth Raynor, construction required that “thousands of pounds of sand” be pumped out of the bay to reclaim what had been a marsh. The advantage was that “the exact contours required by the course architects” could be achieved. Turf bricks were cut from nearby property to lay the greens.[2]

The course opened by the summer of 1917.[3]

More than 2,000,0000 [sic] cubic yards were pumped in from Long Beach channel by five hydraulic dredges. Hills forty feet high and undulations corresponding were thus constructed. Forty thousand cubic yards of meadow muck were lifted and placed as a soil for all the fairways, greens and tees. Among the incidentals more than 2,500 tons of lime, 6,000 tons of fertilizers, and 35,000 tons of top soil. The entire rough was planted by hand with beach grass, each in squares eighteen inches apart. Nearly a million plants were required. They hold the sand in place and at the same time afford an excellent hazard. An irrigation system provides for every foot of the expanse.[4]

Unfortunately, its opening coincided with the United States’ entry into World War I. During the summer of 1918, management was forced to lower the annual dues from $200 to $60 and make the course easier to attract more amateur players.[2][5]

In 1942,[6] during World War II, the United States Navy acquired the property and destroyed the course to construct a naval base.[7] After the war, in 1953, a new course was built in nearby Lido Beach with a design by Robert Trent Jones.[6] While different from the original, the Trent Jones course features a replica of Macdonald’s 4th hole.[8]