Sand Valley (The Lido)

A hole-for-hole recreation of C.B. Macdonald's lost Lido on Long Island, rebuilt by Tom Doak's team in the Wisconsin sand and host of the 2026 U.S. Mid-Amateur.

The original Lido opened on Long Island in 1917, built by C.B. Macdonald and Seth Raynor, and was regarded as one of the great courses of its era. The Navy took the site during World War II and the course was gone by 1942. In 2021 Michael and Chris Keiser set out to rebuild it next to their Sand Valley resort, using a 3-D model that historian Peter Flory had assembled from old photographs, plans and records.

Tom Doak led the project with Brian Schneider, who spent more than 230 days on site, and Brian Slawnik. The model was converted to GPS contour plans, bulldozers rough-shaped the site and the details were finished by hand. Concessions were limited to drainage and some longer tees. It opened in May 2023 on flat, wind-exposed ground chosen to resemble the original's exposure.

The course features Macdonald's template holes, including a Redan 16th, Biarritz and Punchbowl greens, plus the 4th, a Channel hole with an alternate island fairway, and an 18th built from Alister MacKenzie's winning design in the 1914 Country Life contest. Wind matters more than length here. The Lido co-hosted stroke play and hosted all of match play at the 2026 U.S. Mid-Amateur.

Holes to know

4

Par 5 · 505 yd

The Channel hole: players choose between a safe route and a bold carry to an island fairway surrounded by water and sand.

16

Par 3 · 189 yd

A Redan, with a green angled away from the tee and falling toward the back left.

18

Par 4 · 405 yd

Based on Alister MacKenzie's prize-winning design from the 1914 Country Life contest, with multiple routes depending on ability.

Championships

• U.S. Mid-Amateur 2026