Lido Golf Club

To play Lido Golf Club is to inhabit one of American golf's most loaded addresses. Sitting on the thin strand of barrier island separating the Atlantic Ocean from Reynolds Channel in Nassau County, the current course carries the name and the legend of what may be the greatest lost golf course in history — Charles Blair Macdonald's original Lido, an audacious masterpiece built from pumped bay sand in 1917, destroyed by the US Navy during World War II, and mourned by golf historians ever since. The Robert Trent Jones Sr. design that replaced it in 1953 is an altogether different creature, but it shares the same spectacular, wind-punished geography that made Macdonald's creation so singular.

Jones fashioned a characteristically bold links-style layout from the flat barrier beach, conjuring challenge through water, wind, and elevation where nature offered little raw drama. The result is a course defined by exposure: to the ocean, to the bay, to the prevailing Atlantic breeze that can transform a benign approach shot into an act of navigational optimism. Water comes into play on all but seven holes, and the closing stretch from the 12th to the 16th is regarded as one of the most demanding and memorable sequences of holes on public courses in the entire metropolitan area. The 16th, a par five that requires a double water carry and splits into risk-reward options of almost equal peril, is the kind of hole that haunts golfers long after the card is signed.

At just under 6,900 yards from the back tees and playing to a par of 71, the course is not a particularly long test by modern standards — but length is beside the point here. Wind is the extra hazard that Jones could rely upon, and on a breezy Long Island afternoon it can add an effective 400 yards to any given hole. The elevated greens, characteristic of Jones's work, are well-protected by deep bunkers and surrounded by tight run-off areas that demand precision from anyone hoping to avoid the kind of up-and-downs that can unravel a round in minutes.

The course carries a remarkable heritage. The original Lido hosted some of the game's finest players in its brief existence — Walter Hagen named it one of golf's "Big Three" alongside Pine Valley and the National Golf Links — and the current course preserves a replica of Macdonald's famous 4th hole, a connection to that lost masterpiece that gives the Robert Trent Jones layout a historical resonance few public courses can match.

Today the course is operated by Brooke Holdings LLC under LPGA professional and industry leader Kelley Brooke, who took over management from the Town of Hempstead in April 2024 and has brought renewed energy and investment to the facility. Despite its wind-battered, sometimes raw presentation, Lido remains consistently ranked in Newsday's top public courses on Long Island and among the top 10 in the New York metropolitan area — a legitimate bucket-list destination for golfers who want to experience true seaside links golf without crossing the Atlantic.