The Lido | Nekoosa, WI | Par 72

The Lido is the third championship course built at the Sand Valley Resort, and it has the most remarkable back story. The course is a shot-for-shot remake of a course by the same name that was designed by legendary course architect C.B. McDonald and built on New York’s Long Island in the early 20th century. The course was eventually demolished during World War II and seemingly lost in time. If you don’t know the whole story, I recommend you check out this video on YouTube. The original Lido, and therefore, the reincarnation as well, are filled with holes inspired by some of the best-known links-style holes of the time, including St. Andrew’s Old Course and Prestwick. This is classic golf architecture designed during a golden age. The property the new Lido is built on looks like a wide expanse of docile land from afar, but once you start walking the fairways, you will see all the pitfalls that are waiting. Like so many things at The Lido, the setup is unusual. It’s a par-72, but with a 37-35 split between the front and back. The course wraps around the perimeter of the property on the front, only to make a concentric inner loop as you make the turn. The common themes are misleading sightlines, sloped fairways that hide the course’s many bunkers and large, well-protected greens that showcase contours typical of great links golf. Course knowledge is needed to employ proper strategies, but there’s more than one way to play many of the holes. Shots around the greens allow for great creativity and diversity when trying to work the ball towards the hole. Another major factor at The Lido is the wind. Because of how wide open the property is, even small amounts of wind will be felt and have an impact. If you’re playing on a gusty day, you will have to abandon the typical American style of golf, which is to play through the air, and favor keeping the ball on the ground. In some instances, there could be shots that simply cannot (or maybe SHOULD not) be taken on at all. As you make your way around The Lido, another thing you’ll notice is the acoustics of course. If the wind isn’t howling, you’ll swear you can hear every ball hit within a 200-yard radius, especially balls that fly onto the green. It is a truly unique sound. Like most great courses, The Lido will test your game, but distance doesn’t have to be a variable that crushes you. While The Lido stretches out to over 7,000 yards from the longest tees in order to host major state events, there are 10 total tee layouts that allow a player to choose a yardage that is comfortable to them. This type of flexibility is brilliant, especially for a course that will undoubtedly become a destination location.

A course like The Lido frames the way you think about course condition differently. Missing a fairway could leave you in one of its many waste areas, where you could have a great lie or a terrible, almost unplayable lie. That type of dichotomy for a wayward shot is exactly what was designed, and shouldn’t make you think the course is in anything less than pristine condition. The tee boxes, fairways and greens are all in amazing shape. The greens are firm and roll well, though not quite as fast as I would have expected. The fairways are firm with a lot of undulation, staying true to links golf of a century ago, but they aren’t tight, leaving the player to feel comfortable to play approach shots and shots around the green. The sand in the bunkers is consistent throughout the Sand Valley Resort – it’s fine and it’s dense. It’s not my favorite sand, but you have to appreciate the consistency. It requires you to be aggressive and precise, which makes a well-played shot from a bunker feel that much better.

Rating the practice area at The Lido is a little awkward. The course itself is detached from the main clubhouse and the resort’s other courses, so it’s not too easy to get around outside of the shuttle service. So if you’re looking to warm up your full swing before your round, The Lido doesn’t have what you’re looking for. There’s no range, just a two-stall netted area where you can at least feel the clubface strike the ball. Hopefully you can feel how the shot would fly, because there’s no feedback in this setup. Better than nothing, but not good. Plan ahead and hit the range at Sand Valley beforehand, then take the shuttle to The Lido. Once you’re at The Lido, there’s a large, multi-tiered green you can practice your putts and short chips on. It does look like there will be a new practice area available in 2026, but I don’t know the whole story on its availability.

As I did with my review of Sedge Valley, I am taking into consideration all the buildings I visited in my time at The Lido. There’s a quaint little pro shop near the bag drop of the course itself that has small items and clothing and hats with Lido branding. This is the only place on the property that you can get these, so make sure you get what you want before you get back on the shuttle. The staff will hold your items if you purchase before your round, so you don’t have to worry about carrying extra stuff with you. There’s also a little snack shop just in from the practice green. You can get a soda or a Gatorade, and they also have sandwiches and small snacks available. My caddie said the Italian sub is amazing, but I didn’t get a chance to try it. If you’re looking for Sand Valley items, you can find those back at the pro shop in main clubhouse near the Mammoth Dunes check-in. Downstairs from the pro shop are locker rooms that have just about everything you need to get ready for your round or clean up afterward if you’re hitting one of the many restaurants on the property.

The Lido is a walking only golf course. They do offer push carts for rent, so you can avoid bringing yours.

What can I say about the staff at Sand Valley? They are the best. They’re knowledgeable, friendly and courteous. You always get their attention and a smile. Sam, my caddie, was the fifth different caddie I’ve had at the Sand Valley Resort, and, like the others, he was excellent. He had loads of experience at the resort (and he caddied at Oakmont before coming to Wisconsin) and was just easy to be around. I knew going in that he would be vital to my ability to get around The Lido due to all the blind shots and undefined sightlines, and I don’t think he directed me wrong once. Of course, that doesn’t mean I always executed, but that’s a different story altogether. Sand Valley Resort is a special place, and the staff there drive that feeling home.

A round at The Lido, like all the full courses at Sand Valley, comes in at just under $300 as of 2025. That’s a lot of money for a round of golf, so it’s tough to say it’s a great value. That said, the round felt special from the very beginning, and my level of excitement was that of a high-end course and a true experience. I enjoy playing courses ranked in the top 100, and courses on that list are going to cost a premium. Considering the exclusivity of The Lido, I still saw it as a good value.

The No. 1 challenge when you take on The Lido is the tricks the course plays on your eyes. Blind shots abound, and the best line to take isn’t always the most obvious. If your line isn’t right, you’ll end up in an ever-lurking waste area, which can produce some of the worst lies on the course. Or, you’ll find one of the many bunkers, and a lot of those have daunting faces to scale. If you manage to find the fairway, that doesn’t mean the remaining task is easy. Large greens with massive ridges and undulation are still waiting, and like the tee shots, it’s not always easy to know where you should try to approach them. Miss the green and the fun really begins. Many of the greens are elevated, so you’ll be hitting from a bunker well below the putting surface or playing a shot where you can’t see your landing area. And while water only comes into play on four or five holes, it can be difficult to avoid if the wind is up. All this, and we haven’t even talked about putting. Being on the green doesn’t mean a simple two-putt. The many contours and the sheer size of the greens can make getting the ball into the hole very difficult. While I played on a relatively calm day, I can only imagine how much a brisk wind can affect putting on these exposed surfaces.

A lot of the fun in playing The Lido is the sense that you’re traveling, both to a different time and a different place. The idea that a course on Long Island from the early 20th century could be magically transplanted into Central Wisconsin is just staggering. Embrace the history and efforts put into bringing this relic back to life. If you really want to emphasize it, you can rent old clubs with hickory shafts to see how much of your game relies on modern technology. After all the history lessons and storytelling, it gets back to just playing golf, and this course can be a lot of fun, if you don’t let some daunting shots or some bad bounces get you down. You’re going to have some shots around the green that you don’t see too often, and successfully executing those types of shots is always a good time, even if you can’t do it every time. The walk itself is far from strenuous, so you can enjoy your surroundings that much more. The Lido is not an easy golf course, but everything it brings together is a lot of fun.

Hole #12, Punch Bowl. This long par-4 was absolutely in the running for the toughest hole, as water dominates your sightline from the tee. Avoiding the lagoon is a must. The reason I liked this hole so much was the green complex. On a course full of amazing green complexes, the Punch Bowl’s stood out to me. It looks daunting from the fairway, almost like a castle built in the cliffs to deter invaders. The two large bunkers appear to be inevitable, but there is more room between them and the green then it seems. As the name suggests, shots that are slightly offline can still catch the slopes and funnel into the middle of the green, making a two-putt or better still possible. This hole is no joke, but you will leave it feeling like you played something special, regardless of the score you carded.

Hole #4, Channel. This par-5 will test both your game and your strategy. The first thing you’ll notice is water that separates and runs alongside the left side of the initial portion of fairway. Playing to this more generous strip of fairway is the prudent play, but you could also go for the gusto and play to a small patch of fairway straight ahead called the handkerchief, in hopes of getting home in two. Either way, a good drive is required. From there, more water comes into play, as you try to put your second shot in good position. A large, elevated green is fully protected by a deep trench bunker, making the correct club choice a must. Conditions will guide your strategy, but no matter what, quality shots are needed to escape The Lido’s No. 1 handicap hole with a par.

Whenever you’re set to play a high-end course, you hope that you at least have decent weather. Good temp, dry, relatively calm. In my wildest dreams I don’t think I would have gotten as good of a day as I got when I played The Lido. Despite it being October, the temperature was right around 80 degrees, a little bit of cloud cover and at most a one-club breeze. The weather in no way affected my ability to play well, which is all you can ask for. I know that this made the course more benevolent, as any higher winds can make the wide-open property a bear, and for that I couldn’t be more thankful. As for my round, I played pretty well. I found a lot of fairways and quite a few greens. Outside of one flubbed chip, and a couple of hooks off the tee, I really didn’t hit any “bad” shots. Thanks to my caddie, I felt good on the greens, and while I didn’t make anything of length, my speed was very good all day. It was a wonderful day.