SAND VALLEY GOLF RESORT
🇺🇸 Nekoosa, WI, USA
Designed by Charles Blaire MacDonald, Tom Doak
Born anew from the ashes of a legend, The Lido at Sand Valley echoes the spirit of its Long Island predecessor, resurrected amidst the sprawling sandscapes of central Wisconsin. The course, an audacious reimagining of C.B. Macdonald's masterpiece, sprawls across exposed dunes and sweeping valleys, a testament to the Golden Age ideal of strategic golf. The sandy soil allows for a firm, fast playing surface, rewarding creativity and punishing indecision. This course challenges golfers with its cleverly routed holes, favoring those who can shape shots and navigate the wind, an element as vital to the course's character as the sand itself.
Architects Tom Doak and Renaissance Golf Design meticulously recreated the essence of the original Lido, employing Macdonald's design principles and the iconic template holes. They worked from original maps and photography, bringing back the most difficult holes in the world. The course, while a tribute, stands on its own merits, offering a stern but fair test in a unique geographical setting.
While the club hasn't hosted major professional championships, it is quickly gaining notoriety for its challenge, architecture, and pure golf experience. Sand Valley itself draws golf aficionados seeking an escape from the ordinary, eager to test their skills against a course that demands respect and rewards thoughtful play. The resort is more than just a golf destination; it's a place where the spirit of the game is celebrated and shared.
The Sand Valley experience offers a unique combination of challenge, charm, and culinary delight. After a round on The Lido, one can find themselves in the clubhouse enjoying the quintessential Wisconsin tradition of a Friday Fish Fry, a perfect pairing of local flavor and golfing camaraderie. It is a course of reflection and beauty.
Reviews
Before you play make sure to watch the YouTube story about how this course was built in WI at the Sand Valley resort. The course is very challenging with blind shots and hidden bunkers. Template greens since it is a CB McDonald design. Very interesting course and fun to play. Driving range is at the resort a shuttle ride away. Would not want to play everyday but definitely worth the trouble to play.
The Lido is a trip back in time. While I do think the exaggerated the elevation changes and depth of some features, I think this course is a peak into the extremes of golden age architecture. This course drove me crazy the first two times I played it. By my 4th round I’ve learned to love it; a sign of a great course in my book.
One of the most interesting golf courses you will play, and nothing else quite like it. Many blind shots, course is nearly impossible without a caddy giving you targets / multiple loops. Great challenge with high-risk / high-reward shots. Must visit if you find yourself at Sand valley.
If not the best, certainly very nearly the best, mostly flat golf course I’ve ever played. You have a few large dunes, but the course is mostly gently rippled, yet there are so many interesting shots you must play. If the wind is up, the course can play brutally difficult while still giving you chances for birdies with well played shots.
Played 2025 Wisconsin State Am here. Such a strategic golf course with multiple ways to attack each hole. Green complexes may be the craziest I have ever seen and are even extreme for CB Macdonald standards. An absolute joy to play and not one day plays the same. When it’s windy, look out because it’s a true links course. Still a relatively new course with some growing in to do. No range on site at Lido, have to use range at SV and shuttle over.
Played it awhile ago… greens were extremely bouncy and impossible to hold.
Needs multiple plays to fully appreciate. It’s a bit of a sensory blitzkrieg the first time around. So much going on. Changes significantly in different winds, bunkers that were easily clearable in one wind are tough to clear in another. Possibly the most strategic course I’ve ever played. If you’re a 15 handicap or higher you may be playing ping pong across the greens. The Lido is a grower, which is a tough sell for a resort course that most people only play once or twice. Would be an incredible place to be a member.
I’ve heard the more you play the course the better. And I’m sure that’s the case. I’m just not sure I would want to play this course that often. Obviously there are a lot of blind tee shots and a few blind approach shots. The greens are extremely difficult and the bunkers are as well. It got pretty windy on the day we were here. For being a Top 100 in the world I was expecting more. The conditions on the greens were amazing, but the conditions everywhere else were not. Dead spots all over the place and maybe that’s how it’s supposed to be. I feel like this course is so much cooler from an aerial view but not as cool from a ground view. Feel like raters jumped the gun on the Top 100 ranking.
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FAQ
Ratings, design, and course details pulled from Course Vaults.
The Lido at Sand Valley Golf Resort has a Course Vaults score of 8.9 out of 10 based on 89 explicit golfer ratings.
The Lido was designed by Charles Blaire MacDonald and Tom Doak.
Yes. The Lido at Sand Valley Golf Resort is listed as welcoming public or guest play on Course Vaults.
Par at The Lido is 72.
The Lido plays 6,782 yards from the back tees on Course Vaults.
The Lido is a 18-hole course.
