Check out every hole of the new Lido at Sand Valley.
The Lido was long a historical fascination for golf architecture enthusiasts – until Peter Flory’s research led first to the famed Long Island layout being recreated as a video game and now coming fully to life again at Sand Valley in Wisconsin.
Flory – an amateur golf course historian from Chicago – collected photos and historical narratives that eventually led to Tom Doak’s Renaissance Golf Design firm rebuilding the Lido in exacting detail. The layout fully opened to member play recently, and there are options for guests of the popular resort to score slots on the tee sheet at select times (check with the resort for details).
There’s plenty to take in at the new Lido. Flory – a financial consultation who also serves as a Golfweek’s Best rater ambassador – takes us through each hole below with videos shot by Golfweek videographer Gabe Gudgel before the course opened (notice that not all the bunkers are yet full of sand).
Best golf views in the world? Cabot Saint Lucia enters that conversation. But how will it play?
Bill Coore doesn’t want to talk about “signature holes.”
That leftover cliché of 1980s course development and marketing has fallen out of favor among many fans of great golf architecture, for good reason. In trying to design one hole that is especially photogenic or memorable, the other 17 might be best left on the cutting room floor.
“We’ve failed, to be quite candid, if we have a signature hole,” said Coore, partner of Ben Crenshaw in designing several of the best modern courses in the world. “To me, that basically is saying that you spent all your efforts on that one hole. You grounded the entire golf course around one hole.”
Coore admits with a chuckle that he has resorted to subterfuge when presented the question of what is the signature hole at several courses he has routed around the world.
“We’ve actually gone to the reverse sometimes when somebody will ask what’s your signature hole – at least I have, I don’t know that Ben has – but a couple times I have literally picked the most bland hole on the entire course, and I’m talking about photogenically and visually speaking, and said that’s our signature hole right there,” the native of North Carolina said with a laugh.
Instead, Coore wants to lay out courses that flow from hole to hole, never lacking in interest while taking advantage of all the ground has to offer. He’s more concerned about the shots to be played on any given hole, less so with photo ops.
Even on the inland holes atop a ridge, as seen from behind the third green, Point Hardy Golf Club at Cabot Saint Lucia offers stunning views of the ocean and volcanic island. (Jason Lusk/Golfweek)
“We think of golf as being a collection of holes that go together and fit together,” he said. “Maybe one or two or three or four are more dramatic than the others, but we don’t think of them as signature holes.”
So what to do with a site such as Cabot Saint Lucia in the Caribbean, home to Coore and Crenshaw’s still-in-development Point Hardy Golf Club? The whole place screams, “Take a picture!” Cliffs rise straight from the Atlantic Ocean with new golf holes perched atop them, waves crashing into white foam below. This is one of Earth’s great meetings of land and sea.
Given such a beautiful tropical site that really has all the makings of a photo shoot, with a mile and a half of see-it-to-believe-it scenery, on what do Coore and Crenshaw narrow their focus to build a golf course bestowed with so much drama?
Really, Bill? Not the point of cliffs jutting into the ocean on this end of the property, or the promontory at the other end? Even Coore smiles as he describes the wow factor of Cabot Saint Lucia, one of several new Cabot Collection properties that will expand the Canadian company’s reach over the next several years from Nova Scotia to the tropics, Scotland, Florida and western Canada.
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“The site is so visually spectacular,” said Coore, whose design credits include such highly ranked layouts as the Sheep Ranch and Bandon Trails at Bandon Dunes Golf Resort in Oregon, Sand Hills in Nebraska and Cabot Cliffs in Nova Scotia. “Most people will come here and ooh and ah, particularly as you look down the hill or look along the cliff at the shoreline and the ocean. It’s almost beyond description, dramatic. Ben and I are both pretty conservative when it comes to our assessments and descriptions, but you’ll see, it’s just, well …”
His voice trails off as he imagines the cliffs and all the opportunities for superlative golf holes upon them. Then he gets back to the matter at hand and what he considers the primary job of a golf architect, especially at an extreme site such as Point Hardy featuring volcanic hills and rocky ground. Coore has said before that it’s easy to build a hard golf course, and the trick is in designing a fun layout that golfers want to tackle again and again.
“Playability, playability, playability,” he repeats as his mantra. “And trying to create a golf course that doesn’t end up being one that people might come and take photographs of every hole and just a photogenic course, and then they go, ‘Eh, it really wasn’t that much fun; I didn’t enjoy it,’ kind of thing. It would be too extreme, or something. That’s what we’re hoping not to happen. We want to try to create something that they’re going to want to come back and play.”
Recent renovations have Dundonald Links in prime condition to host the 2023 Women’s Scottish Open.
As Scottish golf is booming with international travelers flocking to the well-known historical links courses — consider booking extremely early for any trip, as in get your plans in order now for 2024 — it’s worth noting there are several modern courses around the game’s home country that are more than worthy of a round.
Count Dundonald Links in Gailes, on the western side of Scotland, among them.
Designed by Kyle Phillips and opened in 2003, Dundonald Links ranks No. 35 on Golfweek’s Best list of best modern courses in Great Britain and Ireland. It hosted the Women’s Scottish Open in 2015, 2016 and 2017, and it will again be the site of the co-sanctioned LPGA/Ladies European Tour event this August. It also was site of the DP World Tour’s Aberdeen Asset Management Scottish Open in 2017.
The club – which serves as a handy base for golf excursions to other courses such as Royal Troon, Prestwick and Western Gailes – has recently undergone major renovations to its clubhouse and accommodations.
Golfweek videographer Gabe Gudgel was there recently to take it all in. Check out his accompanying video to see how modern golf looks in a classic land.
Ewing has two top-10 finishes in four starts at this event, finishing tied for seventh last year.
RANCHO MIRAGE, Calif. — If the LPGA and PGA Tour ever resurrect a team event, watch out for the pair from Fulton, Mississippi. As of last week, the town of 3,500 has produced both PGA Tour and LPGA champions in Chad Ramey and Ally Ewing. The two friends grew up together at Fulton Country Club, a hilly nine-hole course that tips at 5,700 yards for two loops.
Ramey, a rookie on the PGA Tour, won last week’s Corales Puntacana Championship in his 16th career start. Ewing is a two-time winner on the LPGA and is currently tied for fifth at the LPGA’s first major of the year, the Chevron Championship. She’s three strokes back of leader Hinako Shibuno after a 4-under 68.
Ewing was on the range warming up for a practice round at Mission Hills Country Club on Sunday when she saw that Ramey was in the hunt after four consecutive birdies on Nos. 13-16. By the time she got to the fairway on the second hole, he’d won.
“I sent him a text immediately,” said a proud Ewing, “which I’m sure he got a billion.”
There’s no driving range at Fulton Country Club. The longest putt on the putting green might be about 45 feet. Ramey was the only kid at the course close to Ewing’s age and his dad happened to run the place. He was longer and stronger and had a better short game, and Ewing soaked up every chance she could to practice alongside him.
The 29-year-old Mississippi State grads pushed each other, and the members never complained when their cross-country golf occasionally got in the way.
“They saw what we were going to be capable of,” said Ewing.
Chad Ramey celebrates with the trophy after winning during the final round of the 2022 Corales Puntacana Championship at the Corales Golf Course in Punta Cana, Dominican Republic. (Photo: Mike Ehrmann/Getty Images)
Ramey once shot 27 on the par-35 course with an ace on the last hole. His father would often throw down four balls inside 100 yards and challenge them to get two of the four up-and-down.
Many people joined Fulton for the good-sized pool. But there was Ewing, winning the club championship while in grade school.
“I remember a guy came up to me and said, ‘I put money on you in the calcutta,’” said Ewing. “I went back to my parents and said ‘What’s a calcutta?’ ”
She chipped in on the last to take the title.
A group of members went out to Pebble Beach earlier this year to watch Ramey compete in the AT&T, and they’ve come out to the LPGA to watch Ewing, too. The two-time Solheim Cup player is currently ranked No. 25 in the world.
Ramey and Ewing both work with the same instructor, V.J. Trolio at Old Waverly Golf Club, and if they have a lesson the same day they’ll go out and play nine holes.
“We knew it was only time,” said Ewing of Ramey getting his first PGA Tour victory.
No doubt Ramey will be checking scores at the Chevron this weekend as his childhood friend seeks to win her first major. Ewing has two top-10 finishes in four starts at this event, finishing tied for seventh last year.
“I feel like the more disciplined I am around this golf course,” said Ewing, “obviously it takes shots, I have to execute, I have to roll putts in, but I’m really disciplined out there, looking away from holes that just kind of say, Hey, hit it at me.
“But I don’t do that. I try to stay really disciplined. My caddie and I just really stick to targets, and it certainly helps to roll in putts.”
To that end, she recently started working with Vision 54’s Pia Nilsson and Lynn Marriott on putting, shortening her routing and trying to think less and react more like an athlete. Naturally an analytical person, the less she can free up her body on the greens the better.
Channel those two kids from Fulton Country Club who grew up to take on the world.
HAVEN, Wis. – Whistling Straits’ Straits Course, home of the Ryder Cup on Sept. 24-26, is one of the most dramatic visual treats in golf.
Built by Pete Dye on the shore of Lake Michigan, the formerly flat site once housed a military base before the legendary designer trucked in some 13,000 loads of sand to shape an incredible vista of flowing dunes, fescue grass and incredibly difficult golf shots.
Golfweek’s Gabe Gudgel has shot aerial drone videos of each hole to get you ready for the Ryder Cup. Video of one hole will be released each day for 18 days. Today’s hole is No. 18, which will play as a 515-yard par 4 for the matches between the U.S. and Europe.
Mike O’Reilly, the golf operations manager at Whistling Straits, has provided commentary on each hole. He began his career at Destination Kohler’s sister club, Blackwolf Run, as a caddie before Whistling Straits even opened, and he has had a front-row seat to all the action in three previous PGA Championships. His insights are invaluable.
The Straits will play as a par 71 at 7,390 yards for the Ryder Cup. It’s normally a par 72, but the par-5 11th will be shortened to a par 4 for the event. The Straits ranks as the No. 1 public-access course in Wisconsin on Golfweek’s Best Courses You Can Play list, as well as No. 8 among all of Golfweek’s Best Modern Courses in the U.S.
And for more golf in Wisconsin, check out this road trip that played the top five courses in a surprisingly strong golf state.
MOSEL, Wis. – Whistling Straits’ Straits Course, home of the Ryder Cup on Sept. 24-26, is one of the most dramatic visual treats in golf.
Built by Pete Dye on the shore of Lake Michigan, the formerly flat site once housed a military base before the legendary designer trucked in some 13,000 loads of sand to shape an incredible vista of flowing dunes, fescue grass and incredibly difficult golf shots.
Golfweek’s Gabe Gudgel has shot aerial drone videos of each hole to get you ready for the Ryder Cup. Video of one hole will be released each day for 18 days. Today’s hole is No. 17, which will play as a 223-yard par 3 for the matches between the U.S. and Europe.
Mike O’Reilly, the golf operations manager at Whistling Straits, has provided commentary on each hole. He began his career at Destination Kohler’s sister club, Blackwolf Run, as a caddie before Whistling Straits even opened, and he has had a front-row seat to all the action in three previous PGA Championships. His insights are invaluable.
The Straits will play as a par 71 at 7,390 yards for the Ryder Cup. It’s normally a par 72, but the par-5 11th will be shortened to a par 4 for the event. The Straits ranks as the No. 1 public-access course in Wisconsin on Golfweek’s Best Courses You Can Play list, as well as No. 8 among all of Golfweek’s Best Modern Courses in the U.S.
And for more golf in Wisconsin, check out this road trip that played the top five courses in a surprisingly strong golf state.
HAVEN, Wis. – Whistling Straits’ Straits Course, home of the Ryder Cup on Sept. 24-26, is one of the most dramatic visual treats in golf.
Built by Pete Dye on the shore of Lake Michigan, the formerly flat site once housed a military base before the legendary designer trucked in some 13,000 loads of sand to shape an incredible vista of flowing dunes, fescue grass and incredibly difficult golf shots.
Golfweek’s Gabe Gudgel has shot aerial drone videos of each hole to get you ready for the Ryder Cup. Video of one hole will be released each day for 18 days. Today’s hole is No. 15, which will play as a 518-yard par 4 for the matches between the U.S. and Europe.
Mike O’Reilly, the golf operations manager at Whistling Straits, has provided commentary on each hole. He began his career at Destination Kohler’s sister club, Blackwolf Run, as a caddie before Whistling Straits even opened, and he has had a front-row seat to all the action in three previous PGA Championships. His insights are invaluable.
The Straits will play as a par 71 at 7,390 yards for the Ryder Cup. It’s normally a par 72, but the par-5 11th will be shortened to a par 4 for the event. The Straits ranks as the No. 1 public-access course in Wisconsin on Golfweek’s Best Courses You Can Play list, as well as No. 8 among all of Golfweek’s Best Modern Courses in the U.S.
And for more golf in Wisconsin, check out this road trip that played the top five courses in a surprisingly strong golf state.
MOSEL, Wis. – Whistling Straits’ Straits Course, home of the Ryder Cup on Sept. 24-26, is one of the most dramatic visual treats in golf.
Built by Pete Dye on the shore of Lake Michigan, the formerly flat site once housed a military base before the legendary designer trucked in some 13,000 loads of sand to shape an incredible vista of flowing dunes, fescue grass and incredibly difficult golf shots.
Golfweek’s Gabe Gudgel has shot aerial drone videos of each hole to get you ready for the Ryder Cup. Video of one hole will be released each day for 18 days. Today’s hole is No. 15, which will play as a 518-yard par 4 for the matches between the U.S. and Europe.
Mike O’Reilly, the golf operations manager at Whistling Straits, has provided commentary on each hole. He began his career at Destination Kohler’s sister club, Blackwolf Run, as a caddie before Whistling Straits even opened, and he has had a front-row seat to all the action in three previous PGA Championships. His insights are invaluable.
The Straits will play as a par 71 at 7,390 yards for the Ryder Cup. It’s normally a par 72, but the par-5 11th will be shortened to a par 4 for the event. The Straits ranks as the No. 1 public-access course in Wisconsin on Golfweek’s Best Courses You Can Play list, as well as No. 8 among all of Golfweek’s Best Modern Courses in the U.S.
And for more golf in Wisconsin, check out this road trip that played the top five courses in a surprisingly strong golf state.
MOSEL, Wis. – Whistling Straits’ Straits Course, home of the Ryder Cup on Sept. 24-26, is one of the most dramatic visual treats in golf.
Built by Pete Dye on the shore of Lake Michigan, the formerly flat site once housed a military base before the legendary designer trucked in some 13,000 loads of sand to shape an incredible vista of flowing dunes, fescue grass and incredibly difficult golf shots.
Golfweek’s Gabe Gudgel has shot aerial drone videos of each hole to get you ready for the Ryder Cup. Video of one hole will be released each day for 18 days. Today’s hole is No. 14, which will play as a 401-yard par 4 for the matches between the U.S. and Europe.
Mike O’Reilly, the golf operations manager at Whistling Straits, has provided commentary on each hole. He began his career at Destination Kohler’s sister club, Blackwolf Run, as a caddie before Whistling Straits even opened, and he has had a front-row seat to all the action in three previous PGA Championships. His insights are invaluable.
The Straits will play as a par 71 at 7,390 yards for the Ryder Cup. It’s normally a par 72, but the par-5 11th will be shortened to a par 4 for the event. The Straits ranks as the No. 1 public-access course in Wisconsin on Golfweek’s Best Courses You Can Play list, as well as No. 8 among all of Golfweek’s Best Modern Courses in the U.S.
And for more golf in Wisconsin, check out this road trip that played the top five courses in a surprisingly strong golf state.
MOSEL, Wis. – Whistling Straits’ Straits Course, home of the Ryder Cup on Sept. 24-26, is one of the most dramatic visual treats in golf.
Built by Pete Dye on the shore of Lake Michigan, the formerly flat site once housed a military base before the legendary designer trucked in some 13,000 loads of sand to shape an incredible vista of flowing dunes, fescue grass and incredibly difficult golf shots.
Golfweek’s Gabe Gudgel has shot aerial drone videos of each hole to get you ready for the Ryder Cup. Video of one hole will be released each day for 18 days. Today’s hole is No. 13, which will play as a 404-yard par 4 for the matches between the U.S. and Europe.
Mike O’Reilly, the golf operations manager at Whistling Straits, has provided commentary on each hole. He began his career at Destination Kohler’s sister club, Blackwolf Run, as a caddie before Whistling Straits even opened, and he has had a front-row seat to all the action in three previous PGA Championships. His insights are invaluable.
The Straits will play as a par 71 at 7,390 yards for the Ryder Cup. It’s normally a par 72, but the par-5 11th will be shortened to a par 4 for the event. The Straits ranks as the No. 1 public-access course in Wisconsin on Golfweek’s Best Courses You Can Play list, as well as No. 8 among all of Golfweek’s Best Modern Courses in the U.S.
And for more golf in Wisconsin, check out this road trip that played the top five courses in a surprisingly strong golf state.
