Recently I was privileged to play the new Lido. If you have never heard that word, this little tale will make absolutely no sense. If you have heard of it, then you know it’s a complicated recreation of what many believed to be the best course ever built. Dredged from the ocean along Long Island, the real Lido is extinct thanks to the Great Depression, military base needs, and classic urban sprawl. Ordinarily I would say, if you get the chance to play, don’t pass it up. Except I’m concerned. I am convinced that the vast majority of golfers will hate it. If hate is too strong, I am sure you will say “I don’t get it”.
I loved it. I knew I would. I see golf differently. Sometimes this divergence between how I see golf and our customers see golf, causes disassociation. We have been able to provide a certain kind of golf all these years. The kind of golf your grew up playing. The kind of golf you expect. But there is this whole other form of golf that exists. It is that kind of golf that absolutely fascinates me. It’s a kind of golf… I just don’t think you will like. It’s rugged, it’s brown, it’s dusty, it’s as hard as rock. It’s penal, yet strategic. It rewards, it funnels, it’s fast, it requires precision, and yet it’s playable, wide and full of options. It’s not pretty. There are no woodchips, no gardens, no plantings, no trees. Nothing is flat, the edges are barely defined. It’s perfect, but it looks nothing like what I sell.
The masses will never experience these private places built for the ultra rich, and that is sad. Here is the irony. The people with the absolute most money in the world are creating these brown, rough, fast, unkept places. Those with no money by comparison are demanding green, pristine, plush, pretty conditions. I’ll let that marinate for a second.
