Perhaps you’ve heard: The Keiser family is establishing a literal clone of the legendary Lido Golf Club outside of its Sand Valley Resort in central Wisconsin. It’s to 2021 what the opening of Bandon Sheep Ranch was to 2020: the headline we golf course architecture people will milk for the rest of the year.
The key word in Lido’s description is “legendary”; not because the course is some figment of an idealistic imagination but because it’s become a pillar of worship for architecture enthusiasts.
Perhaps it truly was the single greatest golf club ever made and perhaps not. Regardless, it’s certainly the lost golf club we romanticize more than any other. Part of the problem is we’ve made room in our mind for just the one no-longer-existing golf club, in the same way that most dads have only made room for one metal band (Metallica, and the “Black” album more specifically).
There are many other MacRaynor courses that have since gone under. Were they quite the gems that Lido was? Maybe not…but we also don’t really know, do we? They may not have a Santa Claus-level of mystique but we’re talking Macdonald-Raynor here. These courses were at least Easter Bunnies.
Here are seven lost MacRaynors that might not have become Lido-level iconoclasts…but should certainly be on the mind of Gil Hanse, Tom Doak, or whatever architect wants to next create a MacRaynor tribute.
Continue reading “In Light of The Nu Lido, 7 Other MacRaynor No-Longer-Existing Courses That MIGHT Be Worth a Recreation” »