By Jim Davis
There is something about hickory golf that, for many, leads to a journey of discovery; of looking for lost methods of employing wood shaft clubs, or finding classic beauties from makers of the 1920s and earlier, or of simply connecting with a time when the game seemed, somehow, more pure, at least with regard to course design, ball striking and shot making.
For top amateur and one of the country’s foremost modern hickory golfers, Peter Flory of Glencoe, Ill., a related passion is the joy in discovering the nuances of lost courses. A financial expert by profession, Flory has made an avocation of creating digital golf course designs, creating 3D working models of golf courses that can be played on video game systems, PCs, or golf simulators.
(Click here to see a Member Profile of Peter posted in 2018).
That kind of thing brought him to the attention of Michael Keiser who, with his brother, Chris, and others, wanted to re-build the historic Lido golf course on sand barrens near the now famous Sand Valley Resort course that they operate in Wisconsin. Their father, Mike Keiser of Bandon Dunes fame, was solidly behind their efforts, encouraging every step of the way.
Deigned by Charles Blair Macdonald on Long Island in 1914, the Lido was considered one of the country’s top courses, even better than Macdonald’s National Golf Links. Macdonald famously spread mountains of sand over the site and added tons of organic material to create the course. In effect, says Michael Keiser in Nature of the Game (2022), authored by his father and Stephen Goodwin, it was the first “entirely manufactured” golf course in the game’s history.
The original Lido eventually fell victim to both economics and the U.S. Navy’s need for training grounds in the 1940s. Ever since then, the lost course has grown in myth and legend.
Michael and Chris had access to great golfing property at the family’s Sand Valley Resort in Wisconsin and a desire to rebuild this famous lost course. World famous golf architect Tom Doak was part of the team, too. Bringing all this expertise to bear along with the work Peter had already done to recreate the Lido meant the stars were aligning to bring a lost legend back to life.
“Peter’s work pushed our concept into the realm of possibility,” Michael said.
Peter Flory’s 3D rendering of holes 2 and 11 of the no longer existing Lido golf course on Long Island. He researched countless images and photos to recreate these and other holes from the course.
The Keiser brothers got in touch with Peter and the process began. A software engineer was brought on to turn Flory’s 3D renderings into topographical maps that golf course builders could follow. In 2021, the project went ahead full steam. And in May 2023 the course is expected to open for Sand Valley members and those who stay at the Sand Valley Resort.
To read more about Peter and his work on recreating the Lido, click here for an article by Joe Rosenthal for the InsideHook website.
And for more fun, try this video posted by Adventures in Golf host Erik Anders Lang who, last May, filmed a round of 18 at the new Lido with Flory, Tom Doak, and Michael Keiser.
Peter Flory’s hickory golf accomplishments include (not a complete list):
2017 Wisconsin Hickory Open Champion
2017 U.S. Hickory Open, third place
2017 Kohler Hickory Challenge Champion, Straits Course (74, second best hickory score on that course)
2017 Southern 4-ball Champion, with Ted Kopec
2018 Belvedere Hickory Open Champion
2019 Wisconsin Hickory Open Champion
2019 Whistling Straits Challenge, Champion
2019 U.S. Hickory Open, Belvedere, second place
2020 Wisconsin Hickory Open champion, course record 65 (hickory)
2021 Belvedere Hickory Open
2021 Mid Pines Hickory Open Champion
2022 Wisconsin Hickory Open Champion
2022 Kohler Hickory Challenge Champion
2022 Southern 4-ball Champion with Rick Woeckener
2022 U.S.Hickory Open, Mission Hills, Florida, third
Peter Flory at the 2016 U.S. Hickory Open. Photo by Jen Koss.