THE MISTWOOD GOLF DOME is located on Rt. 53 in Bolingbrook and is open daily starting at 8 Am. Closing hours do vary. Lesson’s and Club fittings are available, and you can book them online. McWethy’s Sports Bar is open for take out (630)-739-7600.    _____________________________________________________________________

THE GOG BLOG by RORY SPEARS, Director of Content and Creation for Golfers on Golf. Follow Rory on Twitter @GogBlogGuy, or friend him on Facebook, and connect on Linkedin.

Rory Spears in the hitting bay at Club Champion in Willowbrook.

WHAT A WEEKEND on Oahu in Hawaii.

Congrats to our two local players who made the field for this past weeks Sony Open.

To Arlington Heights native Doug Ghim who shot 72-69, but missed the weekend cut. And to Northbrook’s Nick Hardy, who made the cut with four rounds in the 60’s.

Great playing to both. Doug here’s hoping your next tournament brings you two straight rounds in the 60’s, and getting to play the weekend.

Nick Hardy-great job. During Round 2, Hardy needing three birdies in his last 11 holes to make the weekend, made 7. A pair of 66’s on the weekend put Hardy at 16 under par. But it also earned him a check for $113,000+. Well played.

Nick Hardy at the 2020 Evans Scholars Invitational

So what’s next for Hardy. Because he does have a few more weeks off before the Korn-Ferry Tour resumes play in 2021, come mid-February.

It’s always a good idea to strike while the iron’s hot, so why not try a few more Monday qualifiers. And that’s exactly what he will do.

In my interview with Hardy today, he says he will try to Monday qualify at both the Farmers Insurance event at Torrey Pines, and at Waste Management in Phoenix.

CLICK HERE to hear our interview with Nick Hardy after his week at the Sony Open in Hawaii and his T-14th finish.

Welcome to Sand Valley Resort in Nekoosa Wisconsin.

REBUILDING THE LIDO.

The Lido is one of the most historic golf courses ever built on Long Island in New York.

But the original Lido built from 1914 to 1918, when it finally opened in the spring of that year will return in the middle of Wisconsin.

So you ask how ?

Golf architect Seth Raynor built the original Lido over a four year period for a cost of $1,430,000. But back in those days, the average cost of building a golf course was slightly north of $50,000.

The Lido was the place for the upper-class families in those times, as the Lido “roared” into the Roaring 20’s. But come 1942 and with the United States now engulfed in WWII, the U.S. Government needed the land, and the original Lido, a monster of a golf course in it’s day, that played tough to begin with. And was even tougher when the winds blew off the Atlantic Ocean, then went away.

But after the war ended, Robert Trent Jones Sr., came along and created another Lido on another site not far from the original. But it’s now a public course, and has never enjoyed the fame or notoriety of the original Lido.

REDO-Part 2. The idea of recreating the Lido back in it’s original form, has been around since Old Macdonald was constructed at Bandon Dunes almost 15 years ago. But Mike Keiser didn’t feel the land was right, and nixed the idea.

Re-enter architect Tom Doak who was hired a few years back by Keiser to create the third full-sized 18 hole course at Sand Valley, called Sedge Valley. But enter Covid-19 that puts things on hold, and now with some time to think. Keiser breaches the idea of a Lido rebuild with Doak, on the land that was planned for Sedge Valley.

After Doak agrees in part, saying only if the Lido can be rebuilt properly, will he do the project. After finding the right person through Golf Club Atlas, who had enough information on the original Lido, so only then was Doak was confident he could build it the right way. The rebuild of the Lido, the original Lido, the way it was in 1918 is back on the table. Doak’s table, the Keiser families table, and Sand Valley’s table.

Construction is underway, preview play coming in fall of 2022. There might not be an Atlantic Ocean at Sand Valley, but amazing things keep happening there. Stay tuned, the Keiser’s are involved. And that means something special for those who love golf. Stay clicked in-more as I get it.

THE Gog Blog returns tomorrow. RS