Poland Spring at The Links at Poland Spring

The Links at Poland Spring occupies a distinctive place in American golf history as one of the early resort courses in New England. Situated in the hills of western Maine, the course served the Poland Spring House, a grand hotel that drew visitors to the area's natural spring waters in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The course evolved through contributions from several notable architects of the era: Arthur Fenn laid out the original nine holes in 1896, making it one of Maine's oldest courses, while Alex Findlay, Walter Travis, and Donald Ross each made subsequent modifications and additions during the resort's peak years.

The routing takes advantage of rolling terrain characteristic of Maine's interior landscape, with elevation changes and views across the surrounding countryside. The course reflects design principles from golf's formative American period, when architects were adapting Scottish links concepts to inland settings. Ross's involvement, likely in the 1910s or 1920s, brought his characteristic strategic bunkering and green contouring to several holes.

The Poland Spring resort declined in the mid-20th century, and the course's prominence faded accordingly. The property has undergone various ownership changes over the decades. While it no longer operates as part of a grand resort destination, the course remains as a testament to Maine's early golf heritage and the collaborative work of several architects who helped establish American golf course design as a profession.