Resort advertising and recent club materials agree that golf at Maplewood began as a nine-hole course in 1904, built for guests of the sprawling Maplewood Hotel complex. The course was subsequently rebuilt and expanded to 18 holes under Donald Ross in 1914, creating the basic resort routing that survives in recognizable form on much of the front nine and portions of the inward half.
The club’s own pages repeatedly fix 1914 as the Ross date. At the same time, a small body of secondary commentary suggests that the expansion was staged, with the “second nine” not playable until 1918. Because no original Ross plan set, dated construction contracts, or club committee minutes are publicly available online, the exact sequencing (1914 plan; 1914–1918 staged construction) should be treated as unverified until archival documents—club minutes, resort ledgers, or Tufts Archives correspondence—are located.
The course’s golf facilities have always been intertwined with the Maplewood Casino building from 1889. After a late-20th-century restoration (1988), the Casino became home to the pro shop and hospitality spaces that serve the course today. This continuity of clubhouse setting helps explain the returning-nines character still felt on the property, even as individual holes have evolved.
As for later professional involvement, modern architect Ross Forbes lists Maplewood among his renovation/consulting projects. Several golf directories and travel pages attribute a program of course modifications around 2003, but Forbes’s own site does not publish dates or scope. Without construction drawings or board minutes, the extent of Forbes’s work—bunkering, tee work, drainage, or the par-6 conversion—remains unclear and requires direct confirmation from the club or Forbes Golf Design.
Unique Design Characteristics (as they exist today)
The current hole sequencing preserves a compact resort rhythm typical of early-century mountain courses while incorporating later quirks. The front nine opens with a reachable par-5 (No. 1, 449 yards from blue) followed by a run of mid-length par-4s and a single one-shotter (No. 8, ~150 yards). The back nine is more idiosyncratic: consecutive par-3s at Nos. 11–12 (168 and 201 yards) interrupt a string of short and medium par-4s, and the finishing stretch pairs a par-6 (No. 16, 656 yards) with a short par-4 (No. 17) and a one-shot home hole (No. 18, 150 yards). These figures come directly from the contemporary scorecard and capture how the present routing asks for a variety of approach lengths rather than sheer tee-shot power.
The most conspicuous single feature is Hole 16, a par-6 measuring 656 yards from the back tees (over 650 by the club’s own description). While par-6 holes are not unheard of at older American resorts, they are rare in Ross’s built work, and there is no published primary evidence that Ross designed this hole as a par-6. Its presence today speaks to a later reimagining of that corridor and, quite possibly, tee or landing-zone adjustments made in the modern era. Until early scorecards or course maps from the 1910s are produced, the original par and yardage of this corridor remain unknown.
Where does Maplewood most clearly express its Ross-era origins as they survive? Based on present-day yardages and the absence of overtly modern features, the front-nine core (Nos. 2–7, plus 8–9) reads most plausibly as near-original corridors: mid-length par-4s that descend and rise gently, a modestly-scaled par-3 at the 8th, and green sites that, to the eye, sit naturally on grade rather than on heavy fill. This is inference grounded in the current scorecard distances and typical early-1910s resort construction practice; it should be tested against historic aerials, Ross drawings (if any), and period photographs sometimes preserved in the Casino’s in-house display.
Historical Significance
Maplewood matters in the Ross story first because it is one of two Ross courses in a single New Hampshire town, a testament to Bethlehem’s turn-of-the-century status as a major mountain resort. That local pairing—Bethlehem Country Club and Maplewood—situates Ross’s work within a competitive hospitality landscape where course quality was a key amenity for summer visitors. Maplewood’s association with the Maplewood Hotel/Casino complex, its 1914 dating, and its continued use as a public-access resort course all mark it as a durable, lived-in example of Ross’s northern New England output.
In sanctioned play, Maplewood entered the record as one of three venues that hosted the 1955 LPGA White Mountain Open, won by Betty Jameson; the other two were Bethlehem Country Club and the Mount Washington course. This is one of the few mid-century professional events to touch the property and places Maplewood within women’s tour history, albeit briefly.
Current Condition / Integrity
Routing and corridors. The overall 18-hole routing still reads as an early resort course, especially on the outward nine and in the short-par-4/short-par-3 finishing cadence. The par-6 16th and the clustering of consecutive par-3s on the back nine, however, point to post-Ross adjustments. Without dated aerials or construction notes, the extent of regrading is unknown; nonetheless, the distribution of par and the modern length of No. 16 strongly suggest re-parring and tee/landing work beyond ordinary maintenance.
Greens and bunkers. Contemporary accounts from players emphasize quick, testing greens. The club’s promotional material speaks to “Donald Ross greens,” but there is no public technical record of a full restoration to original contours or sand patterns. Given Forbes’s renovation listing and scattered directory notes of “modifications” circa 2003, it is reasonable to assume selective changes to tees, bunkers, drainage, and perhaps edges of putting surfaces—but specific scopes (how many bunkers, which greens, whether fill pads were rebuilt) are not documented online and require primary confirmation.
Clubhouse and practice. The Casino building’s 1988 restoration reshaped the hospitality experience rather than the architecture of play; today it houses the pro shop and restaurant serving the course. Practice remains modest—no range, with chipping and putting green—consistent with the compact resort character.
Playing surfaces. Databases list bent grass on tees, fairways, and greens, matching the cool-season regional standard. The club’s public-access, semi-private model continues, with memberships and daily play coexisting.
Uncertainty:
Two points merit explicit flagging:
Who built the original 9 holes (1904)? The club’s pages do not name a designer. Some directories list Alex Findlay among Maplewood’s architects, but none cited primary documentation. Until a period newspaper, hotel ledger, or a dated drawing is produced, Findlay’s role should be considered unconfirmed.
When was the second nine completed, and when did No. 16 become a par-6? Forum commentary asserts an 1918 completion for the full 18; the club uniformly markets 1914 as the Ross 18-hole date. As for No. 16, the present par-6 appears on the modern scorecard, but no dated plan or scorecard documents when the re-parring occurred. A widely repeated claim attributes “modifications” c. 2003 to Ross Forbes; Forbes acknowledges Maplewood as a project but does not publish dates or scopes.
Sources & Notes
The Maplewood Golf Club – Golf Overview / “18 Holes of Exceptional Play.” Club website pages confirming 1904 nine holes, 1914 Ross 18, semi-private status, and lack of driving range.
About Us – The Maplewood Golf Club & Inn. Club page noting the 1889 Casino building, the 1904 nine-hole origin, “designed by Donald Ross in 1914,” and practice-facility details.
Bethlehem Historical Society – “Maplewood Casino.” Notes the 1889 Casino, 1988 restoration, and current use housing the pro shop/restaurant; confirms Maplewood as an 18-hole Donald Ross course.
Town of Bethlehem, NH – “Golf in Bethlehem.” Confirms that Bethlehem has two Donald Ross 18-hole courses (Bethlehem CC and Maplewood).
GolfClubAtlas Forum – “Reunderstanding Ross.” Secondary discussion that claims front nine 1914 / second nine 1918. Cited here as a lead only; requires primary verification.
Forbes Golf Design – Renovations & Restorations. Lists Maplewood Country Club (Bethlehem, NH) as a Forbes renovation/consulting project (no date/scope shown).
LPGA / Wikipedia – “White Mountain Open (1955).” Records Maplewood as one of three host venues for the 1955 LPGA White Mountain Open (won by Betty Jameson).