Lucerne Golf Club was conceived as part of the 1920s Lucerne-in-Maine resort scheme organized around the Lucerne Inn and Phillips Lake. Contemporary histories of the inn describe the 1925–1926 real-estate venture that included establishing a golf club for members and guests. While those sources focus on the development rather than architecture, they confirm the club’s creation in the same window the course opened.
Wikipedia
Multiple independent golf references—club publications, mainstream outlets, and course directories—attribute the nine-hole layout to Donald J. Ross and state an opening year of 1926. The club’s own site displays “Designed by Donald Ross, Established 1926”; Golf.com’s database and GolfPass likewise list Ross, nine holes, and 1926. A 2023 Bangor Daily News feature on a change of ownership described Lucerne as “the hilly and picturesque nine-hole course, designed by the legendary Donald Ross,” built in 1926.
Bangor Daily News
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lucernegolf.com
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Course Finder
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At present, no digitized Ross construction drawings or correspondence for Lucerne are publicly available online. A Donald Ross Society forum thread shared images and clippings indicating a Ross plan dated 1925 and newspaper mentions in 1926, but those images are forum-hosted. Verification would require consulting original plan sheets and project files—if extant—at the Tufts Archives (Pinehurst), which preserves Ross drawings, or the club’s own records. There is no evidence in accessible sources that Ross returned for later phases; the course has been consistently referenced as a single nine-hole 1926 build.
Golf Club Atlas
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Note on municipal naming. Some directories list “Holden” while the club publishes a Dedham address; Lucerne-in-Maine is a village within the town of Dedham near the Holden line. Researchers should be aware of this discrepancy when searching historical newspapers and land records.
lucernegolf.com
B. Unique Design Characteristics
Lucerne’s present scorecard reveals a compact, old-style Ross nine organized around the hillside above Phillips Lake, with two early par fives and a mix of mid-length par fours punctuated by short 3s. The opening hole (No. 1) at 535 yards and the third (475 yards) define the front half’s scale, while the fifth is a 240-yard drivable par four—an unusually short two-shotter by modern standards that shapes strategy for the middle of the loop. The seventh, at 435 yards, is the sternest par four on the card, and the par threes (Nos. 4 and 8, 160 and 165 yards respectively) demand precise tee shots late in each half-loop. The overall yardage and sequencing produce a walkable yet varied circuit that uses elevation and cross-slopes intrinsic to the property.
lucernegolf.com
The site’s topography and a highway corridor bisecting the property have long influenced routing and circulation. A tunnel installed beneath Route 1A—in place before 2023 per local reporting—now allows players to move between segments of the course without crossing traffic, preserving continuity of the historic walk. This modern intervention addresses safety without altering the published yardage or par sequence.
Bangor Daily News
Greens and surrounds are frequently cited by players as the course’s defining features, with one GolfPass review singling out the “Donald Ross greens” as “original and worth the visit.” This is a helpful directional claim about the present-day character of the targets, but it remains anecdotal until matched to primary documentation (plans or early photographs). In fieldwork and archival research, these would be the first features to test against historical evidence.
GolfPass
C. Historical Significance
Within Ross’s Maine work, Lucerne sits in the mid-1920s cluster, shortly after Penobscot Valley (1924) and amid a period of regional resort development. Its scale (nine holes) and resort origin link it to the Lucerne Inn scheme documented in preservation literature. Lucerne’s persistence as a public course lends it interpretive value for studying Ross’s small-scale resort commissions in the state, especially where a coherent nine survives rather than being expanded or replaced.
Wikipedia
Reputationally, both the club and regional tourism sources report that Golf Digest has listed Lucerne among the nation’s better nine-hole courses. Golf Digest’s directory carries a dedicated Lucerne page, and the club’s course page and the state tourism portal repeat the “best nine-hole” recognition. While such accolades are peripheral to architectural authorship, they demonstrate sustained interest from national media in a compact Ross design.
Golf Digest
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lucernegolf.com
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No evidence of large state or national championships at Lucerne appears in easily accessible databases. A systematic check of Maine Golf and USGA archives, plus local newspapers in Bangor and Ellsworth, would be necessary to assemble a tournaments dossier for the 1920s–1960s. In the absence of that work, Lucerne’s significance rests chiefly on its intact Ross authorship and continuity as a community course.
Maine Golf
D. Current Condition / Integrity
Course length, par, and hole count remain exactly as published historically: nine holes, par 36, circa 3,200–3,300 yards depending on source. The club’s live scorecard lists 3,210 yards from the back tees; multiple third-party directories show similar totals, suggesting only minor tee adjustments over time rather than wholesale reroutings. The present sequence (5–4–5–3–4–4–4–3–4) is consistent with a traditional balance and gives no indication of added or removed holes.
lucernegolf.com
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Course Finder
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As to physical integrity, public sources document maintenance and safety improvements rather than architect-led redesign. The tunnel beneath Route 1A is the notable intervention. Recent reporting around the 2023 sale framed the new owner’s intent as “honor and improve upon the tradition,” which—paired with anecdotal comments about the greens—implies preservation rather than transformation. No published record identifies a modern architect of restoration or renovation, and none of the major Ross-specialist firms publicly claim project credit here. Until club minutes, plan sets, or older aerials are reviewed, the most defensible statement is that routing and scorecard composition appear original, with condition upgrades under successive owners.
Bangor Daily News
Facilities remain modest: the website emphasizes the course, views, and public access rather than a practice complex. Some aggregators list a driving range, but in the absence of a club description of practice grounds, that claim should be treated cautiously. Researchers should verify on site or with the club before relying on third-party amenity lists.
lucernegolf.com
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E. Citations and Uncertainty
Uncertainties and gaps.
• Primary documentation. No digitized Ross drawings, construction notes, or correspondence for Lucerne were found in public web sources. The Tufts Archives in Pinehurst, which houses Ross materials, should be searched for plan sheets dated 1925–1926 and any Lucerne correspondence or construction specifications. The club’s files and the Hancock County Registry of Deeds may also hold subdivision and construction plans related to the resort project.
Donald Ross Society
• Municipal attribution. Modern address data places the club in Dedham; some directories (and popular platforms) use Holden. This reflects the location of the Lucerne-in-Maine community near a town line rather than conflicting sites, but local land records would be required to settle jurisdiction for 1920s permits and deeds.
lucernegolf.com
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• Greens originality. Player reviews claim the “original” Ross greens survive, but without photographs, plan overlays, or maintenance records, that cannot be confirmed here. Verification would require matching present contours to early aerials or plan grading notes.
GolfPass
• Renovation authorship. No credible, citable evidence of a named architect conducting a restoration has been located in print or online trade sources. If such work occurred, it would likely be documented in club minutes, local newspapers, or an architect’s portfolio page. (Anecdotal forum discussions do not identify a Lucerne commission.)
Golf Course Architecture
4) Sources & Notes
Lucerne Golf Club (official site) — homepage, course page, and scorecard (accessed Sept. 2025). Includes address, public access language, and the current 9-hole scorecard (3,210 yards, par 36).
lucernegolf.com
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lucernegolf.com
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Bangor Daily News, “New owner bought Lucerne Golf Course to save it,” Apr. 16, 2023. Confirms 1926 build, Donald Ross attribution, 3,210 yards, and installation of the Route 1A tunnel; quotes ownership on preservation intent.
Bangor Daily News
Golf.com Coursefinder entry for Lucerne Golf Course. Lists nine holes, public access, and 1926 Ross attribution.
Course Finder
GolfPass course page and user reviews for Lucerne-in-Maine. Notes par 36, length ≈3,270 yards, and a reviewer’s claim that the greens are “original,” which is treated here as anecdotal.
GolfPass
Maine tourism portal (VisitMaine.com), golf overview mentioning Lucerne as “named one of the best nine-holers in America by Golf Digest.” Used here to corroborate the club’s repeated claim of recognition; exact list placement should be confirmed directly with Golf Digest.
Visit Maine
Golf Digest directory page for Lucerne Golf Club. Provides national-media recognition and a directory presence for the course.
Golf Digest
Lucerne Inn (Wikipedia), NRHP summary. Documents the 1925–1926 resort scheme that included creating the golf club as part of the Lucerne-in-Maine development.
Wikipedia
Maine Golf (state association) club listing for Lucerne G.C. Confirms address and public contact details (note: ownership names appear dated).
Maine Golf
GolfClubAtlas forum (“Reunderstanding Ross”) thread that reproduces clippings and plan references for a 1925/1926 Ross plan at Lucerne (secondary source; original images not independently verified here). Useful as a lead, not as conclusive documentation.
Golf Club Atlas
1golf.eu directory listing. Corroborates nine holes, 1926 opening, Ross attribution, and (controversially) a “driving range”—treated cautiously without confirmation from the club.