Resort play at Poland Spring began in 1896 when the Ricker family commissioned Arthur H. Fenn to lay out a nine-hole course for hotel guests—one of the earliest resort golf offerings in the country. Fenn, widely cited as one of America’s first native-born golf professionals, remained as the resort’s pro into the 1920s.
By 1913, the resort sought a larger, modernized course and engaged Donald Ross “to design an expanded eighteen-hole golf course,” according to the on-site Preservation Society timeline; the resort’s history page mirrors that commissioning. The Ross 18 opened in 1915. These club-adjacent sources form the core documentation for Ross’s authorship here, though they do not publish plan sheets.
A few years later, the resort made further changes under Walter J. Travis, working with pro A. H. Fenn. The Walter Travis Society has located a July 14, 1917 notice in the resort’s newspaper, The Hilltop, describing golf course changes “under the direction of Professional A. H. Fenn and Walter J. Travis,” including rebuilt or new greens on 10 holes, 10 new bunkers, and new tees on 12 holes. This contemporaneous report is the clearest statement of the course’s immediate post-Ross alteration and is essential for any integrity analysis.
Through the interwar period, the resort leveraged the course for events and exhibitions. Maine Golf records show that Poland Spring hosted the Maine Open repeatedly in the early 1920s (winners in 1920, 1921, 1923, 1924, 1925), and the Maine Amateur in 1968. The Preservation Society also notes that a teenage Bobby Jones visited in 1918 to play Red Cross exhibitions, part of a national wartime tour.
Unique Design Characteristics
Even with later alterations, the present course still reads as a Ross resort routing adapted on a hilltop site and then tuned by Travis and Fenn. The par-3 set—short, mid, and long—anchors the round’s cadence and is plainly visible on the current card: No. 6 (148 yards), No. 8 (191), and the long No. 13 (228). Those distances require distinct trajectories and landing speeds, a hallmark of Poland Spring’s defense at today’s modest overall yardage.
The front nine mixes medium two-shotters with positional tee shots into canted fairways—e.g., No. 4 (422 yards) and No. 7 (385)—that set up approach angles rather than brute carries. The homeward nine stretches slightly with No. 15 (442 yards) and No. 16 (par 5, 531 yards), before finishing on a manageable No. 18 (357 yards) where approach placement matters as much as length. While the resort’s public pages do not describe individual contours, the continuing par-71 / 6,178-yard scale and the exposed hilltop setting mean wind and green-front control govern scoring much as they did historically.
Historic interpretive materials also point to landmarks within corridors—notably stone walls near present Nos. 13–14—that survive from the old farm landscape and hint at how the earliest holes interacted with existing features. These are artifacts of the Fenn era but remain legible within today’s routing.
Which holes best express Ross today? Because Travis rebuilt or added greens on roughly ten holes and added bunkers/tees in 1917, the purest Ross expressions are more likely on holes avoiding those specific interventions. However, the 1917 changes were extensive enough that a definitive list requires plan-to-ground comparison (see §E). Until such analysis is published, the par-3 rhythm and the angle-driven two-shotters on the front read as the clearest survivors of Ross’s strategic pacing, even if particular green pads or bunkers were later adjusted.
Historical Significance
Poland Spring is central to early Maine and New England resort golf. The Fenn nine (1896) was among the earliest resort courses in the United States; by 1915 the resort presented a full Ross 18, placing it early in Ross’s northern New England work. The 1917 Travis/Fenn phase makes Poland Spring one of the more thoroughly two-author early resort courses, illustrating how owners quickly iterated on Ross’s designs to meet changing tastes and competitive demands.
Tournament history is substantial at the state level: repeated Maine Open stagings in the 1920s and a Maine Amateur in 1968 kept the resort in the competitive conversation, while exhibitions featuring figures like Bobby Jones added celebrity luster. In modern travel writing, Poland Spring is regularly cited for its historic status and views from the hill toward the White Mountains, reinforcing its image as a heritage resort round rather than a length-driven championship venue.
Current Condition / Integrity
Survival of Ross features. The Preservation Society’s timeline documents Ross’s commissioning (1913) and opening (1915). The 1917 notice of Travis/Fenn work—ten greens rebuilt or newly constructed, ten bunkers added, twelve tees added—indicates a meaningful modification only two seasons after the Ross 18 opened. In practical terms, today’s greens and bunkering are a composite of Ross and Travis/Fenn work, not a pure Ross time capsule. Without published plan overlays or early aerials, we cannot assign individual holes or greens definitively to one hand or the other.
Later twentieth-century and recent work. Public-facing sources do not identify a named modern restoration architect for Poland Spring; improvements are described in operational terms (equipment, conditioning, practice facilities) rather than architectural campaigns. The resort’s continued operation and inclusion in the Poland Spring Historic District (National Register listing) frame the course within a protected cultural landscape, but that designation does not enumerate golf-specific features.
Sources & Notes
Poland Spring Preservation Society, “Poland Spring Timeline.” Documents Ross hired in 1913 and 18-hole course opened 1915; notes slight alteration “a couple of years later” by Walter Travis.
Walter Travis Society, “Directory of Travis Golf Course Projects” (chronological). Cites July 14, 1917 Hilltop notice: greens rebuilt/new on 10 holes, 10 new bunkers, new tees on 12 holes, under A. H. Fenn and Walter J. Travis.
Poland Spring Resort — “About the Course.” Current par 71 / 6,178 yards; practice facilities; attribution to Fenn (1896) and Ross (1915).
Poland Spring Resort — “Our History.” Early resort chronology; Fenn nine (1896); resort’s engagement of Ross to redesign/expand to 18 holes.
Maine Memory Network (Maine Historical Society), image records and captions on Poland Spring golf (Fenn design; Ross 1915 redesign to 18; Fenn tenure).
Maine Golf (state association) — Course listing. Confirms Fenn 1896 / Ross 1915 and current card basics used in public materials.
Maine Golf — Past Winners pages. Maine Open at Poland Spring (1920–25, multiple years) and Maine Amateur at Poland Spring (1968).
LINKS Magazine, “The Accessible Donald Ross.” Travel-feature context (historic resort, views toward White Mountains; Ross role), used here for scenic/historic framing only.
Poland Spring Preservation Society, “The Links at Poland Spring.” Fenn-era context; surviving stone walls near holes 13–14.