NY
Founded in 1891, Maidstone Club is a private, family-oriented country club located in the picturesque village of East Hampton, New York. The 9-hole and 18-hole courses, originally designed by Willie Park Jr., are consistently rated among the "Top 100 Courses" in the country. It was founded as a 7-hole course in 1894 and expanded to 18 holes in 1899. In 1924 Willie Park, Jr. and his brother Jack designed the 80-acre Gardiner Peninsula addition, and the expansion resulted in the club having two 18-hole courses, but this was reduced to the current 27-hole layout by the hurricane of 1938.
Maidstone is surrounded by two golf courses along the shore of the Atlantic Ocean. Its opening and closing holes are partly routed on the inland side of a large tidal pond, with the central twelve squeezed onto a tight 80-acre peninsula wedged between the water and the spotless beachside dunes, which to many is as close to genuine linksland as exists in America. The routing on the 80 acres on Gardiner's Peninsula and the remaining 50 acres introduces multiple hazards at various angles, including a marsh, Hook Pond, sand dunes, beach grass, reeds, well-placed bunkers, out of bounds and the ever-present wind. Ben Crenshaw performed extensive renovations in 2012.
Legend has it that Bobby Jones felt that Maidstone's final three holes made it one of the great match-play courses in America. In 2014, Maidstone was ranked #37 in Golf Magazine's "Top 100 Courses in the U.S." list, and #67 in their "Top 100 Courses in the World" list. The 9th hole at 402 yards is one of the finest two-shot holes in all of golf, found along the Atlantic coast with the ocean and beach on the right and sand dunes framing the tight fairway.
