Belgrade Lakes Golf Club

Clive Clark designed Belgrade Lakes Golf Club in 2003 on a piece of central Maine lake-country land in the Kennebec County town of Belgrade Lakes, midway between Augusta and Waterville. The course sits on rolling ridges above Long Pond and Salmon Lake, and Clark — an English architect who had previously worked on courses in the United Kingdom — routed Belgrade Lakes with a particular interest in elevation change: the property has eighty feet of vertical drop from the highest tee to the lowest fairway, and the routing crosses that elevation multiple times through the round.

The scorecard reads 6,614 yards from the back markers, par 71, with a slope of 137 and a course rating of 72.5. The five par-3s — Clark built five one-shotters into the routing rather than four — sit between 166 and 223 yards. The 223-yard fourteenth is the longest one-shotter and plays directly across one of the property's natural rock outcrops. The four par-5s range from 470 to 564 yards. The 564-yard tenth is the longest hole on the card and plays uphill on the second shot.

The number-one handicap is the 564-yard tenth — the long par-5 with the uphill layup. The 427-yard second-hardest is the par-4 fourteenth; the 547-yard third-hardest is the par-5 fifteenth. Two of the top-three are par-5s, which is unusual and reflects the Maine elevation working against the second-shot game on those holes.

The Maine climate compresses the playing window into May through October, with the firmest fairway conditions arriving in late September. The lake-country location moderates the property's temperature compared to coastal Maine — typically two to three degrees warmer in spring and cooler in summer. The course is public-access daily-fee. Walking is allowed; carts are standard for resort guest tee times.