Brunswick Golf Club

Overview: Brunswick Golf Club is a parkland course with a history that can be read directly in its 18-hole routing. The back nine retains the influence of Wayne Stiles and his apprentice John Van Kleek, while the front nine was added later with Geoffrey Cornish and club professional Mal Strange. The course uses rolling ground, trees, water and views toward the broader Casco Bay landscape to create a varied Maine round. Its sequence of back-to-back par fives, followed by back-to-back par threes, gives the layout a distinctive rhythm, while the longer par fours ask for accurate positioning rather than one-dimensional power.

History: Brunswick Golf Club began in 1898 as the Bowdoin Golf Club, founded by Bowdoin College students and local golfers. The original nine was redesigned by Stiles and Van Kleek in 1921. In the 1960s, Mal Strange worked with Geoffrey Cornish to create an additional nine, and the new front nine was completed in 1969. That is the opening milestone used for the present 18-hole course, while 1898 remains the club’s origin date. The club has since hosted Bowdoin events, Maine State Golf Association championships and other state competitions.

Did You Know? The approach to the ninth is played over water, and it follows a distinctive run of two par fives after which the course turns to two consecutive par threes. That sequence is one of the clearest signatures of Brunswick’s expanded 18-hole routing.