Golf Guide: Maine Beaches - ME

Maine's slender fingers of land reach out into the Atlantic along a crenulated coast punctuated by soft sandy beaches and craggy rock outcroppings. As the crow flies, the distance between say Camden and Deer Isle, may be but a few miles yet unless you walk on water, you have to drive back to where the peninsula starts and make a U-turn down the next peninsula. In other words, getting from one place to another along the coast can take a while.

Maine's beaches along with its spectacular rugged landscape make its coastal areas a popular summer destination. You have Popham Beach, a lovely long beach in Bath; Old Orchard Beach, a seven-mile stretch of sand close to the Dunegrass Country Club course by Dan Maples winding through wooded back dunes; Ogunquit Beach, a 3-1/2 mile wide stretch of sand rated in the top 25 in the country; and Acadia National Park's beach. If playing golf, exploring beaches and indulging in fresh lobster and seafood in knockout scenic locations appeals, Maine's coast doesn't get any better.

The waters off the Maine coast can be bracing. Canadians come down, stick their toes in and say, "Nice and warm, eh?" New Yorkers come to Maine, wade into the water and look down at their toes turning blue and shiver. Refreshing? Freezing? It's all about perspective.

The Maine Golf Trail extends from the New Hampshire border north to the Kebo Valley course in Bar Harbor dating from 1888. The majority of courses are clustered along the southern coast like The Ledges Golf Club in York, Poland Spring Country Club north of Portland, the oldest resort track in the country; and Cape Arundel Golf Club in Kennebunkport, a lovely semi-private course designed by Walter Travis on the shores of the Kennebunkport River.

There is Sebasco Harbor Golf Course in Bath offering golf, coast and spa, Boothbay Country Club in Boothbay, and Samoset Resort Golf Course just south of Camden. Donald Ross fans should tee up at Penobscot Valley Country Club in Orono then return to Kennebunkport's White Barn Inn for an incredible dinner.

In York spend some time on Short Sands Beach near Nibble Lighthouse, one of the most photographed lighthouses in the country or unwind after golf on Gooch's Beach or Goose Rocks Beach in Kennebunkport, a great choice for walkers.