Maidstone Club
On the dunes above the Atlantic in East Hampton, Maidstone is one of the truest links in the United States and one of its most private clubs. Short on the card and immense in character, it holds a run of seaside holes around the 8th, 9th and 14th that belong in any conversation about the most beautiful golf in the country.
Photo: Maidstone Club via Google.
The verdict
Maidstone is the rarest kind of American course: a genuine seaside links, laid through the dunes of the South Fork of Long Island, that has resisted the urge to modernize and remains a study in restraint. Golf began here in 1891, and the championship layout that golfers revere today was shaped in the early 1920s by Willie Park Jr, the two time Open champion who became one of the era's most thoughtful architects. He routed the holes that matter across the Gardiner Peninsula dunes, and Maidstone has guarded that character ever since, a links of firm turf, small greens and big sky on the edge of the ocean.
It is short by modern standards, a par 72 of around 6,400 yards, and that is precisely the point. The defense is the wind off the Atlantic, the blind and half blind shots over the dunes, the exposed and tilting greens, and the demand for a flighted, controlled ball rather than raw length. Architecture enthusiasts adore it, and players who get on never forget the walk from the 8th through the 14th. The single obstacle is access: Maidstone is among the most private clubs in the country, with no public play, so for almost every travelling golfer it is a course to admire and, on a fortunate day, to be invited to.
Maidstone Club at a glance
- Golf since
- 1891
- Designer
- Willie Park Jr
- Type
- Seaside links
- Par
- 72
- Yardage
- Around 6,400 yds
- Access
- Private members
History, designer and layout verified June 2026 from course databases and the club record. Maidstone's championship 18 plays to a par 72 of around 6,400 yards, with a separate nine hole course on the property. It is a private members club with no public tee times and no published green fee; play is for members and accompanied guests only, so always arrange access through a member and confirm directly before travelling.
The holes worth the trip
Maidstone's reputation rests on a glorious stretch in the dunes. The short 8th sets the tone, its green angled away from the tee and half hidden behind a sand dune, so the line and the day's pin can leave you playing to a target you cannot fully see. It is the kind of quirk a modern course would smooth away and a links rightly keeps, and it puts a premium on local knowledge and nerve over brute force.
The 9th is the signature, a par 4 of around 400 yards running along the Atlantic with the beach and ocean down the right and dunes squeezing a tight fairway on the left. It is widely held to be one of the finest two shot holes in American golf, beautiful and exacting in the same breath, the sort of hole that justifies the whole trip. Then comes the 14th, a short par 3 of under 150 yards to a green ringed by bunkers and brush with the sea behind it, the most photographed hole on the property and proof that a tiny hole can be the one you remember longest.
Around those headline holes the course keeps testing you in quieter ways, with the 10th and the 13th green also set in the dunes and the inland holes asking for placement and patience rather than power. The greens are small, firm and subtly tilted, the bunkering is natural and severe, and the wind reorders the round every time it shifts. Play Maidstone and you understand why purists treasure it: it is golf reduced to its essentials, on a piece of coast that needed very little improving.
How to get on
| What to know | Detail |
|---|---|
| Access | Private members club; no public tee times and no published green fee. Play is for members and their accompanied guests only |
| Realistic route on | An invitation from a member is effectively the only way to play; there is no general visitor booking |
| If you are hosted | Caddies and a walking culture are part of the experience; come prepared for firm, fast links conditions and wind off the ocean |
| Dress | Traditional, conservative golf attire is expected, in keeping with one of the most traditional clubs in the country |
| Getting there | In the village of East Hampton on the South Fork of Long Island, about a two to three hour drive east of New York City depending on traffic |
| Best months | Late spring through early autumn for the warmest, firmest links conditions on the Atlantic coast |
Maidstone is private, so we focus on the excellent public and resort golf of the Hamptons and Long Island and treat a Maidstone round as the rare member hosted bonus. Ask us about playable courses nearby.
Where to stay nearby
East Hampton and the wider Hamptons offer some of the most refined places to stay on the east coast, from village inns and boutique hotels to private rentals among the dunes, all within easy reach of the beaches, restaurants and galleries that make the South Fork a destination in its own right.
For golf, base yourself between East Hampton and Montauk and pair the trip with the genuinely playable courses of the area, since Maidstone itself stays closed to visitors. A Hamptons and Long Island golf week can take in the public links at Montauk Downs and combine the coast with the famous sandhills clusters further west around Southampton.
Looking for a base? See our recommended hotels and resorts across the Hamptons.
Build a Hamptons and Long Island golf trip
Maidstone is private, but the South Fork and the Long Island sandhills hold some of the best golf in America. Tell us roughly when and who is travelling and one concierge builds a playable itinerary around the coast, books the tee times in the right order and handles the hotels, with no obligation.
Maidstone Club questions
What is the par and length of Maidstone Club?
The Maidstone Club's championship 18 plays to a par 72 of around 6,400 yards, a deceptively short card for a course that defends itself with wind, firm turf, blind shots and small, exposed greens in the dunes. There is also a separate nine hole course on the property. The yardage understates the test, since the holes routed along the Atlantic play very differently depending on the day's wind.
Who designed Maidstone Club?
Maidstone traces its golf to 1891, when an early seaside layout was laid out, and its modern championship course was shaped by Willie Park Jr, who routed the celebrated dune holes across the Gardiner Peninsula in the early 1920s. Park, a two time Open champion turned architect, gave Maidstone its enduring character, and the course has been carefully preserved as a links rather than modernized. It sits among the great seaside courses of the eastern United States.
Can visitors play Maidstone Club?
Maidstone is a private members club and one of the most exclusive in the United States, with no public tee times and no published green fee. Play is for members and their accompanied guests only, so the realistic route onto the course is an invitation from a member. For travelling golfers in the Hamptons, we build trips around the excellent public and resort golf nearby and treat Maidstone as the rare member hosted round.
Is Maidstone Club worth playing?
If you are fortunate enough to be invited, absolutely. Maidstone is one of the finest seaside courses in the United States, a true links in the dunes above the Atlantic with a run of holes around the 8th, 9th and 14th that rank among the most beautiful in the country. It is short on the card and immense in character, a course admired by architecture enthusiasts for its restraint and its setting. Access is the only obstacle, and it is a significant one.
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Researched and written by the GolfForKings editorial desk. History, designer, par and yardage verified June 2026; access notes verified June 2026. Last reviewed June 2026.