The Cape Arundel Golf Club on the northeast bank of the Kennebunk River in Kennebunkport is among the oldest surviving golf clubs in Maine. The golf course was first established in 1896 as the Kennebunkport Golf Club and reorganized four years later as the Arundel Golf Club. The club house was designed by Prosper L. Senat in 1900, and the first nine holes were laid out by Alexander H. Findley, a professional golfer from Scarsdale, New York. The course was thoroughly redesigned, and expanded to eighteen holes, by the noted golf architect Walter J. Travis between 1920 and 1922; shortly thereafter the size of the club house
was increased. The Cape Arundel Golf Club is significant as an example of a designed golf course by a well respected landscape architect who specialized in golf course design. The design reflects attempts to modernize the game as its popularity grew and its participants became increasingly skilled. The formation and evolution of the Club was fueled by the well-heeled residents of the nearby summer colony that had developed at the end of the 19th century, and it became an important recreational outlet for the summer residents of that colony. The Cape Arundel Golf Club was listed in the Register for its association with the development of forms of entertainment and recreation in the Cape Arundel summer colony and for its significance within the field of landscape architecture. As the only example of Travis?s work in Maine, the listed level of significance is statewide.