Aroostook Valley Country club entrance showing US and Canadian flags and border marker

As shown in 1998, this sign directed Canadian golfers to proceed up the hill and return directly to Canada. Currently, the US Border Patrol does not allow Canadian golfers to travel to the course via Brown Road.

Entrance to the Aroostook Valley Country Club

Aroostook Valley Country Club showing US and Canadian flags

The Aroostook Valley Country Club is a golf course which straddles the Canada–US border, between the U.S. state of Maine and the Canadian province of New Brunswick. The club, located near Perth-Andover, New Brunswick and Fort Fairfield, Maine, has its course (except part of the tee area for the ninth hole, and possibly part of a sand trap on the first hole) and clubhouse on the Canadian side of the border and its parking lot and pro shop on the American side.[1] Although the course is located entirely on one side of the border, three holes are close enough to the border that crooked shots enter the United States.[2] The club was founded in 1929; its position on the border allowed American golfers to bypass Prohibition without passing through customs.[3] Current club membership is roughly half Canadian and half American.[4]

Border sign on Russell Road at entrance from Brown Road

Since the only entry to the course is on the American side of the border, American golfers can use the entire club without reporting to a Port of Entry.[1] Canadian golfers historically used a small local road, Brown Road, to cross the border and access the country club; while Canada had a seasonal border checkpoint on the road, entry to the U.S. had been unsecured since the 1950s.[4] In 2008, however, the U.S. border officials closed the unpatrolled border crossing on Brown Road, citing increased concerns over terrorism and a drug sale on the course in 2006.[5] The closure required Canadian golfers to make a 33 kilometres (21 mi) detour through Fort Fairfield to access the course and was criticized by the Fort Fairfield town manager and the country club's golf pro. U.S. Senator Susan Collins and Canadian MP Mike Allen proposed that U.S. border officials establish a new seasonal border checkpoint on Brown Road.[4] As of 2012–13, there is a seasonally open border checkpoint along the Brown Road on the Canadian side.[6][1]

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