Aroostook Valley Country Club

File:Aroostook Valley Country club entrance showing US and Canadian flags.jpg

File:Aroostook Valley Country Club illegal border crossing - panoramio.jpg does not allow Canadian golfers to travel to the course via Brown Road.]]

Image:Aroostook_Valley_Country_Club entrance.jpg

File:Aroostook Valley Country Club with flags.png

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 Southern Victoria, 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. Its parking lot and pro shop are on the American side.{{Cite web |url=http://www.clui.org/section/united-divide-a-linear-portrait-usacanada-border-0 |title=Chapter 1: Eastern Maine |website=United Divide: A Linear Portrait of the USA/Canada Border |publisher=The Center for Land Use Interpretation |publication-date=Winter 2015 |access-date=2017-11-14 |archive-date=2018-12-10 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181210120228/http://www.clui.org/section/united-divide-a-linear-portrait-usacanada-border-0 |url-status=dead }} 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.{{cite book|last=Pennington|first=Bill|title=On Par: The Everyday Golfer's Survival Guide|url=https://archive.org/details/onpareverydaygol0000penn|url-access=registration|year=2012|publisher=Houghton Mifflin Harcourt|isbn=9780547548159|pages=352}} The club was founded in 1929; its position on the border allowed American golfers to bypass Prohibition without passing through customs.{{cite news|title=19th Hole of New U.S. Golf Club in Canada|newspaper=Chicago Tribune|date=August 4, 1929}}{{Cite web |last=Spinski |first=Tristan |title=The Golfer's Journal- Proof in the Spirits |url=https://www.golfersjournal.com/editorial/proof-in-the-spirits/ |access-date=2024-04-19 |website=The Golfer’s Journal |language=en-US}} Club membership was previously roughly half Canadian and half American. With tougher access requirements since the height of the pandemic, American membership has fallen by close to 70%.[http://www.avcc.ca/history.htm AVCC website, history section.] [https://thecounty.me/2024/05/08/business-news/american-golfers-reluctant-to-cross-border-to-play-aroostook-valley-country-club/ American Golfers Reluctant to Cross Border to Play AVCC, Business News, 8 May 2024]

Pre–COVID-19 pandemic access

File:Russell Road border sign.jpg

Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, the only entry to the course was on the American side of the border; American golfers could use the entire club without reporting to a Port of Entry.{{r|clui}} Canadian golfers used a small local road, Brown Road, to cross the border and access the country club. Canada had a seasonal border checkpoint on the road but until 2008, entry to the U.S. had been unsecured since the 1950s.{{cite news|title=Golfers' drive out of bounds, say U.S. officials |url=https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/new-brunswick/golfers-drive-out-of-bounds-say-u-s-officials-1.734067 |access-date=February 5, 2013 |newspaper=CBC News |date=June 27, 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141129091136/http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/new-brunswick/story/2008/06/27/nb-golf-course.html |archive-date=November 29, 2014 |url-status=live }} 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.{{cite news|last=George |first=Jason |title=U.S. swings at terrorists, hits golfers |url=https://www.chicagotribune.com/2008/08/17/us-swings-at-terrorists-hits-golfers/ |access-date=February 5, 2013 |newspaper=Chicago Tribune |date=August 17, 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141103035238/http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2008-08-17/news/0808160480_1_border-patrol-northern-border-customs-and-border-protection |archive-date=November 3, 2014 |url-status=live }} The closure required Canadian golfers to make a {{convert|33|km|adj=on}} 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. Up to 2019, the Four Falls Border Crossing was a seasonally open border checkpoint along Brown Road on the Canadian side.{{cite web|url=http://www.avcc.ca/notice.htm|title=2011 Golf Season at AVCC|publisher=}}{{r|clui}}

Access during COVID-19 Pandemic

During the COVID-19 pandemic of 2020–21, the USA-Canada border was effectively closed. Canadian traffic to the golf club was diverted away from the US by crossing from Brown Road southbound onto private land{{cite web |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210707230101/http://www.avcc.ca/access5.jpg |url=http://www.avcc.ca/access5.jpg |title=Canadian Entry/Exit Directions to AVCC |quote=AVCC has received tremendous cooperation from Mike Dubé (property owner)...|archive-date=July 7, 2021}} to reach the parking lot, then operating golf carts beside Russell Road (but not on it, as the road is in the US) to reach the course. Americans could not access the golf club.

Access post–COVID-19 Pandemic

Since the COVID-19 pandemic, US and Canadian authorities have strictly enforced access to the club. People coming from Canada continue to use the route opened during the pandemic. Golfers from the USA wanting to use the club are required to officially enter at a border crossing (the closest is at Carlingford, opposite the US Customs Fort Fairfield Post) and then access the course the same way as for people coming from Canada. They must also do the reverse to return to the USA.[http://www.avcc.ca/entrywarrivecan.jpg AVCC Guidance on access from the USA]