The Ampersand Hotel Golf Course was established on Lower Saranac Lake across from the Ampersand Hotel in 1897. After the hotel burned in 1907, the golf course became private and continued operating until the end of World War II. A golf club house was built, designed by the architect W. L. Coulter; it was later converted to a house by Maitland DeSormo, Adirondack author and a former caddy. (See Adirondack Golf Courses . . . Past and Present by J. Peter Martin.)
New York Times, June 27, 1897 (A pdf of the full article is here)
ON MOUNTAINS AND LAKES
The Numerous Adirondack Resorts Now Ready to Receive the Summer Visitor.
[...]
Very little that is new is offered in the vicinity of the village of Saranac Lake this season. This old village is on the Saranac branch of the Adirondack and St. Lawrence Railroad. Persons going there from New York leave the Grand Central Station on the regular Adirondack trains, and change cars at Lake Clear. Saranac Lake village is the largest settlement in the Adirondack region. It has a population of about 1,200.
The fashionable Ampersand Hotel stands on an advantageous site on lower Saranac Lake and is about two miles from the village. This is one of the most, sumptuous hotels in the woods, and is conducted by Charles Eaton of New York. Since last season the Ampersand Company has obtained control of the Miller property, on the opposite side of the lake, where the old Saranac Lake House was located before it fell a victim to fire. Some of the old buildings were not destroyed, and they will be used hereafter as an annex to the Ampersand. Some excellent golf links have been established in connection with the Ampersand.
