FALMOUTH — The Woodlands Club was a baby when it hosted the Ben Hogan (now Web.com) Tour from 1990 to 1993, but it had grown-up teeth.

Four times, the layout designed by George and Jim Fazio hosted the New England Classic. Brandel Chamblee was the inaugural winner. Future PGA stars John Daly, Chris DiMarco, Olin Browne and Jeff Maggert all tried to tame the beast.

Most failed. On a list of the 18 toughest holes on the developmental tour, compiled in the early 1990s, eight of them could be found on the scorecard at The Woodlands.

It suggests a challenge that could tax the field like none in recent memory when the 95th Maine Amateur opens Tuesday.

The Maine State Golf Association’s enduring showcase traditionally bounces around the state. Twelve other courses have hosted the amateur since Ron Brown Jr. defeated 13-time winner Mark Plummer and Eric Crouse at The Woodlands in 1999.

This summer’s field of 132 represents the changing face of amateur golf in the state while paying homage to the past, as well.

Brown, Crouse and defending champion Ricky Jones are the only past winners in the field. Jones, 42, won his third title in 2013 with a two-shot win over college player Tommy Stirling at Augusta Country Club in Manchester.

Recent winners Ryan Gay (2008, 2010, 2011), Jesse Speirs (2009), Eric Higgins (2007), Shawn Warren (2006) and Corey Poulin (2005) all have turned professional. Seth Sweet, the 2012 winner, now plays at Old Dominion University in Norfolk, Va., and is not entered.

The field ranges in age from Carter Pearl, 15, to Lowell Watson, 68.

What awaits them all is a 6,848-yard test with four par-5s and an array of narrow fairways, tiered greens, water hazards and bunkers in abundance.

In addition to the four Web.com events and Brown’s 1999 amateur win, The Woodlands also has hosted the New England Open, New England Amateur, New England PGA Sectional Championship and Maine Open in its brief history.

The Woodlands opened in 1988.

From the 391-yard, par-4 No. 1 hole with a lake down the left side leading to a sloping green, it’s clear that The Woodlands will mean business.

Water lurks on both sides of the green at the 568-yard, par-5 third hole. At the next par-5, the 560-yard No. 6, the back of the multi-tiered green slopes away from the player, leaving anybody who lands his approach shot there in no-man’s land.

Survive that, and you’re left with a 213-yard, par-3 seventh that demands accuracy, with water to the left and a front right bunker creating the optical illusion of making the hole appear shorter than it actually is.

Of the two par-5 holes on the back nine, the 507-yard 11th will tempt some players to shoot for eagle. That would require carrying the second shot over water, however.

The 10th and 12th greens slope toward the fairway in the front, harboring a difficult up-and-down if players don’t drop their second shot in the center.

Jones will christen the tournament at 7 a.m., teeing off with Minot’s Will Kannegieser and Jim Van Fleet.

Other notables with an early tee time include Andrew Slattery of Minot and Jason Gall, each a top-10 finisher in 2013, at 7:10, and reigning state match play champion Matt Greenleaf at 7:20.

Stirling, 21, who recently completed his senior season at Southwest Oklahoma State and plays out of Sable Oaks in South Portland, hits the course at 10:40. Sam Grindle, 19, of Deer Isle, who finished fourth a year ago, goes out at 10:50.

Kannegieser and Slattery are among eight players representing Auburn’s Martindale Country Club, trailing only Sable Oaks (10) and Falmouth Country Club (nine) in the field. Fifty clubs are represented in all.

The event is a stroke play format, with the field cut to the low 40 scores and ties for Thursday’s final round.