A New Identity
for Belmont
THE HISTORIC RICHMOND COURSE WILL RE-OPEN IN 2021
WITH A COMPLETELY DIFFERENT LOOK by JIM DUCIBELLA
B
elmont Golf Course in Rich-
mond will reopen in Spring 2021,
though in a form few golfers
would have imagined.
On Dec. 10, 2019, the Henrico County
Board of Supervisors approved awarding
a 20-year management contract to the
non-profit First Tee of Richmond, which
pledged to contribute $3.25 million to
what is an estimated $4 million expansion
and renovation. The work will be done by
Love Golf Design, run by former PGA Tour
pro Davis Love III. Henrico County will
continue to own the golf course and has
pledged $750,000.
The course holds a unique place in Vir-
ginia golf history. It was designed in 1916
18
by legendary architect A.W. Tillinghast,
who also was responsible for Winged
Foot, Bethpage Black and Baltusrol. Elev-
en years later, it was updated by equally
renowned architect Donald Ross. Opened
as the original Hermitage Country Club, it
hosted the 1949 PGA Championship, mak-
ing it the only course in Virginia ever to
have one of America’s three major cham-
pionships contested on its grounds.
The plan is to convert the 18-hole course
into a six-hole “short course” that First
Tee of Richmond CEO Brent Schneider
said will honor some of Tillinghast’s iconic
par-3s, and a 12-hole Tillinghast-inspired
championship course with improved bun-
kers, turf and greens. A driving range,
V I R G I N I A G O L F E R | M A R C H / A P R I L 2 0 2 0
short-game practice area and putting
course will be created. The pro shop and
clubhouse will both be improved.
“The one thing that we’ve seen in doing
the research and being on property with
(Love Design) is that over the years Bel-
mont has changed a lot, and not neces-
sarily for the better and not necessarily
relative to Tillinghast,” Schneider said,
citing several examples. “It really is not
the Belmont that was originally laid out by
Tillinghast. While not 18 holes, our hope
is to take the other 12 and restore it to the
original—as close as we can—understand-
ing that it’s 2020.”
The First Tee assumed control of the
property on Jan.1, at which time the course
vsga.org