MyTurn
by JIM DUCIBELLA
The intricate bunkering of
Belmont’s A.W. Tillinghast
design is evident on the course’s
par-3 closing hole.
T
he only thing worse than ignor-
ing one’s history is throwing it
away. That’s especially true in
golf, a sport so intimately and
inextricably connected to the past.
So let’s hear it for the Henrico Coun-
ty Board of Supervisors, the county ’s
Parks and Recreation department and a
gutsy band of citizens whose dogged work
combined to save Richmond’s historic
Belmont Golf Course from literally being
plowed under.
Brought into the world as the original
Hermitage Country Club, it played host
to the 1949 PGA Championship. That
makes it the only golf course in Common-
wealth history to serve as the venue for
one of America’s three “major” champi-
onships. It’s icing on the cake that native
son and World Golf Hall of Famer Sam
Snead claimed the title that year.
Many call any course designed by A.W.
Tillinghast or Donald Ross “hallowed
ground.” Belmont was created by both:
Tillinghast in 1916, and Ross upgrad-
ed his work 11 years later. Pardon the
hyperbole, but that’s like looking at a
painting started by DaVinci, with final
brush strokes by Michaelangelo.
But in 1977, Hermitage CC sold the
course to Henrico County and a slow
decline ensued. In the past 10 years alone,
and for a variet y of reasons—among
them neglect—there’s been a 40-per-
40
cent decline in rounds played. Since the
county’s special golf fund ran out in 2014,
Belmont has operated at a deficit, flying
in the face of a 30-year-old policy that
the course’s operating expenses were to
be covered by user fees.
Finally, the inevitable: County officials
announced they were seriously considering
closing the course and using its 125 acres to
expand other recreational offerings.
In January, Ron Stillwell formed Pre-
serve Belmont, and started going door to
door throughout the Lakeside neighbor-
hood, drumming up support to keep the
course. Pete Grainger quickly joined, as
did as many as 160 other advocates.
“In my opinion, when this started the
county had written off Belmont,” Grainger
said. “They thought it was a foregone conclu-
sion that it was going to close and be a park.”
But Preser ve Belmont was dogged,
raising funds, creating signs, and pub-
lishing leaf lets and bumper stickers
pleading its case. The county held three
open meetings to gauge public opinion.
Grainger said about 150 pro-Belmont
supporters came to each. At one point,
a county official said that he’d recently
come from a billion-dollar budget meet-
ing at which only 10 people attended.
“I think they were taken aback by the
amount of community input,” Grainger said.
At a special Board of Supervisors meet-
ing in late July, Recreation and Parks
V I R G I N I A G O L F E R | S E P T E M B E R / O C T O B E R 2 0 19
Director Neil Luther made a startling
announcement: His department had
approved a plan to lease Belmont to a
private management company for $1 a
year for the next 30 years. Not only that,
but the county would put up $750,000 for
a bunker renovation and restoration of a
course that, remarkably, still sports 15
original holes and green sites.
“We heard very clearly that there’s a
desire to keep golf viable at Belmont,”
Luther said.
Something akin to an RFP went out in
August. Whoever wins the contract will
be required to make an annual contribu-
tion to a dedicated capital reserve fund,
be totally responsible for all course oper-
ations and maintenance, and introduce
youth golf programs in the county—at no
cost to participants. They’ll be expected
to work hand-in-glove with a Golf Advi-
sory Commission.
There isn’t a single provision Henrico
is requiring that isn’t smart for the coun-
ty, albeit a major challenge for the pro-
spective management company.
Belmont has no practice range, and no
readily apparent area in which to build
one. There are overgrown trees every-
where, impeding the flow of air and hin-
dering the growth of grass for fairways
and rough. The club has no liquor license,
and nothing makes golf more enjoyable
on a hot day than a cold beer.
The pro shop is limited and off-putting.
Most importantly, with somewhat limited
funds, a wizard of a pro/course manager
must be hired to oversee the operation.
But it can be done, and with proper
promotion, Belmont can easily become
the type of destination traveling golfers
target on their way to Virginia Beach,
the Outer Banks and beyond. There just
aren’t that many Tillinghast-Ross cours-
es available for public play.
W hen they do, they ’ll experience a
singular, significant slice of Virginia golf
lore, something the citizens and leaders
of Henrico County wisely decided should
be treasured and preserved.
vsga.org
A Victory for Belmont—
and Henrico Golfers