Some highlights from today:
- We played 18 holes in 3 hours. A cart was mandatory, but still, it was excellent pace.
- I'm a big fan of the par threes at Belleview Biltmore. In particular, 15 has an awesome volcano green site.
- There was no sign of angry German tourists, fortunately.
- Kevin was disappointed there wasn't more elevation change on the property, but he generally enjoyed the course.
- We toured Belleair Country Club afterwards, which does have some elevation change. Due to my clean-cut All-American appearance, we were not kicked out for trespassing.
- We found an awesome BBQ joint in Largo. I think it's just called Smokin' BBQ Rib Shack. The chopped pork there is off the chain.
I played there in November, I agree the par threes are very good. I really like 17 and 18 is bear of finishing hole. I used to play it fairly often since it was the closet course to Sand Key where my parents spent a few months each year. I've also played the East course at Belleair CC. It's very short but fun. The greens we pretty fast for a Florida course The only elevation change I remember was a par 4 on the back nine that drops straight down hill to the intercoastal and then the par 3 next hope going back up hill. The West course may have more.
I played Belleair CC West a few years back, so I was hoping some of the (surprising, to me) elevation change from Belleair would be there for Belleview. Unfortunately, there wasn't much of any note.
That doesn't necessarily make a course weak, but a lack of natural topographical features is going to lead to a certain amount of homogeneity, especially off the tee. So while the bunkers may have been strategically placed, the tee shot visuals and execution requirements tended to blend together in my mind, especially with the number of holes that were largely straight-away off the tee. The back provided a little more variety and angles to play with, but the front was a string of 25-30 yard wide fairways, which made the teeing demands fairly one-dimensional. I much prefer courses with diagonal landing zones and contours that require you to consider the roll-out of your tee shot.
I would agree that the green complexes were very good, which did provide interest, but I've always weighed the variety and excitement in the tee-to-green game more than green features alone. So while Belleview was a course I could appreciate in my head, it wasn't the type that would capture my heart.
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As for Belleair, when I played the West, I also drove around several parts of the East. The West property is blessed with a little more topography, especially the holes near the water (#1-6) and the several running alongside Indian Rocks Road and the corner by Belleview Boulevard (#12-15).
The East gets the benefit of this section of land before and after crossing Belleview Boulevard (on hole #3 and hole #18), but the bulk of the course across Belleview Blvd (#4-13, #17) is fairly flat. The exception is the little 3 hole stretch you mentioned (#14-16), which I really enjoyed. The approach on 14 toward the water is beautiful, the little uphill par 3 is very neat, and the drivable 16th is a great short 4.
What I found more interesting about the East vs West was the contouring of the greens. The older West course's greens had much more severe and angular banks, while the East featured more rounded contours that blended into the putting surfaces and created collection / chipping areas. I'm not sure if Ross inherited some of the original West course work or if he simply employed a different style in the later design. The East course greens were much more similar in feel to what we saw down the street at Belleview.