I've been a long time GCA reader, and for my first post I wanted to do a photo tour of the course that I grew up playing. Belmont Country Club, originally known as Belmont Springs CC, was designed by Donald Ross in 1919. Belmont is probably most famous for its use as the golf course in the original Thomas Crown Affair. Steve McQueen is shown playing the 18th hole.
In 1967, the government used eminent domain to seize the land on which the 8th through 12th holes were built to increase the size of nearby Route 2. The five new holes were rebuilt by Alfred Tull in a lower area on the southern part of the course known as The Valley by the members.
By the early 2000's, many of the original Ross greens had been modified and shrunk. The drainage in the valley holes was terrible, and the greens were not in great shape. After a long negotiation, the club shut down for a full year to let Craig Schreiner restore the course to its original Ross glory. Schreiner has done classic restorations of courses and greens at over 10 Ross courses, including Oak Hill and the Country Club of Buffalo.
Schreiner's restored greens, as I hope my pictures will show, are spectacular. The course now has 13 close-to-original (if not completely original) Ross greens. The Greenwich Velvet bent grass is, well, velvety and I would put them in the conversation for the best greens in New England in terms of quality of surface.
(note: if someone explains how to do it, I will be happy to add an aerial view with routing information. Apologies on some of the shadows on the pictures)
Hole 1 (447/422) Unlike other Ross courses featured here, the first hole is not an easy start to the round. The golfer faces the first of five blind tee shots, having to carry an 18-foot rise to reach a fairway that cuts to the right and slopes to the left. A very demanding opening tee shot:
A well-stuck tee shot at the tower in the distance yields a view of a long iron approach to a large green that will accept running shots:
Hole 2 (358/331) Another blind tee shot, this time down the hill with less than a driver. The aiming point is over the right edge of the fairway bunker.
A drive over the hill reveals why driver is not the play:
The left portion of the green, visible over the left bunker, was reclaimed by Schriener's team and yields a lot of fun hole locations to attack with a wedge.
A view of the front of the green:
A hallmark of many Ross courses in the Northeast: over is the worst mistake to make.
Hole 3 (188/156) The first of four demanding one shot holes:
The scope of the elevation change is revealed from forty yards short. Note the severe false front:
A view from the back of the green reveals a large green that will accept a well-struck long iron:
Hole 4 (536/510) One of my favorite holes on the course. This risk-reward Par 5 starts with a semi-blind downhill tee shot where the player wants to favor the right hand side:
If he drives down the left, he is faced with another semi-blind shot over a big rise on the left side of the fairway:
A drive down the right yields a chance to go for the green in two. With out of bounds lurking left and fall offs to the right, this is one of the most thrilling shots on the course:
The front of the green falls away from the golfer, making stopping wedge approach shots difficult:
Hole 5 (211/159) The first of the valley holes, this is a daunting shot from the back tee with water lurking right
Although the pictures flatten the contours, this green slopes in rolls down towards the water on the right:
Hole 6 (432/380) A deceptively difficult tee shot with a 200-yard forced carry over the lake. The tee box aims you at the bunkers on the right, but the best angle comes from the left side of the fairway:
The green, built up about six feet from the level of the fairway, is over 40 yards deep, with a sharp fall-off to the right:
Hole 7 (395/330) A fun, demanding golf hole. The fairway is pinched in by fairway bunkers at 230 out on the right and 270 out on the left:
The golfer is left with a mid-iron approach to this green raised forty feet above the fairway:
A view from behind the green shows the extremely tough back left hole location reclaimed by Schreiner's team:
Hole 8 (399/355) Another thrilling shot from a hugely elevated tee. The view in the fall when the famous New England foliage is in full display is one of my favorites in golf. The summer view isn't bad, either:
A drive down the right hand side yields a view of this handsome, deep green:
I did not do a good job of capturing the great internal contours of this green, but suffice to say that the back "level" has four distinct sections with slopes ranging from subtle to 2-3 feet:
Hole 9 (565/519) A true three shot par 5. The drive must negotiate bunkers on the left and water on the right:
A layup over the corner of the dogleg leaves a wedge to this well-bunkered green that falls off severely to the back:
Hole 10 (363/334) The back nine starts with a challenging short par four. The semi-blind fairway slopes dramatically from right to left:
After playing the hole a few times, the golfer will realize he is meant to hit the ball left off of the tee even though he cannot see that part of the fairway. From the left side, he is afforded a flatter lie and a view up the gullet of the green:
Pictures cannot convey how much this green slopes from right to left. A view from the back does reveal that the golfer can run the ball in from a sideboard on the right:
Hole 11 (410/370) My favorite hole on the course. The tee shot is blind, and the fairway slopes severely from right to left. The correct line is right of the maintenance cart:
From the top of the fairway, one takes in the arresting view of this beautiful green site:
The reason I love this hole is the wonderful tension Ross has built into it. The golfer's ball will surely lie above his feet, forcing his aim towards the right greenside bunker. While this green appears flat from the fairway, it actually slopes significantly off to the left. Thus Ross is pushing the player towards the one spot he must not miss his approach.
Hole 12 (175/146) This is a difficult middle iron one shotter. The green is deep, but because you are playing from 20 feet below it, balls tend to release through. Here, however, the architecture is kind and chips from the back of the green are relatively straight forward.
A view of the 12th green from the 4th tee:
In playing Belmont, the golfer crosses busy Winter Street twice. One of Belmont's quirks is that it has two working traffic lights solely dedicated to golf traffic. Surely few other clubs can say that:
Hole 13 (399/340) Another demanding par four with a fantastic green complex. This one, however, could do with some tree removal in my opinion. Any golfer who misses the fairway left by any margin currently finds himself blocked out:
And being blocked out is a shame because he misses the chance to play a full shot into this green, which is set diagonally away from the golfer. The green is shaped like an hour glass, with fall-offs on either side running towards rough and bunkers:
The left slope on the 13th green:
Again, over is a bad spot:
Hole 14 (410/388) Another downhill drive through a shoot of trees to a narrow fairway. Unfortunately, the shadows mask the beauty of the hole:
The approach. The front bunker appears to touch the front of the green, but there is actually 10 yards of fairway running down towards the front edge. The building in the back is the Belmont Springs water plant.
A view from front left of the green:
And from behind, you can see the classic New England stone wall that runs along the right side of the hole
Hole 15 (228/161) From the back tee, this hole is a bear. A 210-yard forced carry over a deep fronting bunker. Nevertheless, I really like this hole a lot. It is set in a secluded corner of the property, and when the afternoon sun strikes the green, the feeling of tranquility can't be beat:
The scale of the front bunker:
The aforementioned afternoon sunlight reveals a green that slopes off on three sides. I haven't played Pinehurst, but I assume this "tabletop" Ross green is similar.
Hole 16 (410/367) Probably the membership's least favorite hole. A view from near the middle tee reveals the dogleg, with a pond and a tree guarding the inside and a stream guarding the outside. The golfer is drawn to bite off more than he can chew:
The view from inside the dogleg. Upon multiple playings, the golfer soon realizes that he needs to aim further left than he thinks:
Personally, I believe at least the outer (if not both) evergreen tree should be cut down to allow for more angles to attack the green.
The view from the middle of the fairway shows the front portion of a well-bunkered, deep (40 yards) green:
Hole 17 (502/488)A "short" par five that plays directly up the hill away from the practice tee. The fairway rises to a crest about 240 yards away from the tee, and is flat over rolling terrain until about 100 yards out, where it is narrowed by two bunkers and rises up again towards the green. Enjoy the view (and part of my finger):
A partially hidden fairway bunker claims misstruck tee shots that leak right:
The view of the 2nd shot illustrates the rolling nature of the fairway. I believe the tree on the left needs to be cut back/down to widen the layup area.
The demanding wedge shot third. The pin is not visible because of the shadows and the cell phone picture quality, but it is visible to the player:
A view from front left of the green:
Hole 18 (432/417)Another of my favorites on the course, and a tremendous finish to the round. Fittingly, the golfer must strike another blind tee shot to an ample fairway. The well struck tee ball will run down the same hill that the player struggled up on the 17th:
The golfer is greeted with this view from the top of the hill to a handsome, multi-tiered green benched into the hillside:
A view of the green from the 17th fairway:
As you might be able to tell, the clubhouse has been ripped down and construction is underway on a new one.
Finally, a view from behind the green back up the 18th:
