Golf Course Architecture - Issue 65, July 2021

71 TEE BOX Sherman says: “It was pretty clear to us that just renovating the eighteen- hole course wasn’t a great idea given that it was to be the base of the First Tee chapter, and so needed suitable facilities to introduce kids to the game. After some discussion between us and local First Tee chief executive Brent Schneider, the proposal was to create a twelve-hole course, a short layout and a putting course. I said to the First Tee guys, ‘this is the right thing to do, because not only does it fit your model, it fits with the demand for golf nowadays. You need programmes for everyone, and this way, people can start on the putting course and graduate upwards, and if they’re more experienced golfers they can spend the whole day here and do everything’.” Sherman says he believes that the stigma that formerly attached to non- standard golf facilities was firmly a thing of the past. “This will do well – I would bet my house on it,” he says. “There is no longer any stigma on alternative facilities. For thirty years we have talked to clients about building alternative facilities, and now that model has taken off. I think it is built into the game now, to the point wherever we go, we’re asked about alternative facilities. We know from our past history that as long as these things are well built, they will be a success. There were people who said, ‘you have to preserve the eighteen- hole course’. That’s a model that is over a hundred years old, and things do change, even in golf!” The First Tee organisation took over management of the property in early 2020. Construction of the project, which was valued at approximately $5 million, began on 5 May 2020, and the facility opened on 24 May this year. “Permitting was pretty short and sweet – we were definitely helped by having the county onside,” says Sherman. “We would have started earlier, but we had to get Covid- safe protocols in place first.” The twelve holes of the main Belmont course are all Tillinghast originals (holes seven to eighteen of the original course) with trees and undergrowth removed to restore the angles of play. The six-hole short course, named Little Bell, replicates four of Tillinghast’s best known short holes, including the Reef, which has an angled ridge fronting the green, the Duel Hole from San Francisco Golf Club and the Tiny Tim; the other two holes are replicas of holes on the main course. The 34,000 putting course, known as the Ringer, includes twelve feet of elevation change. Green fees for the main course will max out at $40, while the par three will cost $10 and the putting course $5, though juniors taking part in the First Tee programmes will have access to the entirety of the facility for free. “It was the first Tillinghast course that I have worked on,” says Sherman. “Davis, Mark and I had a fun time on the project.” GCA “ This will do well – I would bet my house on it” Trees and undergrowth have been removed across the course to restore angles of play Photo: The Drone Co. – RVA