Belleair’s “No. 2” (now the East Course) originated as part of Donald Ross’s 1915 commission at the club. That year, Ross not only redesigned the original “No. 1” (the present West) but also laid out a second eighteen on inland ground east of the bayfront holes—what members later called the East Course. He returned in 1924 to revise both courses, producing a more mature set of plans that the club and later researchers have preserved in considerable detail.
Ross’s 1915–24 intentions for Belleair are unusually well documented. In 2023–24 articles and project notes, researchers and the Fry/Straka design team described assembling a near‐complete set of original Ross drawings from the club’s files, the former Belleview/Biltmore hotel archives, and the Tufts Archives at Pinehurst—materials that include Ross’s specific green, bunker and hazard dicta for Belleair as a two-course property. Those sources consistently state that he “added the East Course” in 1915 and revised “both courses” in 1924, indicating that the No. 2/East was part of the same design program and not an afterthought.
After mid-century alterations and piecemeal rebuilds, Belleair began formal planning for the East Course’s next comprehensive phase. Club records show that in 2021 a 17-member committee was appointed to plan an East Course renovation, and in 2022 the club selected Fry/Straka to pursue a full redo (expanded from an initial greens–bunkers–fairways brief). These minutes-style entries on the club’s “About Us” timeline document the decision path specific to the East.
As of 2025, the East has not undergone the document-heavy Ross restoration that was executed on the West; instead, it remains a pre-restoration counterpart to No. 1. A neighborhood news bulletin reported that the East’s renovation was “approved” and “slated to begin construction in the Spring of 2026,” signaling a schedule rather than a finished project and underscoring that the 2022–25 period was devoted to planning rather than construction. (Because this is a local news brief, the start date should be considered subject to final club approvals and permitting.)
Unique design characteristics on the East
Ross routed the East on the drier, higher inland portion of the Belleair property, contrasting with the bay-edged West. Contemporary accounts of the site note this division of character—West on the water, East inland—which aligns with the 1915 program: Ross “created the East course, on land inland of the older West.” That decision is the fundamental Ross fingerprint here, and it remains visible today in the East’s corridors and the absence of bayfront edge holes.
The clearest window into how Ross detailed hazards at Belleair—including on the East—comes from the 1924 drawings and vintage photography that the club and Fry/Straka assembled. Those materials show sand-faced, shaping-forward bunkers and the use of “cop mounds” (artificial dune-like landforms) as repeated motifs. Golf Course Architecture’s reporting emphasized that these features were not the later, grass-faced style often associated with generic “Ross” restorations but the sand-faced, sculptural forms depicted on the 1920s plans and images. Although the West has already seen these forms reinstated, the drawings and photos underpinning that work covered “the club” broadly, i.e., both courses, and they provide the evidentiary template for the East’s planned redo.
Presently, the East plays as a par-71 in the 6,200-yard range, with par-5s at holes 2 and 12 and a distribution of mid-length par-4s that reflects Ross’s corridor framework more than his original surface contours. The club’s published scorecard confirms the hole-by-hole set, but given subsequent modernizations (see below), today’s green surfaces and bunker placements should not be read as intact Ross unless corroborated by plan overlays.
Member and public-facing descriptions contrast the “open” feel of one course with the “tighter” feel of the other; those comments typically align West with broader horizons and East with more enclosed corridors. That observation is consistent with the inland siting of the East and with the club’s own social-media note that an East renovation would “widen driving corridors & views,” a tacit acknowledgement that tree growth and accretions narrowed the Ross corridors over time.
Because the East has not yet been re-set to the 1924 drawings, the strongest surviving Ross “examples” on the East in 2025 are the macro-scale elements: the inland routing logic and hole sequencing, rather than specific green pads or bunker edges. The club’s assembly of Ross plans provides the basis to re-establish micro-features (such as grade-level green entries and diagonal bunkering) once construction proceeds, but at present those details are more intact on the West than on the East.
Historical significance within Ross’s corpus
Belleair’s East Course matters in Ross’s career for two intertwined reasons: it represented a Southern, resort-adjacent second course added in 1915 to an existing property, and it was deliberately revisited by Ross in 1924 as part of a two-course refinement. Golf Course Architecture’s history and Fry/Straka’s archival work both situate the East as a peer product of the 1915–24 Belleair campaign, rather than a later derivative. That chronology places East among Ross’s early Florida assignments and inside a rare two-course commission that he personally re-addressed within a decade.
The course has not attracted the same ranking and media attention as the West, particularly following the West’s restoration; panel coverage in 2024–25 focused overwhelmingly on No. 1. Nevertheless, independent course registers continue to list the East as a distinct Ross design, with current yardage and par data that preserve its identity as Belleair’s No. 2. The East’s relative quiet in the rankings landscape is, in effect, part of its historical story in 2025: it awaits its own archival-driven return to form.
As a marker of ongoing Ross scholarship and interest, the Donald Ross Society scheduled a January 30, 2024 play day on the East during its Clearwater-area program, reflecting that the Society treats the East as an authentic Ross venue even prior to restoration.
Current condition & integrity
Multiple sources indicate that the East was modernized in the early 2000s, with Top100golfcourses.com noting a 2005 renovation; the club’s own pages do not attribute that work to a particular architect in their public timeline, but they do document that a new, comprehensive East renovation was commissioned in 2022 after committee work began in 2021. In other words, the present East shows layers of post-Ross alterations, soon to be addressed by a full re-do aimed at the 1924 materials.
On the evidence available in 2025, it is not possible to assign a precise percentage of intact Ross features on the East. The best supported conclusion is that routing corridors largely reflect the Ross-era framework (because no wholesale rerouting is recorded in club timelines), while greens and bunkers have been rebuilt in later eras and will be revisited in the planned project. The club’s East scorecard substantiates today’s par/yardage configuration but does not, by itself, validate original surface forms.
By contrast, the West has already undergone a USGA-spec rebuild of all greens and a plan-based reinstatement of Ross bunkering, using the same archive set that covers both courses. That work—documented extensively by Golf Course Architecture, Golf Course Industry, and Fry/Straka—explains why many “Ross at Belleair” design details cited in the literature now appear demonstrably on the West and remain prospective on the East pending construction. The announced East-course intent (corridor widening, view restoration, re-establishing Ross hazards) aligns with those documents and with statements from Fry/Straka about using Ross’s drawings as the template.
For players today, the East reads as a shorter, par-71 companion with tighter corridors, set away from Clearwater Bay, and with modernized surfaces and hazards. The club’s committee work and communications indicate that when its renovation starts, the guiding source will be the 1924 Ross plans (and associated period imagery), which call for the return of sand-faced bunkers and dune-like mounding—features already verified in the archive and tested in the West’s restoration.
Sources & Notes
Golf Course Architecture, “Belleair: Seaside special” (5 May 2023): history of the site; Ross’s 1915 creation of the East course; his 1924 return; description of original sand-faced bunkers and cop-mound features derived from plans and period photos.
A.E. Golf News, “The Restoration of Donald Ross’ Design at Florida’s Oldest Club” (16 Apr 2024): asserts that Ross “added the East Golf Course” in 1915 and “revised both courses” in 1924; describes reliance on Tufts Archives and Belleview/Biltmore hotel records for original Ross drawings used at Belleair.
Belleair Country Club — “About Us” timeline (accessed 2025): documents 2021 appointment of a 17-person East Course Renovation Committee and the 2022 decision to pursue a full redo of the East with Fry/Straka, expanding the scope beyond greens/bunkers/fairways.
Top100golfcourses.com entry for “Belleair Country Club — East Course”: records par-71, 4,717–6,265 yards; notes a 2005 renovation and that an East Course renovation committee is working toward a complete redo akin to the West. (Independent directory; details should be cross-checked against club releases during construction.)
Golf Course Architecture, Issue 72 (Apr 2023): describes the assembly of Ross’s original Belleair drawings from Tufts and club/hotel archives; explains that these documents guided restoration decisions. (Article uses West examples but states the document set broadly for Belleair.)
Donald Ross Society — Event listing for “Clearwater Getaway,” with play scheduled on the East on Jan. 30, 2024, indicating Society recognition of the East as a Ross venue.
GolfPass user/guide notes contrasting the feel of Belleair’s two courses (one “open,” the other “tight”), consistent with the East’s inland routing; and Fry/Straka social media stating the future East renovation would widen corridors and restore views. (Anecdotal but consistent with club planning statements; treat as qualitative.)
Neighborhood News (Dec 2024/Jan 2025): short item stating East Course renovation “slated to begin construction in the Spring of 2026.” This is a community publication; treat the start date as tentative pending formal club confirmation.
Disputed/uncertain points:
• Degree of intact Ross features on the East in 2025. No primary‐source overlay publicly verifies specific East greens or bunkers as substantially original; given the 2005 renovation noted by third-party directories and the club’s own move toward a full redo, it is safest to view routing corridors as the chief surviving Ross element pending archival-driven work.
• Renovation timing. The club’s “About Us” page documents committee formation (2021) and architect selection/scope expansion (2022), but does not publish a firm construction window; the neighborhood bulletin’s Spring 2026 start should be considered provisional.