Belmont began as Hermitage Country Club, laid out by A. W. Tillinghast and opened in 1916–1917 (sources differ on the exact opening year). The First Tee–Greater Richmond’s official history cites 1917; other course directories say 1916.
Donald Ross’s involvement came later as a consultant/renovator, not as the original architect. Contemporary and retrospective accounts agree Ross returned a few years after opening to upgrade the course—most notably converting the sand greens to grass and “fine-tuning” aspects of the layout. Golf.com dates this consultation “four years later,” i.e., ~1921, while Henrico County’s official release and trade-press coverage place Ross’s tweaks in 1927 (and Wikipedia lists a later “1940 remodel”). The precise year is therefore disputed, but the scope—greens conversion and selective refinements—is consistent across sources. No primary Ross plan set has been published online.
Newspaper evidence supports Ross’s on-site role in spring 1922, with the Richmond Times-Dispatch reporting his supervision of improvements for Hermitage; however, the surviving digitized snippets provide headlines and summaries rather than a hole-by-hole brief. Taken together, the newspaper record confirms Ross’s active oversight on property in 1922, while the 1921 vs. 1927 date gap likely reflects a multi-season improvement cycle and/or later follow-on work.
There is no public documentation of additional Ross phases at Hermitage/Belmont beyond this 1920s period. If the club retains detailed Ross correspondence, drawings, or invoices, they are not available online.
Architectural Features Specific to Belmont (as they relate to Ross)
Today’s Belmont is a 12-hole restoration of the original back-nine sequence (old Nos. 7–18), re-imagined and reopened in 2021 by Love Golf Design (Davis Love III/Scot Sherman) under the First Tee–Greater Richmond. The architects studied original Hermitage drawings to restore those holes; trees/brush were cleared to reopen angles. Because Ross’s historical role focused on converting greens to grass and tweaking features—rather than re-routing—the surviving corridors and green sites today primarily reflect Tillinghast, with Ross’s improvements embedded in that history.
Hole references (current numbering): the 12-hole scorecard confirms two back-to-back par 5s at current Nos. 3–4, a hallmark sequence retained in the restoration; the set totals par 48 at 4,325 yards from the back “Tillinghast (Black)” tees. These holes (and the rest of current Nos. 1–12) map to the original 7–18, i.e., the portion of Hermitage most closely tied to the club’s tournament legacy and to the 20th-century upgrade era during which Ross consulted.
Greens and bunkering. Modern Belmont’s restoration returned 10 of 12 original green complexes (on current Nos. 1–12) and rebuilt the bold, numerous bunkers (now 64 in total) in the Golden-Age idiom. While those restored contours are credited to Tillinghast, they occupy the same footprint that Ross previously brought into the grass-green era. In other words, Ross’s specific “signature” at Belmont is procedural and agronomic (grass-green conversion and fine-tuning) rather than a distinct set of new green forms that superseded Tillinghast. No source publicly attributes individual modern hole features (e.g., “No. 8’s green contours”) directly to Ross’s hand. Where such attributions exist, they likely reside in club archives.
Routing and natural features. The restored 12-hole routing re-uses the rolling topography and historic corridors on the old back nine. That terrain-forward approach was inherent to Tillinghast’s plan; Ross’s known scope here did not involve wholesale re-routing. The current setting—open angles, restored bunkering patterns, and green sites—therefore reflects Tillinghast first, with Ross’s early-1920s modernization enabling grass-green strategy to take root on these same holes.
Best-preserved intersections with Ross’s work. Because Belmont’s current Nos. 1–12 = former 7–18, Ross’s 1920s grass-green program would have applied to these exact holes. The back-to-back par-5s (Nos. 3–4)—and the tournament corridor that includes the finishing stretch of the old course—are thus where Ross’s upgrades overlapped with the most historically significant ground, even if today’s contours are restored to Tillinghast’s geometry. Public documentation does not identify a specific current hole where a distinct “Ross-only” green form survives.
Historical Context & Significance
Belmont/Hermitage sits within Ross’s middle-period consultancy work—years when he frequently upgraded existing courses (greens conversions were common nationally as clubs moved from sand to grass). Belmont’s timing (early 1920s; some sources say 1927) places Ross’s visit after his major Pinehurst campaigns but before his late-career 1930s/1940s work.
Tournament history: Hermitage/Belmont hosted the 1945 Richmond Open, won by Ben Hogan, and the 1949 PGA Championship, won by Sam Snead—still the only men’s major ever held in Virginia. The 1949 PGA played at par 71 / 6,677 yards over the full 18-hole course. These events cemented the venue’s national profile and underscore why the 2021 project chose to restore the old back-nine sequence.
Evolution & Current State
County era and re-imagining. Hermitage sold the Lakeside property to Henrico County in 1977, after which it operated as public Belmont Golf Course. Facing decline by the 2010s, the county approved a lease in 2019 with First Tee–Greater Richmond, launching a $4M+ project led by Love Golf Design. The course reopened in 2021 as a 12-hole championship course (restoring old 7–18), the 6-hole “Little Bell” par-3 course (new holes patterned on Tillinghast par-3 templates, including replicas of old Nos. 4 & 5), and The Ringer, an 18-hole putting course.
What remains of Ross? Public sources do not quantify the percentage of Ross’s specific modifications surviving today. The 2020–21 work explicitly prioritized Tillinghast’s original plan, bringing back 10 of 12 original green complexes on the restored loop. That emphasis suggests the present architecture reads predominantly as Tillinghast, with Ross’s early-1920s grass-green conversion and fine-tuning an important historical layer rather than the controlling design language of the current course. Without club-archive drawings or a definitive hole-by-hole Ross plan, it is not possible to attribute surviving individual greens/bunkers to Ross’s authorship with precision.
Current specs (12-hole championship loop): Par 48, 4,325 yards from the back tee; back-to-back par-5s at Nos. 3–4; five tee sets; 64 bunkers. (Belmont offers a USGA-rated 18-hole experience by combining the 12-hole loop with the 6-hole “Little Bell.”)
Sources & Notes
First Tee–Greater Richmond: Belmont—About/History. Establishes Tillinghast (1917) origin and states Love Golf Design restored old Nos. 7–18 for the 12-hole course.
Golf.com (Muni Mondays, Mar. 8, 2021). Notes Ross consulted ~four years after 1917, “upgrading sand greens to grass” and fine-tuning; confirms restored loop uses old 7–18 renumbered.
Henrico County news releases (2019–2021). County lease to First Tee (2019); grand re-opening (2021); both cite Tillinghast original and Ross renovation (Henrico’s release characterizes Ross’s work as “a decade later,” i.e., 1927).
Golf Course Industry (Jan. 27, 2025). Backgrounder noting Tillinghast’s 1916 completion and Ross’s 1927 tweaks; recounts 1945 Richmond Invitational.
Wikipedia—1949 PGA Championship. Venue details for Hermitage/Belmont, par 71 / 6,677 yards, and Sam Snead winner; the only men’s major in Virginia. (Used for tournament data only.)
First Tee—Belmont main page. Confirms 12-hole yardage range, 64 bunkers, and facility components (Little Bell, The Ringer).
First Tee—Belmont scorecard. Provides par (48) and back-tee total (4,325) for 12 holes, with holes 3–4 as back-to-back par 5s.
First Tee—Belmont 75th Anniversary (2024). Notes the 2020–21 project restored 10 of 12 original green complexes.
Global Golf Post (May 15, 2021). Reiterates that Belmont’s 12 holes are faithful to Tillinghast (Ross later tweaked) and that the restored loop mirrors the historic back-nine sequence.
The Fried Egg coverage (2019, 2021). Places Ross’s work as an early-1920s alteration to Tillinghast’s design; provides historical context for the restoration decision.
Virginia Chronicle (RTD, Apr.–May 1922) digitized pages referencing Ross supervising work at Hermitage; confirms on-site 1922 presence but lacks a granular hole-by-hole bill of work.
Disputed / Uncertain Items (explicitly handled)
Opening year: 1917 (First Tee) vs. 1916 (some directories). I’ve reported both with citations.
Ross’s date(s): ~1921 (Golf.com) vs. 1922 (newspaper on-site) vs. 1927 (Henrico/trade press) vs. “1940 remodel” (Wikipedia). All agree Ross converted sand greens to grass and refined the course; precise dating differs across sources.
Hole-level attributions to Ross: No public source ties individual surviving hole features (e.g., “current No. X green contours”) directly to Ross; the 2020–21 work restored Tillinghast’s green complexes on 10 of 12 holes, implying today’s shapes are Tillinghast-led.