By Design - Spring 2020

23 impact the community, number one, but it’s also a way to show there are different ways to do this, rather than just an 18-hole experience.” From the original 18 holes, Sherman will keep holes seven through 18 in the new Belmont design. The holes won’t replicate what Tillinghast originally crafted, but will embrace his design tenets. “Davis won his PGA Championship at Winged Foot,” said Sherman. “So he and Mark have quite a bit of affinity for Winged Foot, and of course Mr. Tillinghast’s work.” The preliminary par is 48, with two par-threes, eight par-fours and two par-fives and should now stretch to 4,500 yards. The one-acre putting green will have the potential to contain an actual putting course and the range will accommodate roughly 30 players and extend 300 yards. Perhaps most intriguing, especially for architecture buffs, is the prospect of the six-hole short course, which will occupy the plot that once housed the old fifth and sixth holes. The course features holes ranging from 85 to 150 yards and the concept Love Golf Design has settled on is to create six replica green complexes of their favorite Tillinghast par-threes. For A.W. Tillinghast fans and students of golf history, it’s always disappointing to lose a true championship course. What The First Tee of Greater Richmond, Love Golf Design and Scot Sherman plan, however, is not only the next best thing, it might even be a better thing. The new setup will encourage a lot more people in the community to be able to use it. And yet, with 12 holes intact, folks will still get to walk in those famous footsteps. A modest proposal At Club West in Phoenix, the blight is startling. As of January 2020, once lush turf had turned weed-choked, splotchy green in some spots, parched dark brown in others. A handsome lake at the clubhouse was barely liquified, its shore rutted with broken bricks and discarded trash. Coyotes, birds and rodents scurried and fluttered in the clubhouse before the caved in windows and doorways were finally boarded up. Not two minutes away stands a development of upscale homes that boast a median sales price of $518,000. One home is on the market for $1.74 million. The contrast is eye-popping and disheartening. While many homeowners blame the current owner for mismanagement, there was one undeniable culprit: water. Or, rather, it was the cost and availability of water. The backstory is complicated, but the bottom line is that there has been no water and no playable golf course since 2018. Potential buyers for Club West came and went. The cost to water the golf course, estimated at $700,000 per year and heading higher, is prohibitive. It proved to be the deal-killer every time. At one point, a pipeline was proposed that would transport water from the Gila River Indian Community, travel beneath the new South Mountain Freeway and wind up at the golf course. That idea, too, failed to launch. There is no happy ending in sight for Club West and the concerned Foothills Club West homeowners— not yet, anyway. However, a proposed plan is on the table. Enter Forrest Richardson, ASGCA. His firm is An imaginative new design proposal from Scot Sherman, ASGCA, of Love Golf Design could breathe new life into Belmont Golf Course in Richmond, Virginia. He plans to use parts of the existing front nine for a short course and practice area (below), while twelve Tillinghast-designed holes (including the back nine, left) will remain largely intact Images: Courtesy of Scot Sherman, ASGCA