Belmont change wasn't what community wanted

Dear Editor:

The Henrico County manager asked for the community to express their views regarding the future of Belmont Golf Course earlier this year. Local residents turned up in mass numbers at three input meetings in support of retaining the golf course and returning it to its former glory following years of neglect and mismanagement.

The county promised to invest the money already allocated years previously to repair the sand traps and solve some of the drainage issues. Following their decision to partner with a private management company they issued a RFP and received interest from multiple golf operation companies. Five of those passed the stringent tests and were selected to make presentation.

Four of those companies intended to renovate the course, keeping to the original Tillinghast design with improvements to the catering and pro shop. The remaining bidder intended to bulldoze the golf course and develop a "Top Golf" on grass. The justified that decision by claiming it was all for the benefit of junior golf. That company is First Tee who has we now know were awarded the contract to manage Belmont for the next 20 years.

First Tee is a good outfit with genuine and honest interest in advancing the education and advancement of young people across the USA. They are supported by generous donations from the PGA of America, local and national companies and individuals, so they have deep pockets and will invest millions of dollars in Belmont.

The county could have course have donated any one of the many tracts of land lying fallow in Henrico, and First Tee could have built a facility to cater to its stated aspirations. Instead it was given the keys to this historic golf course and permission to destroy more than 100 years of local heritage.

There was lots of talk from the county manager and Board of Supervisors members during the input meetings regarding the "will of the people" and the "democratic process." All that has been trampled into the ground along the the desires of the local community who were so passionate but perhaps naive enough to believe that they would be listened to.

–Peter Grainger, Henrico