First Tee of Greater Richmond to operate Belmont Golf Course

The First Tee of Greater Richmond will take over the operations of Belmont Golf Course – and give it a new look – beginning Jan. 1, the Henrico Citizen has learned.

The Henrico Board of Supervisors is expected to approve a resolution tonight that will turn over management of the county-owned course to First Tee, which currently operates two local courses (in Richmond and Chesterfield). The agreement will span 20 years and will be renewable by the board in five-year terms after that.

Henrico officials recommended First Tee as the operator of choice from among a group of five bidders that responded to the county’s request for proposal (though only one other group – Williamsburg-based Belmont 2020 – made a bid that met the county’s requirements, Recreation and Parks Director Neil Luther told the Citizen).

“The main difference was that First Tee was willing to come in and put in over $3 million in up-front capital,” Luther said.

First Tee raised $3.25 million from its donor base and will use that money to undertake a yearlong renovation and update of the course, Luther said. First Tee officials expect the course to be closed to the public throughout most or all of 2020; it will reopen with a new design in 2021.

Among the planned changes:

• the creation of a six-hole par-three course, a driving range, and a practice area (including pitch-and-putt space and a putting green) on a portion of the land that currently houses the front nine;

• the creation of a standard 12-hole course from the remaining land on the current front nine and all of the back nine, designed to reflect the course’s heritage as an A.W. Tillinghast-designed course. (Tillinghast, a famed golf course architect, designed more than 200 courses nationwide – including Belmont, which was known as Hermitage Country Club until the county bought it in 1977 and changed the name);

• the implementation of other characteristics to spotlight the course’s rich history  (it hosted the 1949 PGA Championship, won by Virginian Sam Snead).

As part of the agreement, First Tee of Greater Richmond will lease the land (and adjacent acreage at 7202 Brook Road) from Henrico; operate and maintain the course; set all fees; and collect and keep all revenue during that period of time. Henrico’s only financial liability related to the golf course during the 20-year agreement would be its initial contribution of $750,000 to be used toward course improvements.

The move would free the county from the financial losses it’s experienced in recent years at Belmont (including about $240,000 in each of the past three fiscal years).

The Belmont Recreation Center is not part of the agreement and will continue to be operated separately by Henrico County.

As part of the deal, First Tee also will provide Henrico County Public Schools and the Henrico County Police Athletic League free use of the facilities and supplies, along with instructional support, for a youth golf program designed to introduce and develop the game of golf for Henrico County youngsters, according to a board paper.

Those efforts are in line with the organization’s mission to bring golf to youngsters and underserved populations, Luther said. First Tee describes itself as a "youth development organization for all kids whose mission is to impact the lives of young people by providing educational programs that build character, instill life-enhancing values and promote healthy choices through the game of golf."

The county will gain a seat on The First Tee of Greater Richmond’s board of directors as part of the agreement, Luther said.

First Tee was not involved when Henrico County officials initially sought an outside operator for the course in 2018. But officials decided to consider other options for the course this year – including eliminating the course and devising other recreation uses there – and after determining that citizens wanted it to remain a golf course, they cast another net for possible operators. This time, First Tee got involved.

“First Tee. . . they came a little late to the party,” Luther said. “We didn’t know they were interested and serious about this until the second time around. But at the end of the day, a lot of their donors got excited about the opportunity to honor the past” while looking forward to new opportunities at the site.

The move would be another in a line of public-private partnerships announced by Henrico County this year. Others include the planned construction of aquatics centers at Regency Square (in partnership with Thalhimer, The Rebkee Co. and NOVA of Virginia Aquatics) and on Laburnum Avenue (in partnership with the YMCA of Greater Richmond) and plans for an indoor arena and convocation center at the site of Virginia Center Commons (in partnership with The Rebkee Co.).

The Belmont 2020 group proposed to operate the course for profit and would have contributed a portion of profits annually into an escrow fund to be used for enhancements. But that method could have taken as long as 50 years to produce the same amount of money that First Tee is contributing initially, Luther.

“They’re not going to have to escrow anything,” he said. “They’ll put it all upfront.”