History
The Early Years: How it all Began
The Perrysburg Township site of Belmont Country Club was originally not even a club at all. It began as "Belmont Farm" owned by William Windus Knight, Sr., who selected the name from his parents' birthplace of Belmont, New York. It was his dream to build a country club, and the transformation is now complete. Belmont turned the 190 acres of rich Ohio farmland into the meticulously manicured grounds accommodating a clubhouse, swimming pool, indoor and outdoor tennis courts and an 18-hole championship golf course.
The Belmont land is remembered for many things prior to becoming a country club: for a busy farm producing grains and pigs, for housing a dairy and even as a hunting club, The Belmont Hunt Club!
A favorite story is told regarding the hunting club, which continued to function after the golf course opened. Ed Knight once shot a pheasant, which fell near General Lauris Norstad on the first hole. The General said it reminded him of France during World War II! The Belmont Hunting Club changed in the 1970's to the Belmont Gun Club--more social than hunting--and disbanded in 1983 when the property was sold.
After directors of the Toledo Country Club turned down a proposed move of that club to Belmont, Edward Knight, an official of the Nicholas Corporation which held title to the land, spearheaded development of the site as a golf course and one-acre homesite residential area. The Wadsworth Company contracted in 1966 to construct the course in the area bounded by Bates and Mandell Roads, the Ohio Turnpike and the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad. Chicago landscape architect Robert Bruce Harris laid out the course. Club incorporation took place on July 9, 1967, with completion of the course targeted for spring 1968.
Mr. Harris undertook the huge job of turning flat terrain into a 7,085-yard course, which involved bulldozing more than half a million cubic yards of dirt into rolling fairways graced by five lakes.
Once began, construction progressed, but not without a steady succession of problems. Wells, the sewer system and drainage caused difficulties. The weather turned sour and uncooperative with an extremely wet fall season in 1967. A bitterly cold winter followed. Dikes leaked and eroded. To top off the troubles, a 12-week strike by area building tradesmen brought work on the Club to a standstill in the spring.
Despite everything, Belmont opened for membership play on June 8, 1968, with the official ladies day opening on July 3.
The Harris-designed par-72 course called for challenging but scenic holes throughout, huge greens, fairways lined with mature trees and shrubs, and six holes bordered by picturesque water hazards. Everything combined to fulfill the claim by Harris that there would not be a dull hole on the course.
A canny designer with more than 300 courses to his credit, Harris mixed the holes by length and character for player interest, while giving equal attention to landscaping details. Every hole provided its own vistas.
Further alterations were made to the golf course later by the worl-renowned golf course architect, Arthur Hills. Ideas continue to flow between Belmont and Mr. Hills.
Early on, the area's top golfers learned the hard way how demanding the Belmont layout could be. Only two months after it opened, 105 golfers, including 57 amateurs, playing the 36-hole course Toledo Open took 13 hours to complete the one-day event, a longer playing time than any Open in the previous 43 years.
Golf support facilities installed initially
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