By Mike May
Refreshingly pure, fundamentally sound, and forever relevant. Those are three ways to describe the Belvedere Golf Club that opened for play in 1927. The course was designed by golf course architect William Watson, who also served as the course’s first professional.
In 2017, Belvedere’s membership rededicated the course to the memory of Watson. A complete restoration, under the direction of Bruce Hepner, was made possible when Watson’s long-lost original drawings were found in nearby Charlevoix.
A plaque recognize Hepner’s restoration work, plus features a humorous Scottish golf-themed prayer: 
“There are two things you can do with your head down – pray and play golf. May we always have the wisdom of both.”
The pro shop at Belvedere is definitely worth a visit. It features countless images of the many hall of fame golfers, such as Walter Hagen, Jim Barnes, Bobby Jones, Horton Smith, Gene Sarazen, Tommy Armour, Sam Snead, Cary Middlecoff, Billy Casper, and Tom Watson who have played and competed at Belvedere.
“Only ‘major’ champions make it to the Belvedere pro shop wall,” says Belvedere Golf Club’s head pro Dennis “Marty” Joy, II.
When his family made their annual summer trip to northern Michigan, a young Tom Watson would spend many hours playing Belvedere and honing his game to major championship quality.
The Watson family summered at nearby Walloon Lake, starting when he was a little boy. Tom would play nearby 9-hole Walloon Lake Country Club by himself, but when his father (Raymond) wanted to play golf, they would both head over to Belvedere.
“They were both members of the club for years, Ray died in 2000, but Tom is still a member,” added Joy. “To this day, Tom calls Belvedere Golf Club his third favorite golf club in the United States behind Augusta National and Pebble Beach.”
At Belvedere, the distances to your next destination are never far. The driving range is only a short walk from the clubhouse, and close to the first tee. One of the great aspects of Belvedere is that it’s walkable. While the terrain of the course is not flat, the hills and valleys are quite manageable.
When you play Belvedere, avoid the creek that comes into play on three of the first five holes. Don’t be upset if you get a bogey four on the lengthy par-three 4th hole. Pay attention to every putt on the contour-rich greens. Enjoy the 16th hole – a short, uphill, 364-yard par four featuring the smallest green on the course, where putts can roll off the green, if you are too bold.
Another interesting aspect of Belvedere is its affiliation with hickory golf clubs. Every year, the Belvedere Hickory Open is contested on this historic course. The event is one of five nationally recognized tournaments that the Society of Hickory Golfers selects as a “Major Hickory” championship. Belvedere is such a popular hickory venue that it hosted the 2019 U.S. Hickory Open, the national championship for hickory golf. A field of 120 players participated in this unique national championship. According to Joy, Belvedere was honored as the Premier and best-ever U.S. Open host, by the Society of Hickory Golfers.
Another big event held at Belvedere is the Michigan Amateur Championship. No club has hosted this event more than Belvedere, which has crowned the winner on 40 occasions. The Michigan Amateur will return to Belvedere in 2025, the club’s centennial year celebration. 
When you play Belvedere, you’ll quickly see that William Watson was pragmatic with his decision making and that Tom Watson was fortunate to have had access to such a first-class, well-designed, well-maintained unpretentious place to hone his shot-making skills that generated eight major championships in his own hall-of-fame career.
The layout of Belvedere made sense in the early 1920’s and it continues to make sense today. As recently as 2016, the Michigan Golf Course Owners Association named Belvedere, the Michigan Course of the Year.
Clearly, Belvedere continues to be refreshingly pure, fundamentally sound, and forever relevant. It was for me and it will be for you.
