Bellevue Country Club

Bellevue Country Club grew out of a 1914 meeting of Syracuse golfers at Schrafft's Restaurant downtown, and it was incorporated on January 5, 1915. The club bought 138 acres of the Wadsworth family farm on the hills southwest of the city before it hired an architect, so Donald Ross was asked to fit a course to land the club already owned. He came to the site for the first time in the spring of 1915; the Syracuse Herald reported his arrival on May 10. After more than two weeks on the ground he described his plan to the Syracuse Post-Standard: about 6,270 yards, two holes of about 570 yards, and a water hazard made by backing up a spring into a small pond. Ross also chose the clubhouse site.

Construction began with the back nine, which Ross expected to give "particularly good opportunity for high-class golf." By September 1915 the water system was in and the back nine lacked only seeding. The front nine and the clubhouse followed in 1916, and that May the Post-Standard described an 18-hole course with a par of 72 whose longest hole was the fifth, at 550 yards. The course was little used in 1916 and opened officially for members' medal play in 1917, the year the clubhouse by member Justus Moak Scrafford was finished. William Entwistle, hired as professional in April 1916, stayed for twenty-five years. No source records Ross returning after construction.

Holes to Know

From the Blue tees the course measures 6,459 yards to a par of 71, with 35 out and 36 in. It has eleven par 4s, four par 3s and three par 5s. The only par 5 on the front nine is the 5th; the back nine has two par 5s, the 10th and 12th, and two par 3s, the 13th and 15th.

The short 3rd is the hole Ron Forse, who drew the club's master plan, singled out as "a great hole." Ross's blueprint called for a raised green with sharp falloffs on three sides, a bunker on the left, a cross bunker 100 yards out and a tee built "to see all the Green." Today four bunkers wrap the left side of the green and a fifth sits at its front right; nothing crosses the line short of it.

The 4th is the longest par 4 and plays downhill from a tee in the woods. Ross drew three cross bunkers, natural mounds at 200 yards, a bunker left of the green and a four-foot "chocolate drop" mound at its right front. Today it has no fairway bunkers, and a bunker on each side guards one of the course's smallest greens.

The 384-yard 14th from the Blue tees is not a Ross hole: it is one of the four built in 1968 in an abandoned limestone quarry. The fairway turns right about 45 degrees some 250 yards out before narrowing to a green with one bunker at its front right. The club describes a huge stone ledge in view from the tee, which Top 100 Golf Courses calls the course's signature feature.

The 153-yard 15th from the Blue tees was Ross's 14th. It plays uphill to the smallest green on the course, which Forse describes as cut out of the hillside with the ground built up to make the green. Five bunkers ring it today; the club's guide counts seven traps.

The 449-yard 18th from the Blue tees runs straight downhill toward the clubhouse, with a street and out of bounds along the left. Ross specified cross bunkers here, and a 1936 club guide warned of "a large trap across fairway 45 yards from the green." Today two bunkers sit on the right of the fairway and two on the left near the green, none of them across the line, and the green falls away from the player.

Ross's Design Here

The National Register nomination describes a returning-nines routing that keeps each green close to the next tee, so the same slopes are played in several directions. The club's history says Ross relied on the landscape, used almost no artificial hazards and let the fairways follow the contours of the farm.

Ross's blueprints for Bellevue survive with hand-written instructions, and the nomination reproduces several. At the 1st he had a rocky mound 170 yards out turfed over and left as a rough mound, and a ditch at 250 yards cleaned out and its face raised two feet "so that it can be clearly seen." The nomination identifies the spring-fed pond short of today's 8th green with the water hazard Ross promised in 1915; the club's course guide calls the water there an addition.

The uphill par-4 17th was Ross's 16th. The 1936 guide gave elevations of 98 at its tee and 166 at its green; today's club guide calls it the trickiest hole, with a blind green fronted by three deep traps. Forse points to the 18th as the clearest use of the land: "The green falls away from you and it's an extension of the downhill approach."

Historical Significance

The course and clubhouse were listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2014. The nomination calls Bellevue an "outstanding, intact example of a returning nines course" by Ross, with a period of significance of 1915 to 1917.

Walter Hagen won the 1920 Bellevue Country Club Open by eight strokes over Pat Doyle and Pat O'Hara with 293, and the PGA Tour counts it among his wins. The 1921 event, billed as the New York State Open though no state body sanctioned it, went to Bobby Cruickshank by seven strokes over Hagen and Mike Brady. From 1982 to 1984 Bellevue hosted the Greater Syracuse Senior's Pro Classic, won by Bill Collins, Gene Littler and Miller Barber.

NYSGA's 2026 preview lists eleven state championships at Bellevue from 1937 to 2014. Ray Billows won the Men's Amateur there in 1937, and Dr. Alan Foster won the first of his five state titles there in 1975. Luke Feehan won the 2014 Men's Amateur in a playoff over Bryce Edmister. In July 2026 Robert Hughes won the Super Senior Amateur and Jim Hamburger the Legends Amateur.

Changes Since Ross

Irrigation was upgraded in 1935 and automated in 1960. In August 1935 A. W. Tillinghast, touring clubs for the PGA, went over the course with Entwistle; his report says he worked out "a new green for the fifth and another new green for the sixth." No source records whether they were built.

The largest change came in 1968. The club wanted a practice range and an end to dangerous crossings where Ross's 9th, 10th, 12th and 13th converged. A committee dropped Ross's 10th, 11th, 12th and 17th, and Francis J. Duane, then a vice-president of the American Society of Golf Course Architects, built four new holes with heavy fill in a 30-acre abandoned limestone quarry south of the course. They are today's 11th through 14th, and Ross's 14th, 15th and 16th became the 15th, 16th and 17th. The nomination says the abandoned Ross holes kept their features, and that for the centennial their greens and tees were being mowed for play again.

Trees that were fairway guides in 1916 have grown into corridors. Forse Design's 2003 master plan, drawn from period photographs, evaluated every tree and shrub, set out substantial removal and reintroduced fine fescues; the club has written the plan into its bylaws. Bunkering has also changed: the cross bunkers Ross drew on the 3rd, 4th and 18th are not across those fairways today.

Uncertainties

• Second nine. The club's Golf page, followed by NYSGA's preview and Top 100 Golf Courses, says nine holes opened in 1916 and a second nine was built on land bought four years later. The 1915-16 newspaper reports in the National Register nomination describe the back nine built first in 1915 and an 18-hole, par-72 course in May 1916. The listing follows the newspapers.

• Opening year. The club gives 1916 on one page and 1917 on another; the nomination records light use in 1916 and an official opening in 1917. The listing keeps 1916.

• Ross's former holes. The 2013 nomination says the greens and tees of the four holes dropped in 1968 were being prepared for play for the centennial; no later source says whether they are in use.

Sources & Notes

1. Travis M. Bowman, New York State Historic Preservation Office, National Register of Historic Places Registration Form: Bellevue Country Club, March 18, 2013. https://npgallery.nps.gov/GetAsset/7e09c6a9-96f0-4d86-a66c-7d0be8d39288 Founding, Wadsworth farm, Ross's 1915 visit and plan, construction sequence, 1916 par-72 course, Entwistle, Ross's blueprint notes, 1936 club guide, 1968 Duane holes and renumbering, irrigation, 2003 Forse plan, clubhouse history. Cites the Syracuse Herald and Post-Standard, 1915-17.

2. National Park Service, NPGallery record: Bellevue Country Club, 1901 Glenwood Ave. https://npgallery.nps.gov/AssetDetail/25f70291-271f-4163-a68f-22234df51e71 and Wikipedia, National Register of Historic Places listings in Syracuse, New York. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Register_of_Historic_Places_listings_in_Syracuse,_New_York Listing, February 5, 2014 (#13001154).

3. Bellevue Country Club, About Us. https://www.bellevuecountryclub.com/web/pages/aboutus Founding, Ross's use of the landscape, clubhouse site, 'ready to play in 1917', Scrafford.

4. Bellevue Country Club, Golf. https://www.bellevuecountryclub.com/web/pages/golf 1916 nine and later second nine; Forse master plan in the bylaws.

5. Bellevue Country Club, Course Tour. https://www.bellevuecountryclub.com/web/pages/golfcoursetour Hole descriptions: 8th water, 14th stone ledge, 15th traps, 17th, 18th.

6. New York State Golf Association, "The Summer of Donald Ross: Three Golden Age Masterpieces for Three NYSGA Championships," July 2, 2026. https://nysga.org/communications-news/the-summer-of-donald-ross-three-golden-age-masterpieces-for-nysga-championships Forse quotes on the 3rd, 15th and 18th; 2003 master plan; holes 11-14 not Ross's; small greens.

7. New York State Golf Association, "Preview: 2026 NYS Super Senior & Legends Amateur Championships." https://nysga.org/communications-news/preview-2026-nys-super-senior-legends-amateur-championship List of eleven NYS championships at Bellevue, 1937-2014.

8. New York State Golf Association, "Hughes Shoots Even to Win the Super Senior Amateur," July 31, 2026. https://nysga.org/communications-news/mueller-shoots-even-to-win-super-senior-amateur 2026 results; Hughes's birdie on the 15th.

9. AmateurGolf.com (NYSGA releases), July 22 and July 25, 2014. https://www.amateurgolf.com/golf-tournament-news/new-york-state-amateur-feehan-prevails-13190 and https://www.amateurgolf.com/golf-tournament-news/5-share-lead-at-new-york-state-amateur-13143 2014 Men's Amateur; first since 1975.

10. Golf Club Atlas forum, "Tillinghast's PGA Course Consultation Tour," reply of August 21, 2009, transcribing Tillinghast's report of August 22, 1935. https://www.golfclubatlas.com/forum/index.php/topic,40971.msg870280.html New greens for the 5th and 6th.

11. Wikipedia, Bellevue Country Club Open. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bellevue_Country_Club_Open 1920 and 1921 events, scores, field, sanctioning.

12. PGA Tour, Walter Hagen career. https://www.pgatour.com/player/15388/Walter-Hagen/career 1920 Bellevue C.C. Open among his wins.

13. Wikipedia, MONY Syracuse Senior Classic. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MONY_Syracuse_Senior_Classic Bellevue 1982-84 and winners.

14. Top 100 Golf Courses, Bellevue Country Club. https://www.top100golfcourses.com/golf-course/bellevue-country-club Rock ledge on the 14th; 1920 second-nine account.

15. American Society of Golf Course Architects, Francis J. Duane. https://asgca.org/architect/fduane/ Duane's career.

16. Bellevue Country Club, The League 1913, Pool, Fitness and Social pages. https://www.bellevuecountryclub.com/web/pages/leagueoftheiroquois League members; pool, fitness centre, tavern and dining room.

17. Greens Visited scorecard (Blue tees) and course tour aerials from the New York State Digital Orthoimagery Program (internal data, no public URL). Yardages, pars, stroke indexes and present-day bunkering.