CHARLEVOIX, Mich. – The past several weeks at home in still-steamy Florida have me dreaming of golf in different climates and some of the cooler places, both literally and figuratively, I have visited in recent months. In my mind, I keep hitting on the spots that offer a classic vibe, a great course and just a perfect atmosphere for golf.
Belvedere Golf Club in northern Michigan ticks all those boxes. Nestled inland between Lake Michigan and Lake Charlevoix, its nines divided by a two-lane road, Belvedere is a step back in time with a central ridge that keeps balls rolling up and down hills the entire round.
Built by William Watson and opened in 1927, the layout was restored by Bruce Hepner starting in 2016. Hepner and longtime course superintendent Rick Grunch (who has since retired) received a blessing when Watson’s original drawings were uncovered in an old building nearby, giving them the blueprint for a restoration. The greens were returned to their original dimensions, their internal contours paired with frequent runoffs to keep players on their toes.
The back nine at Belvedere Golf Club in Charlevoix, Mich. (Golfweek)
Belvedere ranks No. 6 in a very stacked Michigan on Golfweek’s Best list of top public-access courses in each state, and it also ties for No. 192 among all classic courses built before 1960 in the U.S.
Rankings aside, it’s just a very cool place to spend a day. There’s the right-sized clubhouse, its pro shop lined with photos of top professionals who have ambled through. It’s a private club that accepts some outside play, and it’s the type of course that surely makes every guest ponder a membership application. The peak guest green fee for walkers is listed as $125 in 2023, and the offseason rate is half that – a bargain for the experience.
I was lucky enough to play it for the third time this summer, and the experience was too good not to share. So here goes: photos of every hole at Belvedere, with multiple shots of some holes.
No. 1 Belvedere
No. 1 at Belvedere Golf Club (No. 1 is also pictured atop this story) is a…
No. 1 at Belvedere Golf Club (No. 1 is also pictured atop this story) is a 370-yard par 4 with an elevated tee shot to a fairway banked on the right by a steep ridge. (Golfweek)
No. 5 Belvedere
No. 5 at Belvedere Golf Club, a 537-yard par 5, doglegs left before crossing the creek…
No. 5 at Belvedere Golf Club, a 537-yard par 5, doglegs left before crossing the creek some 150 yards short of a green that is protected by two bunkers. (Golfweek)
No. 6 Belvedere
No. 6 at Belvedere Golf Club, a 383-yard par 4, doglegs hard right and over the…
No. 6 at Belvedere Golf Club, a 383-yard par 4, doglegs hard right and over the creek before climbing a hill, its green nestled into the bluff with a severe back-to-front slope. (Golfweek)
No. 7 Belvedere
No. 7 at Belvedere Golf Club is a straight, 460-yard par 4 that tees off through…
No. 7 at Belvedere Golf Club is a straight, 460-yard par 4 that tees off through a chute of trees with several fairway bunkers but none around the green. (Golfweek)
No. 9 Belvedere
No. 9 at Belvedere Golf Club is a 478-yard par 5 (pictured from behind the green)…
No. 9 at Belvedere Golf Club is a 478-yard par 5 (pictured from behind the green) that doglegs right, the road to the left and the ridge above No. 1 to the right from the player’s perspective. (Golfweek)
No. 10 Belvedere
After crossing Marion Center Road, No. 10 at Belvedere Golf Club is a 527-yard par 5…
After crossing Marion Center Road, No. 10 at Belvedere Golf Club is a 527-yard par 5 that plays downhill off the tee – more than 50 feet down over the entire length of the hole – with four bunkers guarding the approach to the green. (Golfweek)
No. 13 Belvedere
No. 13 at Belvedere Golf Club is a 414-yard par 4 with a tilted fairway that…
No. 13 at Belvedere Golf Club is a 414-yard par 4 with a tilted fairway that doglegs slightly left, playing to a green guarded by a bunker short-left and another long-right. A slope coming in from the right offers a chance to bounce a ball onto the putting surface between the traps. (Golfweek)
No. 15 Belvedere
No. 15 at Belvedere Golf Club is a 465-yard par 5 that plays straight for its…
No. 15 at Belvedere Golf Club is a 465-yard par 5 that plays straight for its first 240 yards, then turns almost 90 degrees to the right, shoots down a hill and has four bunkers guarding the layup and approach to the green. (Golfweek)
No. 16 Belvedere
No. 16 at Belvedere Golf Club (pictured from behind the green) is one of the best…
No. 16 at Belvedere Golf Club (pictured from behind the green) is one of the best short par 4s found anywhere, just 346 yards to a small green propped atop a knoll with a dreadful runoff to its right. (Golfweek)
No. 17 Belvedere
No. 17 at Belvedere Golf Club is a 179-yard par 3 with no greenside bunkers but…
No. 17 at Belvedere Golf Club is a 179-yard par 3 with no greenside bunkers but a steep fall-off to the left of the putting surface, which is tilted in that direction. (Golfweek)
No. 18 Belvedere
No. 18 at Belvedere Golf Club is a 456-yard par 4 that bends slightly to the…
No. 18 at Belvedere Golf Club is a 456-yard par 4 that bends slightly to the right and plays past two fairway bunkers to a green protected by a trap short-left. (Golfweek)
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