Belvedere Golf Club is one of the best walks in golf. The highlands of the Supernaw and Hooker farms on Marion Center Road, which dissects the course, was selected as the site where architect William Watson designed the course. Watson took full advantage of the property on both sides of the road, where the front nine is routed on one side and the back nine is routed on the other. The front nine plays down off the hill into a valley, where holes strategically flow around and over a winding creek and then return up the hill at hole 6 and play along the ridge to hole 9. The back nine plays downhill on hole 10, then back up to the great green site of hole 11, then meanders around the valley, then down off of the ridge at hole 15. The great 16th plays back up the hill to one of the best green sites in golf.

Born in 1860, just eight miles from St. Andrews, William Watson was immersed in golf from an early age. He studied at the University of St. Andrews, competed successfully in local tournaments, and formed a close relationship with four-time Open Champion Old Tom Morris, whose influence helped shape Watson’s architectural philosophy.

In 1898, Watson emigrated to the United States, designing his first course at Minikahda Club in Minneapolis before relocating to California during golf’s rapid West Coast expansion. He also spent summers in Charlevoix, Michigan, serving as a golf professional at Charlevoix Golf Club for the Chicago Club.

By the mid-1920s, Watson was nationally recognized as one of America’s leading architects, alongside Donald Ross and George C. Thomas. Over his career, he designed more than 100 courses, including Olympic Club, Olympia Fields, and Harding Park.