Bellerive Country Club
Encyclopedia
Bellerive Country Club is a golf country club
located in Town and Country, Missouri
, a suburb of St. Louis, Missouri
. The course will be hosting the 2013 Senior PGA Championship
, and also the 100th annual PGA Championship
, which will be held in 2018.
war hero Daniel Bissell
.
In 1910, the club moved to nearby Normandy
and renamed the Bellerive Country Club after Louis St. Ange de Bellerive who in 1765 was the last French
governor of Illinois Country
.
The clubhouse was built in the style of Georgian architecture
.
The first notable golf tournament held at Bellerive was the 1949 Western Amateur Championship
. Four years later, the club hosted the PGA Tour
's Western Open
, won by E.J. "Dutch" Harrison.
In 1957 the Club put its 125 acre (0.5058575 km²) Normandy site on the market for $1.3 million. At the same time the Normandy School District began discussing the need for establishing a junior college
as an affordable alternative to the privately owned Washington University in St. Louis
and Saint Louis University
. The Club lowered the price to $600,000 and the Normandy Residence Center opened in a renovated club house in 1960 with classes taught by the University of Missouri
. The campus became the University of Missouri - St. Louis in 1963.
In 1959, the club moved to its current site in the suburb of Town and Country. Robert Trent Jones
designed the new course, which opened on Memorial Day
in 1960.
The club hosted its first USGA
championship and major championship
when the 1965 U.S Open
was held at Bellerive. Gary Player
won in a playoff over Kel Nagle
. The course hosted the inaugural U.S. Mid-Amateur
in 1981, won by Jim Holtgrieve
. In 1992, Bellerive hosted the PGA Championship
, in which Nick Price
won his first major championship with a score of 278, or six under par.
Bellerive was one of the courses used in the qualifying stroke play round of the 1999 U.S. Mid-Amateur. In 2001, the course was supposed to host the WGC-American Express Championship, but the event was cancelled because of the September 11, 2001 attacks
. However, the course hosted the United States Senior Open
in 2004, won by Peter Jacobsen
.
The course hosted the 2008 BMW Championship (formerly known as the Western Open
) September 1–7. This championship invited the top 70 players in the world to compete for the final spots in The Tour Championship
. The event was won by Camilo Villegas
.
Bellerive was built around a large creek that comes into play on nine of the holes. Water hazards come into play on 11 holes, and the course is known for its large and undulating greens. Bent grass
is used for the greens, and zoysia
grass is used for the fairways.
The entire course underwent a $9.5 million renovation in 2005-06 because the county needed to install new sewer lines under most of the course, not to prepare for the BMW championship. The redesign was done by Rees Jones
, who lengthened and toughened U.S. Open courses Winged Foot and Torrey Pines Golf Course
. The most notable renovations that the "Open Doctor" imposed on Bellerive can be found on holes 2, 7, and 8. Hole 2 used to be tight par 4 with a sharp dogleg left around a group of trees and small lake with a prominent bunker guarding the right side. Jones removed the trees along the left and expanded the lake to create a risk-reward tee shot. The lake now stretches all the way to the green, creating a difficult back left pin position for Sunday.
For Hole 7, which used to be a straight but narrow par 4 with bunkers guarding both sides of the landing area, Jones recreated the bunker complex on the right side of the hole to punish any player who bails out of a swing. Jones also moved the green back and to the left in order to bring the creek into play, once again, creating a tough back left pin location for Sunday.
Hole 8 has always been one of the toughest on the course due to the double dogleg (first left and then right) and creek that lines the right side. Prior to Jones' redesigns, the tee boxes for the hole were all on the left side of the creek which meant that the tee shot needed to be a right-to-left hook that curved around the trees on the left, but avoided the creek on the right. The creek on the right was lined with mature trees which sometimes knocked errant shots headed for doom back onto the fairway in prime position. Jones eliminated this randomness in his redesign by cutting down the majority of the trees that lined the creek. Also, Jones moved the back tees to the right side of the creek so a straighter drive would function. However, Jones added a deep, massive bunker on the inside (left) of the first dogleg to punish the greedy player.
Other renovations include,
Country club
A country club is a private club, often with a closed membership, that typically offers a variety of recreational sports facilities and is located in city outskirts or rural areas. Activities may include, for example, any of golf, tennis, swimming or polo...
located in Town and Country, Missouri
Town and Country, Missouri
Town and Country is a wealthy inner ring suburb in west St. Louis County, Missouri, United States, with a population of 10,815 as of the 2010 census. Town and Country has the highest median household income of any city in Missouri with population over 10,000 and also has one of the highest median...
, a suburb of St. Louis, Missouri
St. Louis, Missouri
St. Louis is an independent city on the eastern border of Missouri, United States. With a population of 319,294, it was the 58th-largest U.S. city at the 2010 U.S. Census. The Greater St...
. The course will be hosting the 2013 Senior PGA Championship
Senior PGA Championship
The Senior PGA Championship is one of the five major championships in men's senior golf. It is administered by the Professional Golfers' Association of America and is recognized as a major championship by both the Champions Tour and the European Seniors Tour. It was formerly an unofficial money...
, and also the 100th annual PGA Championship
PGA Championship
The PGA Championship is an annual golf tournament conducted by the PGA of America as part of the PGA Tour. It is one of the four major championships in men's professional golf, and is the golf season's final major, usually played in mid-August, customarily four weeks after The Open Championship...
, which will be held in 2018.
History
The club opened in 1897 as The Field Club, founded by several St. Louis sportsmen who wanted a place for golf and other leisure activities. The course, which featured nine holes until another nine were added some years later, was built on land leased from the estate of War of 1812War of 1812
The War of 1812 was a military conflict fought between the forces of the United States of America and those of the British Empire. The Americans declared war in 1812 for several reasons, including trade restrictions because of Britain's ongoing war with France, impressment of American merchant...
war hero Daniel Bissell
Daniel Bissell (general)
Daniel Bissell was an American soldier and administrator. Born in Connecticut, he was a fifer in the Connecticut militia during the American Revolutionary War. On May 20, 1809, he took command of Fort Belle Fontaine, the first military fort west of the Mississippi River. He served with distinction...
.
In 1910, the club moved to nearby Normandy
Normandy, Missouri
Normandy is a city in St. Louis County, Missouri, United States. The population was 5,008 at the 2010 census.-History:The town is on land once owned by Charles Lucas. Lucas obtained property from the federal government with land grants, and he purchased the land from victims of the New Madrid...
and renamed the Bellerive Country Club after Louis St. Ange de Bellerive who in 1765 was the last French
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
governor of Illinois Country
Illinois Country
The Illinois Country , also known as Upper Louisiana, was a region in what is now the Midwestern United States that was explored and settled by the French during the 17th and 18th centuries. The terms referred to the entire Upper Mississippi River watershed, though settlement was concentrated in...
.
The clubhouse was built in the style of Georgian architecture
Georgian architecture
Georgian architecture is the name given in most English-speaking countries to the set of architectural styles current between 1720 and 1840. It is eponymous for the first four British monarchs of the House of Hanover—George I of Great Britain, George II of Great Britain, George III of the United...
.
The first notable golf tournament held at Bellerive was the 1949 Western Amateur Championship
Western Amateur
The Western Amateur is a leading annual golf tournament in the United States for male amateur golfers. It is organized by the Western Golf Association....
. Four years later, the club hosted the PGA Tour
PGA Tour
The PGA Tour is the organizer of the main men's professional golf tours in the United States and North America...
's Western Open
Western Open
The Western Open, a professional golf tournament, was first played in 1899. At the time of its 2006 playing, the Western Open was the 3rd oldest active PGA Tour tournament, after the British Open and U.S. Open...
, won by E.J. "Dutch" Harrison.
In 1957 the Club put its 125 acre (0.5058575 km²) Normandy site on the market for $1.3 million. At the same time the Normandy School District began discussing the need for establishing a junior college
Junior college
The term junior college refers to different educational institutions in different countries.-India:In India, most states provide schooling through 12th grade...
as an affordable alternative to the privately owned Washington University in St. Louis
Washington University in St. Louis
Washington University in St. Louis is a private research university located in suburban St. Louis, Missouri. Founded in 1853, and named for George Washington, the university has students and faculty from all fifty U.S. states and more than 110 nations...
and Saint Louis University
Saint Louis University
Saint Louis University is a private, co-educational Jesuit university located in St. Louis, Missouri, United States. Founded in 1818 by the Most Reverend Louis Guillaume Valentin Dubourg SLU is the oldest university west of the Mississippi River. It is one of 28 member institutions of the...
. The Club lowered the price to $600,000 and the Normandy Residence Center opened in a renovated club house in 1960 with classes taught by the University of Missouri
University of Missouri
The University of Missouri System is a state university system providing centralized administration for four universities, a health care system, an extension program, five research and technology parks, and a publishing press. More than 64,000 students are currently enrolled at its four campuses...
. The campus became the University of Missouri - St. Louis in 1963.
In 1959, the club moved to its current site in the suburb of Town and Country. Robert Trent Jones
Robert Trent Jones
Robert Trent Jones, Sr. was a golf course architect who designed about 500 golf courses in at least 40 US states and 35 other countries all around the world...
designed the new course, which opened on Memorial Day
Memorial Day
Memorial Day is a United States federal holiday observed on the last Monday of May. Formerly known as Decoration Day, it originated after the American Civil War to commemorate the fallen Union soldiers of the Civil War...
in 1960.
The club hosted its first USGA
United States Golf Association
The United States Golf Association is the United States' national association of golf courses, clubs and facilities and the governing body of golf for the U.S. and Mexico. Together with The R&A, the USGA produces and interprets the Rules of Golf. The USGA also provides a national handicap system...
championship and major championship
Men's major golf championships
The men's major golf championships, commonly known as the Major Championships, and often referred to simply as the majors, are the four most prestigious annual tournaments in professional golf...
when the 1965 U.S Open
U.S. Open (golf)
The United States Open Championship, commonly known as the U.S. Open, is the annual open golf tournament of the United States. It is the second of the four major championships in golf, and is on the official schedule of both the PGA Tour and the European Tour...
was held at Bellerive. Gary Player
Gary Player
Gary Player DMS; OIG is a South African professional golfer. With his nine major championship victories, he is widely regarded as one of the greatest players in the history of golf. He was inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame in 1974. Player has won 165 tournaments on six continents over six...
won in a playoff over Kel Nagle
Kel Nagle
Kelvin David George Nagle is an Australian professional golfer best known for winning The Open Championship in 1960. He won at least one tournament each year from 1949 to 1975.Nagle was born in North Sydney...
. The course hosted the inaugural U.S. Mid-Amateur
United States Men's Mid-Amateur Golf Championship
The U.S. Mid-Amateur, often called the Mid-Am for short, is the leading annual golf tournament in the United States for post-college amateur golfers, organized by the USGA....
in 1981, won by Jim Holtgrieve
Jim Holtgrieve
James Holtgrieve is an American amateur golfer who had a brief professional career.Holtgrieve was born in St. Louis, Missouri. He attended the University of Missouri and Washburn University....
. In 1992, Bellerive hosted the PGA Championship
PGA Championship
The PGA Championship is an annual golf tournament conducted by the PGA of America as part of the PGA Tour. It is one of the four major championships in men's professional golf, and is the golf season's final major, usually played in mid-August, customarily four weeks after The Open Championship...
, in which Nick Price
Nick Price
Nicholas Raymond Leige Price is a South African-Zimbabwean Professional golfer and an inductee in the World Golf Hall of Fame. In the mid-1990s, Price reached number one in the Official World Golf Rankings.-Background:...
won his first major championship with a score of 278, or six under par.
Bellerive was one of the courses used in the qualifying stroke play round of the 1999 U.S. Mid-Amateur. In 2001, the course was supposed to host the WGC-American Express Championship, but the event was cancelled because of the September 11, 2001 attacks
September 11, 2001 attacks
The September 11 attacks The September 11 attacks The September 11 attacks (also referred to as September 11, September 11th or 9/119/11 is pronounced "nine eleven". The slash is not part of the pronunciation...
. However, the course hosted the United States Senior Open
United States Senior Open
The U.S. Senior Open is one of the major championships in men's senior golf. It was first played in 1980 and is administered by the United States Golf Association and is recognized as a major championship by both the Champions Tour and the European Seniors Tour...
in 2004, won by Peter Jacobsen
Peter Jacobsen
Peter Erling Jacobsen is an American professional golfer, who has played on the PGA Tour and the Champions Tour. He has won seven events on the PGA Tour and two events on the Champions Tour, both majors.-Early years:...
.
The course hosted the 2008 BMW Championship (formerly known as the Western Open
Western Open
The Western Open, a professional golf tournament, was first played in 1899. At the time of its 2006 playing, the Western Open was the 3rd oldest active PGA Tour tournament, after the British Open and U.S. Open...
) September 1–7. This championship invited the top 70 players in the world to compete for the final spots in The Tour Championship
The Tour Championship
The Tour Championship was historically the final event of golf's PGA Tour season. Since 2007, it has been the final event of the FedEx Cup, the competition for the first official championship trophy for the PGA Tour season. From 1987 to 1996, several courses hosted the event...
. The event was won by Camilo Villegas
Camilo Villegas
Camilo Villegas is a Colombian professional golfer who plays on the PGA Tour and the European Tour.-Early years:Villegas was born in Medellín, Colombia, and took up golf as a child...
.
Scorecard
The Course
Bellerive is a long course, measuring 7547 yards (6,901 m) from the championship tees and 6976 yards (6,378.9 m) from the members' tees, a par of 72 for men and 72 for women. Bellerive has a course and slope rating of 76.5/141 from the championship tees. The course has six par 4s that measure over 450 yards (411.5 m) from the championship tees, the fifth-most among courses that have hosted the U.S. Open. The longest of these is the 519-yard 10th hole, which doglegs left around a bunker and then heads downhill across a creek that crosses the fairway about 30 yards (27.4 m) from the green.Bellerive was built around a large creek that comes into play on nine of the holes. Water hazards come into play on 11 holes, and the course is known for its large and undulating greens. Bent grass
Agrostis
Agrostis is a genus of over 100 species belonging to the grass family Poaceae, commonly referred to as the bent grasses...
is used for the greens, and zoysia
Zoysia
Zoysia is a genus of creeping grasses native to southeast and east Asia and Australasia. These species, commonly called zoysia or zoysiagrass, are found in coastal areas or grasslands. The genus is named after the Austrian botanist Karl von Zois.-Species:*Zoysia japonica Steud.*Zoysia macrantha...
grass is used for the fairways.
The entire course underwent a $9.5 million renovation in 2005-06 because the county needed to install new sewer lines under most of the course, not to prepare for the BMW championship. The redesign was done by Rees Jones
Rees Jones
Rees Jones is an American golf course architect.He was born in Montclair, New Jersey the son of legendary golf course designer Robert Trent Jones and the younger brother of golf course designer Robert Trent Jones, Jr...
, who lengthened and toughened U.S. Open courses Winged Foot and Torrey Pines Golf Course
Torrey Pines Golf Course
Torrey Pines Golf Course is a municipal public golf course owned by the city of San Diego, California. It sits on the coastal cliffs overlooking the Pacific Ocean in the community of La Jolla south of Torrey Pines State Reserve. It has two famous golf courses, the North Course and the South Course....
. The most notable renovations that the "Open Doctor" imposed on Bellerive can be found on holes 2, 7, and 8. Hole 2 used to be tight par 4 with a sharp dogleg left around a group of trees and small lake with a prominent bunker guarding the right side. Jones removed the trees along the left and expanded the lake to create a risk-reward tee shot. The lake now stretches all the way to the green, creating a difficult back left pin position for Sunday.
For Hole 7, which used to be a straight but narrow par 4 with bunkers guarding both sides of the landing area, Jones recreated the bunker complex on the right side of the hole to punish any player who bails out of a swing. Jones also moved the green back and to the left in order to bring the creek into play, once again, creating a tough back left pin location for Sunday.
Hole 8 has always been one of the toughest on the course due to the double dogleg (first left and then right) and creek that lines the right side. Prior to Jones' redesigns, the tee boxes for the hole were all on the left side of the creek which meant that the tee shot needed to be a right-to-left hook that curved around the trees on the left, but avoided the creek on the right. The creek on the right was lined with mature trees which sometimes knocked errant shots headed for doom back onto the fairway in prime position. Jones eliminated this randomness in his redesign by cutting down the majority of the trees that lined the creek. Also, Jones moved the back tees to the right side of the creek so a straighter drive would function. However, Jones added a deep, massive bunker on the inside (left) of the first dogleg to punish the greedy player.
Other renovations include,
- Hole 1 (fairway and green bunker complexes)
- Hole 3 (tee boxes)
- Hole 4 (fairway and green bunker complexes)
- Hole 5 (green bunker complexes)
- Hole 6 (green redesign and bunker complexes)
- Hole 9 (fairway and green bunker complexes)
- Hole 10 (fairway and green bunker complexes)
- Hole 11 (fairway and green bunker complexes)
- Hole 12 (fairway and green bunker complexes, and tee boxes)
- Hole 13 (green bunker complexes)
- Hole 14 (fairway and green bunker complexes, tree removal)
- Hole 15 (fairway and green bunker complexes)
- Hole 16 (green bunker complexes)
- Hole 17 (fairway and green bunker complexes, lake removal)
- Hole 18 (fairway and green bunker complexes)