Inside the course: Bellerive Country Club

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The third event in the PGA TOUR Playoffs for the FedExCup will take place at Bellerive Country Club in St. Louis, Mo. Learn more about this historic venue.

Bellerive Country Club has played host to many tournaments, including the 1949 Western Amateur (won by Frank Stranahan), the 1953 Western Open (won by E.J. "Dutch" Harrison), the 1965 U.S. Open (won by Gary Player), the 1981 U.S. Mid-Amateur (won by Jim Holtgrieve), the 1992 PGA Championship (won by Nick Price) and the 2004 U.S. Senior Open (won by Peter Jacobsen).

The 2001 World Golf Championships-American Express Championship was supposed to take place at Bellerive Country Club but was cancelled after the September 11 terrorist attacks earlier that week.

This is the first year the BMW Championship will be held at Bellerive CC but statistics are available from the '92 PGA Championship and the '04 U.S. Senior Open. See below for the toughest hole and easiest hole (in both events), plus yardage and hole rankings from those tournaments.

Rankings

Most Difficult Hole

The par-4 10th Jay Williamson, a PGA TOUR player and member at Bellerive, had this to say: "Number 10 was always a par 5 but will be played as a par 4 for the championship. Rees made the green - it used to be strictly a par 5 green - a little bit softer. It's just a really tough hole. There's a fairway bunker that you must avoid off the tee leaving you a 4- or 5-iron in." Easiest hole in 2007 The par-5 fifth Williamson on No. 5: "I think it's a great par 4 at around 490 yards for the tournament. As a par 5 for the members, it's a good hole and is probably reachable in two and has some challenges for regular play."

2008 BMW Championship 1992 PGA Championship 2004 U.S. Senior Open Hole Par Yards Rank Yards Avg. Score Rank Yards Avg. Score 1 4 438 9 434 4.189 8 435 4.208 2 4 408 5 437 4.312 10 425 4.15 3 3 188 14 165 3.068 16 148 2.998 4 5 560 18 556 4.828 18 541 4.794 5 4 475 6 453 4.259 7 440 4.222 6 3 215 3 195 3.342 6 190 3.258 7 4 397 16 381 3.981 13 380 4.091 8 5 610 13 581 5.072 14 567 5.084 9 4 395 10 426 4.166 4 419 4.304 10 4 515 1 485 4.454 1 484 4.496 11 4 376 8 373 4.193 12 374 4.098 12 4 450 11 404 4.132 9 438 4.159 13 3 184 15 179 3.055 17 179 2.995 14 4 415 12 411 4.093 11 400 4.143 15 4 494 4 456 4.325 3 448 4.311 16 3 235 7 222 3.195 2 223 3.361 17 5 601 17 536 4.883 15 574 5.026 18 4 460 2 454 4.372 5 452 4.281

Holes-in-one

There were 3 aces recorded during the 2004 U.S. Senior Open.

Player Hole Round Mike McCullough No. 13 1st John Aubrey No. 3 1st Pat Tallent No. 3 1st

Course origins

Bellerive Country Club began in 1897 in north St. Louis as a nine-hole course with 166 members, and was known as the St. Louis Field Club. In 1910, the membership incorporated as Bellerive Country Club, naming the club after Louis St. Ange De Bellerive, the last French commander in North America. That same year Scotsman Robert Foulis designed the "new Bellerive" in Normandy, where the club remained for 50 years. Led by Hord Hardin and Clark Gamble, the membership decided to move west in 1955, and allowed renowned architect Robert Trent Jones Sr. to pick a prime farm location for the new site. The "Green Monster of Ladue Road" opened on Memorial Day, 1960. In 1963 Mayor Raymond Tucker asked Hardin if Bellerive would pursue hosting the U.S. Open in 1965 to coincide with the St. Louis bicentennial celebration. With the USGA's cooperation, Bellerive became the "youngest" course to ever host the Open. Gary Player won the event by defeating Kel Nagle in a playoff after the two had tied at two-over-par 282. Player then donated his entire check ($25,000) to cancer research and junior golf. The golf course reopened in October 2006, after a year-long Rees Jones renovation. All the greens were completely rebuilt to USGA specifications and regrassed with A-4 creeping bentgrass. All the bunkers were totally redesigned with new liners, drainage and sand, as they were moved back into landing areas and deepened around greenside. All the tees were redone and laser leveled. Eighty percent of the fairways were recontoured and regrassed to Meyer zoysiagrass. Sixteen miles of drainage was installed throughout the golf course and a new wall-to-wall irrigation system with its own weather station. Eight, 50-inch, high volume greenside fans were added and the required underground wiring was installed. A two acre lake was built off of No. 2 and the asphalt cart paths were replaced with over six miles of all new exposed aggregate concrete. Seventy-two acres of sod was utilized in the project and another 25 acres was seeded. -- Source: Golf Course Superintendents Association of America

Tournament course history

Course Location Years Bellerive CC St. Louis, Mo. 1953, 2008 Beverly CC Chicago, Ill. 1910, 1963, 1967, 1970 Blue Mound CC Milwaukee, Wisc. 1916 Blythefield CC Belmont, Mich. 1961 Brentwood CC Brentwood, Calif. 1950 Brookfield CC Buffalo, N.Y. 1948 Butler National GC Oak Brook, Ill. 1974-1990 Calumet CC Homewood, Ill. 1924 Canterbury GC Beechwood, Ohio 1932,1937 CC of Peoria Peoria, Ill. 1934 Cincinnati GC Cincinnati, Ohio 1905 Cog Hill G&CC (Dubsdread) Lemont, Ill. 1991-2007 Colonial CC Memphis, Tenn. 1923 Davenport CC Davenport, Iowa 1936, 1951 Euclid Club Euclid, Ohio 1902 Glen Oak CC Glen Ellyn, Ill. 1915 Glen View GC Chicago, Ill. 1899 Highland G&CC Indianapolis, Ind. 1926 Hinsdale GC Hinsdale, Ill. 1907 Homewood CC Homewood, Ill. 1906 Idlewild CC Flossmoor, Ill. 1912 Indianwood G&CC Lake Orion, Mich. 1930 Interlachen CC Edina, Minn. 1914 Keller GC St. Paul, Minn. 1949 Kent CC Grand Rapids, Mich. 1904, 1911 Kenwood CC Cincinnati, Ohio 1954 Mayfield CC Cleveland, Ohio 1919 Medinah CC Medinah, Ill. 1939, 1962, 1966 Memphis CC Memphis, Tenn. 1913 Miami Valley GC Dayton, Ohio 1931 Midlothian CC Midlothian, Ill. 1901, 1969, 1973 Milwaukee CC Milwaukee, Wisc. 1903 Normandie GC St. Louis, Mo. 1908 North Shore GC Chicago, Ill. 1928 Oakland Hills CC Birmingham, Mich. 1922 Oakwood Club Cleveland Heights, Ohio 1921 Olympia Fields CC Olympia Fields, Ill. 1920, 1927, 1933, 1968, 1971 Ozaukee CC Mequon, Wisc. 1929 Phoenix GC Phoenix, Ariz. 1941, 1942 Pittsburgh Field Club Aspinwall, Pa. 1959 Plum Hollow GC Southfield, Mich. 1957 Portland GC Portland, Ore. 1955 Presidio CC San Francisco, Calif. 1956 Red Run GC Royal Oak, Mich. 1958 River Oaks CC Houston, Texas 1940 Salt Lake City CC Salt Lake City, Utah 1947 Skokie CC Glencoe, Ill. 1909 South Bend CC South Bend, Ind. 1935 Sunset CC St. Louis, Mo. 1946 Sunset Ridge Winnetka, Ill. 1972 Tam OShanter CC Niles, Ill. 1964, 1965 Western G&CC Redford, Mich. 1960 Westmoreland CC Wilmette, Ill. 1917 Westwood CC St. Louis, Mo. 1938, 1952 Youngstown CC Youngstown, Ohio 1925