Bellerive C.C. To Host The 2018 PGA Championship

Classic parkland test remodeled by Rees Jones will welcome the Centennial PGA event

MONTCLAIR, N.J. – The PGA of America has selected Bellerive Country Club in St. Louis, Mo. as the site of the 2018 PGA Championship. The club will also host the 2013 Senior PGA Championship presented by KitchenAid.

The “Green Monster of Ladue Road,” as it was known, opened in 1960 after the club moved to its present site, hiring Robert Trent Jones, Sr. to design the new layout. Since then Bellerive has hosted numerous competitions including the 1965 U.S. Open, the inaugural Mid-Amateur Championship in 1981, the PGA Championship in 1992, and the U.S. Senior Open in 2004. (In two years, Bellerive will become the third venue to host all four of the nation’s rotating major championships: the Senior PGA Championship, PGA Championship, U.S. Open and U.S. Senior Open).

In 2005, Bellerive brought in Rees Jones to thoroughly renovate and remodel its parkland course. “We completely rebuilt my dad’s famous design while maintaining much of his style,” Rees said when the grand-scale layout reopened in 2007. “Most importantly, we made small targets within the large greens while retaining the original dramatic contours. We also rebuilt and repositioned all the fairway and greenside bunkers.” In addition, Jones and his design team recontoured the fairways to improve drainage throughout the course. The revamped design hosted the 2008 BMW Championship, a FedEx Cup event won by Camilo Villegas. The course was universally praised by the players.

“I’m so pleased the PGA Championship is returning to Bellerive,” said Jones. “The golf course was designed and built by my dad to be a championship test of golf. It presents a complete test of golf on ample ground with great green contours and a wonderful flow to the routing.” He added that Bellerive is that rare venue that functions as a flexible test of golf suitable for every caliber of player but also capable of hosting the world’s best golfers.

During the most recent remedial work, Jones said the putting surfaces were shrunk by about 1,000 square feet per green, but that the prominent contours created by Robert Trent Jones, Sr. were retained. “We redid the greens with another championship in mind,” Rees confided. “It’s been very rewarding to work with the Bellerive membership to achieve our goals.”

Jones was recently acknowledged by Golf Inc. as one of “Golf’s Most Influential Architects,” primarily as a renovator of courses that “aim to test the shotmaking skills of the world’s most accomplished professionals.” According to designer Steve Smyers, “He (Jones) understands championship golf, and there are probably only five people in the world who do.”

Rees Jones is known as “The Open Doctor” for the many courses he has redesigned in preparation for major championships. The awarding of the 2018 PGA Championship to Bellerive marks the seventh time the PGA of America has brought its premier event (and the season’s final major) to a course redesigned by Rees Jones. These venues include: Atlanta Athletic Club – Highlands (2001, 2011); Baltusrol – Lower (2005, 2016); Hazeltine National (2002, 2009); Medinah – No. 3 Course (2006); Oakland Hills – South (2008); and Sahalee (1998).

The PGA of America has also taken the Ryder Cup, acknowledged as the sport’s most prestigious and exciting team competition, to courses redesigned by Rees Jones. These include The Country Club in 1999 and Oakland Hills in 2004. Future Ryder Cup sites include Medinah in 2012 and Hazeltine National in 2016. Both venues have been extensively revised by Jones.