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.  South African 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 most of his check ($26,000) to charity.  He donated $1,000 to his caddy and the remaining amount to cancer research and junior golf. 

The ’65 Open was the first of many national and world championships to be held at Bellerive. In 1981, we hosted the inaugural Mid-Amateur Championship that was won by St. Louis native Jim Holtgrieve. Nick Price captured his first major by winning the PGA Championship here in 1992. The 2001 American Express World Golf Championship, scheduled for September of that year, was cancelled due to the events of 9-11. Major championship golf returned to Bellerive in 2004 when our club played host to the U.S. Senior Open. Peter Jacobsen won his first senior major by besting a stellar field of competition that included local favorites Hale Irwin and Jay Haas.  In 2008, Bellerive hosted the BMW Championship, in which Camilo Villegas had his first career tour victory.   

The golf course has just undergone a year-long renovation and reopened in October, 2006. Rees Jones, son of original architect Robert Trent Jones, Sr., was entrusted with this project.