PGA Championships Coming To Bellerive: Now What?

Now that  has successfully lured the PGA Tour back to the St. Louis area for , the work to pull them off begins.

PGA Chief Executive Officer Joe Steranka indicated Bellerive's history had something to do with earning the return engagements. The Town and Country club will become one of only a handful to host all of golf's rotating American majors--The U.S. Open, The U.S. Senior Open, The PGA Championship and the Senior PGA--which means something about the course's golf pedigree. It also means this isn't the club's first rodeo when it comes to managing the logistics of the event.

Club President Steve Schumm called those logistics "formidable"and said some of the PGA protocol "probably won't be exactly as it's been in the past." He did say that local high school teams which have access to the course now will continue to do so. He expects the club to continue hosting a PGA charitable tournament this June and plans to continue holding the event in the future.

“I think it will be life as usual if you can say that,” Schumm said, except for the buzz that comes with the potential of having the eyes of the golf nation and world focused on St. Louis County twice over the next seven years.

The course underwent a renovation which was completed in 2006, ahead of the 2008 BMW Championship, the last time PGA Tour golf was played at Bellerive. It measures out at 7,547 yards long with par of 71. It is unclear what, if any changes might come to the course along with the tournaments. Club Pro Michael Tucker told KSDK-TV Friday that it was his understanding the course would play "as is" for 2013.

Several important factors off of the golf course have yet to be officially ironed out. Ozzie Smith will lead an effort locally to use the tournaments as a way to promote health and wellness, economic development and education.

PGA officials and Missouri Governor Jay Nixon said Friday a true economic impact statement has not been developed, although he conservatively estimated it will be at least $100 million for the region and the state. Also yet to be determined is how much state money will be used to promote the tournaments.

"The bottom line will be spectacular across the region. What it means to Town and County doesn't compare to what it means to St. Louis County as a whole," Town and Country Mayor Jon Dalton told Patch. "It will bring an economic and cultural spotlight to the entire region. It will draw the attention of the world that would not otherwise happen."

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