Out in Town and Country, Bellerive Country Club is starting to look less like a quiet private club and more like a pop-up village. Scaffolding is climbing along the fairways, hospitality tents are multiplying, and crews are bolting in spectator grandstands ahead of the BMW Championship’s return to the St. Louis area this summer. Organizers say the months-long construction push is meant to turn the west County course into a week-long FedExCup hub, with players, corporate guests and thousands of fans set to roll in this August.
Timeline and stakes
According to BMW Championship, the tournament is scheduled for Aug. 18–23, 2026, will host the top 50 players in the FedExCup standings and offers a $20 million purse. The event site also lists Scottie Scheffler as the defending champion and names the Evans Scholars Foundation as the tournament’s charitable beneficiary.
What organizers are building
Vince Pellegrino, senior vice president of tournaments for the Western Golf Association, told FOX 2 that scaffolding is going up for corporate hospitality decks and spectator seating. Pellegrino said the buildout includes generators, air-conditioning units, tent interiors and all the behind-the-scenes hardware needed to "build a temporary city" on the course as staff turn the private club into a full-scale tournament venue. Crews are starting months before competition to leave room for practice rounds, corporate move-ins and an expanding gallery.
Volunteers and the hometown lift
Organizers say volunteer power will be a backbone of the event: all 2,000 volunteer slots planned for the championship are already spoken for, and many assignments require volunteers to work multiple shifts during tournament week, according to BMW Championship. The Western Golf Association has long leaned on local volunteers for logistics, scoring and guest services, the same corps that helps steer tournament proceeds toward the Evans Scholars program.
Scholarships and local benefit
All proceeds from the BMW Championship support the Evans Scholars Foundation, which provides full tuition and housing scholarships to caddies. The Western Golf Association and Evans Scholars Foundation report that since the program’s launch in 1930 it has sent more than 13,000 students to college, and by the end of the current selection cycle an estimated 380 caddies are expected to receive scholarships to 28 partner universities this fall, according to the Western Golf Association/Evans Scholars Foundation. Tournament officials regularly spotlight that charitable impact when pitching the event to St. Louis-area residents and businesses.
Tickets, timing and neighborhood impact
Tickets and practice-round add‑ons are already posted on major ticketing sites, with practice days set for Aug. 18–19 and tournament rounds scheduled later that week, according to Ticketmaster. Neighbors along Ladue Road and across the west County suburbs can expect a steady dose of tournament traffic, temporary parking zones and daily movement of hospitality equipment in the runup to Aug. 18.
Looking back and ahead
Bellerive has handled big weeks before. The club last hosted a BMW Championship in 2008 and staged the 2018 PGA Championship, giving long-time members and nearby businesses a clear memory of how a major golf week can rearrange daily life, according to the Los Angeles Times. Organizers say the focus now is on finishing the extended buildout and locking in logistics so the course is ready when the first players arrive in August.
