ST. LOUIS (KMOX) - One of the most historic golf courses in the St. Louis area is closing for the winter and the operator doesn't plan to reopen in the spring, under the current lease agreement.
The operator of Normandie Golf Club – the oldest public golf course west of the Mississippi River – has provided notice under its lease with the University of Missouri Curators (University) that it does not plan to continue under its present lease agreement.
A statement provided to KMOX from Normandie 1901, LLC says, “the efforts and energies put into maintaining the 118-year-old property and the required capital improvements have just become more significant than the business can sustain.”
The course, located on St. Charles Rock Road in north St. Louis is working to get refunds to anyone who purchased Annual Passes and Pre-purchased rounds for the 2020 season.
The statement from the course operators says the University dismissed a "four-year effort to devise a plan for a philanthropic use of the golf course, which utilized the resources of key allied associations and local corporations."
The University of Missouri–St. Louis purchased the 117-acre course for $1.4 million in 2015. Walters Golf Management signed a 10-year agreement with UMSL to operate and market the course, according to a report by UMSL.
In July, Normandie Golf Club was temporarily closed after a grounds crew member was killed when a tractor overturned and pinned him in a creek on the property.