Jack Nicklaus and design team to lead Normandie Golf Course renovation
Eighteen-time major winner and golfer Jack Nicklaus and his Nicklaus Design firm have joined the effort to renovate Normandie Golf Course. The course was built in 1901 and is one of the oldest public golf courses west of the Mississippi.
Nicklaus Design will lead the project and work alongside the Metropolitan Golf Foundation, the philanthropic arm of the Metropolitan Amateur Golf Association (MAGA), and its partner Beyond Housing.
Nicklaus will support the group’s fundraising efforts to purchase the property from the University of Missouri-St. Louis, as well as the necessary funding for facility construction of the project. Once the project is completed the course will become a Jack Nicklaus Signature Golf Course.
Nicklaus was introduced to the Normandie project in late 2020 by friend Tom O’Toole, Jr., past USGA president and MAGA founder. Nicklaus was quick to lend his support to the revitalization effort and explained why he wanted to be involved with the project.
“The appeal of this project to me was to be involved in an effort that could serve as a catalyst to change needed in our country today, beginning with parts of St. Louis County,” Nicklaus said. “Restoring Normandie for a community in need will have a long-lasting positive impact on the lives of youth in St. Louis.”
Once funding is secured for Normandie, construction may begin by year’s end. The golf course will remain open and continue to be operated by Walters Golf Management through the 2021 golf season.
Normandie Golf Course is a classic Robert Foulis design and should remain a Foulis design. I’m disappointed to read that those working on it feel the need to say they are restoring the course, but then also say it will be turned it into a Jack Nicklaus Signature course. That hardly seems appropriate to the vision expressed.