MNGL’s future uncertain

The future for Mississippi National Golf Links is up in the air after lessee Wendell Pittenger told members the course will close Nov. 1.

Pittenger wrote in his September newsletter that the golf course and all operations would shut down after October.

“I knew this day would come, and I tried many ways to find a solution for the future of MNGL, to no avail,” he wrote.

Red Wing City Council Administrator Kay Kuhlmann said she and city staff are aware that Pittenger made the announcement, but the city has not received any official notice or information from Pittenger.

“Until we get that we don’t know exactly what we’ll need to do,” she said.

The options available to the city now will depend on whether Pittenger pays the $1.1 million bond payment due in November, Kuhlmann said.

“If he does, there’s this set of options and, if not, there’s a whole different set of options,” she said.

Kuhlmann said it would be “premature” to predict what the city will do.

Still, she said all avenues will be looked into and discussed among the city’s golf course committee members.

“We will explore every option … and bring that research to the committee,” she said.

The city has looked into various possibilities for the 36-hole course in the past, especially last year. With tight budgets, the thought was selling the course could relieve some financial pressure for the city. But some members of the public urged the city to keep the course under public ownership. In September 2011 the council voted unanimously to hold off on the sale.

The Red Wing Municipal Golf Corporation, created in the midst of the discussions last year, offered its help to the city this week, telling council members that the group is “ready to help” with work at MNGL until a solution is found. The group proposed a plan last year to lease the course from the city short-term.

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