SOUTH ST. LOUIS COUNTY — The private management company operating Quail Creek Golf Course, a county-owned course here, says it plans to cease operations by the end of the month.
But St. Louis County officials say the company, Quail Creek Golf Management, is violating the terms of a lease agreement that lasts through Sept. 30, 2029.
The possible halt to operations could upend the approaching golf season for south St. Louis County high schools that use the course near Tesson Ferry Road and Interstate 270 for practice and games. The 18-hole, 262-acre course, at 6022 Wells Road, is adjacent to Suson Park; the golf club is part of the Kennedy Recreation Complex.
Quail Creek Golf Management owner Steven Bander in a statement Friday confirmed the company was winding down operations at the golf course.
The statement said in its entirety: “Having notified the County months ago that Quail Creek Golf Management LLC would continue to operate the golf course until its funding ran out, I can confirm that the course will cease operations by February 28, 2022. Quail Creek Golf Management LLC has fulfilled its obligations under its Lease with the County and is not in breach of the Lease. Beyond this statement, Quail Creek Golf Management LLC will have no further comment.”
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In an interview, Parks Director Tom Ott disputed the claim but declined to discuss details of what he said was now a “legal matter.”
Emails obtained by the Post-Dispatch hint at a dispute between Bander and the county over responsibility for upgrades to the course, which the county has leased to a private operator since the course opened in 1985. The lease was updated once, in 1999, with an amendment that stipulated the term of the lease would last through 2029, according to a copy released in response to a records request. The lease also appeared to place responsibility for costs of any “required or necessary repair” on the lessee at the time, Eagle Golf Enterprises Inc.
Bander’s company took over the lease in 2012. A year earlier, Bander, a doctor, had received a multimillion dollar windfall for helping the U.S. attorney’s office win a $350 million fraud settlement against a health care company.
On Jan. 31, Quail Creek managers sent an email to nine high school officials notifying them that they would close operations “on or about” Feb. 1 and the county would take over “on or about” March 1.
The move followed “prolonged discussions” with the county parks department about “the future direction of the golf course operations,” the email said.
“It has been decided that Quail Creek Golf Management, LLC will cede day to day operations and overall management back to the property owner St. Louis County Parks Department. We ask that you forward any questions about future plans of operation to the St. Louis County Parks department. At the time of this email we do not know the point of contact at the parks department but will pass this info along as soon as it is made available.”
The email prompted at least one high school golf coach to write immediately to the Parks Department and ask for help finding other courses to practice on. The team’s practices were set to begin in late February; Quail Creek was the home course for the school’s varsity and junior varsity teams.
In response, Ott sent a letter to Bander saying the county “does not consent” to terminating the lease.
According to the letter, the Quail Creek Management had written emails in late December and January to “indicate your intention to cease operation” of the course and “terminate the existing lease.”
“St. Louis County Department of Parks and Recreation (the ‘County’) does not consent to the cessation of Quail Creek Golf Management’s operation of the golf course or the termination of the lease,” Ott said in the letter.
“The County appreciates that you consulted with a golf course architect to obtain a renovation plan for the golf course. However, the County’s position is that Quail Creek Golf Management, LLC is responsible for the operation of Quail Creek Golf Course until September 30, 2029, in accordance with Section A-4 of the Amended Lease.”
Asked about the renovation plans, Ott said the leaseholder is responsible for “operation and maintenance” of the course.
Ott said parks officials “had conversations” with Bander about the course’s conditions and renovations that include an upgraded irrigation system and repairs to the golf cart pathways. But they did not go “into great detail,” Ott said.
“We’d need to do an assessment of the course and see what really needs to be done,” he said.
He declined further comment on the dispute.
In November, Councilman Ernie Trakas had included the golf course in a list of infrastructure projects and programs he wanted to complete with federal COVID-19 recovery funds. The plan called for $7.5 million to finance bonds for repairs to the course, as well as $7.5 million to renovate swimming pools at the Kennedy Recreation Complex.
Trakas said Friday that he did not know more details about the course but had a few conversations with parks officials about including possible repairs while surveying possible infrastructure upgrades in the district.
For now, the county is directing schools that used Quail Creek to two other county-owned courses: Crystal Springs Quarry at Creve Coeur Park and Eagle Springs at Veterans Memorial Park.
Quail Creek was one of two courses Bander has operated in recent years, according to past media reports. He also bought a municipal golf course in Sunset Hills in 2013. He donated the 122-acre course back to the city in 2018.
Bander’s company was paying $10,833 a month in rent to the county for Quail Creek Golf Course as of 2021, under a graduated pay schedule set to increase every four years.
Bander had initially tapped Sorkis Webbe Jr., a well-connected former St. Louis alderman and fundraiser for former county executive Steve Stenger, to run day-to-day operations of the Quail Creek course. Webbe said Friday that he stopped managing the course in 2013.
A philanthropist, Bander has donated to the medical schools at St. Louis University and Washington University in St. Louis, including $3 million to establish the Bander Center for Medical Business Ethics at St. Louis University.
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