To close Fred Richards golf course

Edina council votes to close Fred Richards golf course Edina’s Fred Richards Golf Course will close at the end of this season.

Despite petitions, legal challenges and pleas from golfers young and old, the City Council voted 3-2 Tuesday night to close “The Fred.” In the end, financial pressures on the city’s municipal golf operations trumped pleas to find a way to save the Fred.

Mayor Jim Hovland and Council Member Mary Brindle dissented, with Hovland saying that he sensed the relatively fast process to close the golf course had shaken “the trust and confidence of the public.” The Fred, a course that is a favorite with seniors, novice golfers and kids, is an asset in a city that is promoting itself as a healthy place to live, the mayor said.

Braemar Golf Course, the more difficult of the city’s two courses, badly needs renovation.

With Hovland abstaining, the council also voted to start a master plan, involving neighbors, city officials and the park board, to convert the course.