The Miner Golf Course will close at the end of the current season, which concludes on Tuesday, Feb. 28. The closure will result in a cost savings for Missouri S&T and allow student activity fees currently dedicated for golf course operations to be redirected to recreational facilities that are of greater interest to students — something Missouri S&T students have requested.

Campus golfers will still have an opportunity to play in Rolla. Oak Meadow Country Club (OMCC) is offering a series of packages to Missouri S&T faculty, staff and students. OMCC had already entered into an agreement with the Missouri S&T athletics department to provide facilities for S&T’s golf teams to practice and host tournaments.

The closing of the S&T golf course has no impact on the university’s golf team because the course doesn’t meet the NCAA requirement of an 18-hole course. Missouri S&T’s course has only nine holes.

Later this spring, construction will begin on a parking lot to be located on the northwest corner of the golf course property. This lot will provide parking for approximately 50 information technology staff members who will move their offices to a portion of the former Mercy Medical Building that S&T has leased from Phelps County Regional Medical Center. That move, scheduled to take place this summer, will free up their current offices in the Computer Science Building, Harris Hall and the Interdisciplinary Engineering Building to be used for academic purposes, which is a key component of Missouri S&T’s Campus Master Plan.

Information gathered throughout this process is being incorporated into a preliminary update of the Campus Master Plan, which will be presented to the Board of Curators for approval at the board’s April meeting at Missouri S&T. The campus’ turf-covered intramural fields, completed in fall 2014 following construction on Missouri S&T’s geothermal energy system, have been widely used by student groups, as has the Student Recreation Center. Expansion of one or both of these facilities is under consideration, as is construction of a new driving range.

Get more details, including how student, faculty, staff and community input was gathered and incorporated into making decisions regarding the golf course.