Matt Czarnecki, CGCS, is part of big doings at Normandie Golf Club at Emerson Park in St. Louis. Photos by Caroline Buchan
One of Certified Golf Course Superintendent Matt Czarnecki’s earliest memories of Normandie Golf Club is remarkably simple.
He remembers being there with his father, looking into the sky and watching an airplane pass overhead on its way to or from nearby Lambert International Airport in St. Louis.
Decades later, Czarnecki has returned to Normandie with an opportunity to help create something much larger than a golf course — a place where a new generation of young people can discover opportunities that may change the direction of their lives.
As project manager and superintendent of Normandie Golf Club at Emerson Park, Czarnecki is helping lead the most significant transformation in the 124-year history of one of the oldest public golf courses west of the Mississippi River.
Emerson, the global industrial technology leader headquartered in St. Louis, is the lead donor with a $7 million commitment to “Normandie Reimagined,” a transformative redevelopment of the historic North St. Louis County property. The project will create a Jack Nicklaus Signature Design public golf course, but the long-term vision reaches far beyond the game itself.
At its core, the effort is about retaining an important asset for the North St. Louis community and using that asset to create opportunities for young people.
“That is what makes this project so meaningful to me,” says Czarnecki, a 13-year GCSAA member. “We obviously want to build and maintain an exceptional golf course, but the bigger question is what this property can do for the community. If we can introduce kids to opportunities they may not have known existed and help change the direction of even one young person’s life, that means far more than anything we accomplish agronomically.”
Former USGA president and St. Louis native Tom O’Toole Jr. has been instrumental in helping establish and advance that vision. For O’Toole, preserving Normandie has never been solely about preserving a place to play golf. The golf course represents an asset that already belongs to the fabric of North St. Louis — one that can be leveraged to provide education, mentorship, employment and pathways to higher education.
That mission will be carried out through several youth-focused initiatives, including programming through the First Tee of Greater St. Louis, STEM education opportunities, caddie development and the Evans Scholars Program through a partnership with the Western Golf Association.
Together, those programs can introduce young people to more than the game of golf.
The First Tee can use golf as a vehicle to teach life skills, character and leadership. Science, technology, engineering and math programming can expose students to the science and technology hidden throughout a golf course — biology, agronomy, environmental science, irrigation technology, engineering and equipment management.
The caddie program offers another pathway, through which young people can gain work experience, mentorship and potentially access to life-changing educational opportunities.
For Czarnecki, those connections are what ultimately can define the success of Normandie Reimagined.
“There are so many careers and opportunities associated with this industry that kids may never know about unless somebody exposes them to it,” he says. “Golf is the vehicle that gets them here. Once they’re here, maybe they discover agronomy. Maybe it’s engineering, environmental science, hospitality or business. Maybe they become a caddie and pursue an Evans Scholarship. Maybe they simply meet a mentor who shows them a path they didn’t know was available to them.
“That is where this project has the ability to change lives.”
They've been hard at work for a while at Normandie GC at Emerson Park, which plans to be open next April.
The project was a result of an industry willing to give back. Czarnecki’s own career has shown him the value of mentorship and professional relationships — and how an opportunity given to a young person can ultimately shape the direction of a life.
His career in the golf course industry began while he was still a high school student, working on the maintenance staff at Old Hickory Golf Club in St. Peters, Mo. He continued working there while earning his biology degree from the University of Missouri-St. Louis, located only about half a mile from Normandie. After graduating from college, Czarnecki earned a position as an assistant superintendent at Old Hickory, ultimately spending 11 years at the club.
That experience gave him firsthand exposure to golf course construction, renovation, agronomy and the development of a maintenance operation. His career demonstrates what can happen when a young person is introduced to an industry and given an opportunity to grow within it.
His first superintendent position came with the City of St. Peters at its municipal golf course. Over six years, Czarnecki and his team completed approximately $12 million in renovations and improvements. The experience taught him not only construction and agronomy, but also the importance of assembling good people around a common mission.
Those lessons have become invaluable at Normandie. So has Czarnecki’s involvement with the Mississippi Valley GCSA.
Having served on the MVGCSA board of directors, Czarnecki says the relationships developed through the association have played an important role throughout his career. That network has become particularly meaningful during the Normandie project.
“I can’t say enough about the superintendent community in St. Louis,” Czarnecki says. “The support I receive from the Mississippi Valley GCSA and the relationships I’ve developed with other superintendents are incredibly important to me. There is an enormous amount of knowledge in that group, and people are willing to share it. Whether you need advice, another perspective or simply someone you trust to call, that network is there.”
Czarnecki believes that same spirit of mentorship can be extended to the young people who eventually come through Normandie.
Golf course superintendents, assistants, equipment managers, vendors, contractors and others throughout the industry represent a collection of professionals who can show students that careers in golf extend far beyond playing the game.
Joe Wachter, CGCS, is one of those industry veterans who has joined Czarnecki at Normandie. A 36-year GCSAA member and longtime St. Louis-area superintendent who spent 17 seasons at Glen Echo Country Club, Wachter already was on board as a retired consultant when Czarnecki arrived. “He’s one of the brightest in our business, a go-getter,” Wachter says of Czarnecki. “He’s a ball of fire who knows what he’s doing.”
It’s clear they’re building something that lasts at Normandie. Czarnecki was hired there in September 2025 specifically to help lead the massive renovation. By August 2026, the project was moving rapidly toward completion, with the goal of reopening all 18 holes in April 2027.
But opening day will represent a beginning rather than an ending. The lasting measure of Normandie Reimagined will be what happens after construction equipment leaves and young people begin arriving.
It will be measured through children participating in First Tee programming. It will be found in students discovering science and technology through STEM education. It will be reflected in young caddies learning responsibility, communication and a work ethic. And perhaps most powerfully, it will be seen when a young person from North St. Louis earns an Evans Scholarship or discovers a career and educational path that previously seemed out of reach.
“Today, I feel incredibly blessed to be part of restoring such an important asset for the North St. Louis community,” Czarnecki says. “But we’re not doing this simply so we can say we rebuilt a golf course. We have an opportunity to build something that can have an impact on young people for generations.”
That is particularly meaningful for someone whose own connection to Normandie began as a child. Czarnecki can still picture himself there with his father and remember looking into the sky as an airplane flew overhead.
Today, he hopes a new generation of children will develop their own memories at Normandie — although their stories may have little to do with the score they shoot.
“Maybe a kid comes here through the First Tee or a STEM program and discovers something that changes what they believe is possible for their future,” Czarnecki says. “Maybe another becomes a caddie and earns the opportunity to attend college. Maybe someone is introduced to this industry and eventually becomes a superintendent, an engineer or something none of us can predict today.
“If Normandie can become a place that opens those doors and helps redirect the lives of young people in a positive direction, then we will have accomplished something far greater than rebuilding a golf course.”
For a 124-year-old community asset, that may ultimately become Normandie’s most important legacy.
Howard Richman is GCM's associate editor