Nov. 11, 2024

Spring Creek Golf Course is for sale.

The 126-acre, 18-hole course southeast of Sioux Falls was built in 1994 and sits along the Big Sioux River adjacent to Good Earth State Park at Blood Run.

The course was sold as a contract for deed by the original owners and developers, Spring Creek Country Club Inc., to the South Dakota Parks and Wildlife Foundation in 2015 and then leased back with an agreement to maintain and the run the course. At the time, the thought was that the course could become part of the park.

The deal was a 10-year lease, making 2025 the final year planned for play under the current structure.

“The original intentions for the property are no longer feasible for Game, Fish & Parks,” said Kristina Coby, executive director of the South Dakota Parks and Wildlife Foundation. “Because this property was purchased with donor dollars, it is imperative that we remain good stewards of those funds and use them to enhance the state park system.”

The property is listed with NAI Sioux Falls for $3.2 million.

“The plan is to sell it as a golf course,” said Gregg Brown, who has the property co-listed with Dennis Breske.

“We think that’s the highest and best use. We think Spring Creek, whether it’s operated as a public course or private or semiprivate, there’s clearly enough golfing demand. It’s a matter of the right operators getting in there and sprucing up the facility.”

The listing is only for the course and facilities, which include a clubhouse, cart storage and maintenance space. It doesn’t include the operational business or the driving range across the street.

Spring Creek takes pressure off other area courses, Breske added.

“I’m an avid golfer, and everybody I talk to that is a golfer all agree we really need this golf course. Sioux Falls needs it,” he said. “There’s 25,000 rounds played there and a lot of pressure on the other courses.”

While Mapleton Golf Club is scheduled to open next year, it serves a different clientele, he added.

“The last new golf course built in Sioux Falls was Prairie Green, which was in the early ’90s, so there’s a need for the golf course,” Breske said. “I believe we will find someone to step in there and not only take it over but hopefully enhance it and improve it quite a bit.”

The 2024 season “was an outstanding year at Spring Creek Golf Course,” said David Long, Spring Creek board member. “The demand for golf is very high in the Sioux Falls market. Spring Creek is known for its exceptional greens and playing conditions, and 2024 was no exception.”

The golf course “is generally in good condition. There is some deferred maintenance as current operators have been managing the course not knowing if it was going to remain a golf course for the long term,” Coby said, adding that there are a number of different paths forward for the course.

“Which path is pursued will depend on the new owners’ plans,” she said. “The property has a lot of potential due to the natural beauty of the site and the significant demand for golf in the rapidly growing Sioux Falls region.”

Funds received from the sale of the course will be used “to further enhance East River state park opportunities,” said Pat Wyss, the foundation’s board chair.