Springbrooke Events is meeting state reopening standards with its spacious indoor areas and plenty of outdoor seating options that meet new social distancing requirements.
Owner Rick Gourley welcomes reopening after weeks of being closed during the pandemic.
“We’re happy we can be in business as opposed to being dark,” he said. “It’s been frustrating to do business under the pandemic restrictions.”
The west side reception hall seats 340, the east side occupancy is 110, and the downstairs capacity is 100.
Gourley said a Father’s Day brunch served as an opportunity to showcase progress at the facility.
With the main-floor event center completed, work has turned to lower level amenities and the golf course itself.
Gourley said the lower level bar and grill are in place with a “more abbreviated” kitchen than the upstairs commercial facility in the events area.
“We’ll have more basic foods downstairs with outdoor grills and appliances,” he said, mentioning a large smoker.
The pro shop and outdoor patio areas are nearly complete (the golf cart parking area doubles as a stage for live music), along with men’s and women’s changing rooms.
However, the golf course itself isn’t opening this summer as early as planned.
Golf course delayed by irrigation system damage
“We’re hoping and praying the irrigation system is up and running soon,” Gourley said.
He said workers have discovered dozens of irrigation heads were broken, likely from heavy equipment driving on them when the property was hayed.
Crews are working to repair them, rather than replace them. “There are 300 heads out there at $300 each,” Gourley said. “So, we’re fixing them. It’s a big commitment to get the golf course open.”
Also, he said it’s possible that the irrigation lines may also be damaged by freezing water.
“We heard from a number of people that the irrigation lines had been blown out,” Gourley said.
“But we had flooding in recent years, and water can sit on top and get back into the pipes.”
So the nine-hole golf course remains the final hurdle for Springbrooke’s lineup of recreational offerings.
“We’re excited about the golf course,” Gourley said.
“It’s a daunting challenge to create a nice green. I don’t think the average person understands what it takes to get a green in the condition it needs to be in for golf.”
He said he especially looks forward to the day when high school golf teams can use it for competitive seasons.
“It will do my heart good to have the H-BC kids come here to golf,” Gourley said.
“When you can get out in the summer in nice weather, I think it’s something anyone can enjoy.”
More than golf
The existing course was built below and on top of a rolling hill, but Gourley’s remake of the 89 acres of property puts the greens and fairways down below.
This allowed 12 acres on top of the hill where 32 lots were platted for development.
Gourley envisions either commercial or retail buildings in that area or multiple housing options, which he has completed in Sioux Falls.
Nine homes were built at the start of the golf course development, and since Gourley bought the project, three new homes are under construction and several other lots have been sold and are in phases of design and development.
A housing tax abatement through Rock County and the city of Beaver Creek has also spurred recent construction in the new addition. The program, offered through 2024, offers a five-year abatement of property taxes on newly constructed houses.
Gourley said he’s still planning a future RV park north of the golf course with access from County Road 4.
Background
The venue originally opened in 2001 as the Beaver Creek Golf Course, Drivers Restaurant and Beaver Lodge Event Center.
It operated until the housing crisis of 2007-08, when the home sales that were reducing the business’s mortgage payments stopped.
The business remained closed until 2018, when it was purchased by Gourley Properties of Sioux Falls and named for the small brook that winds its way through the golf course.
Since opening last fall, Springbrooke enjoyed steady business and community support, with weddings and events planned well into the summer. But the pandemic forced those events to cancel, and Gourley now said he’s glad to see customers again.
More information about the business can be found at springbrookeeventsandgolf.com or 855-386-1275.