June 4, 2025 — and updates June 5

A local group of investors has purchased Spring Creek Golf Course with a plan to improve it while continuing to operate it as a public course.

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.

It was purchased by Fore Score LLC, led by Dann Grevlos, who serves as managing partner.

Grevlos and his wife, Cindi, along with their children, Brett, Aimee Kokenge and Conor, had talked about buying a golf course earlier this year before learning Spring Creek was for sale.

“They’ve all been avid golfers,” he said. “It was a great idea, but there was nothing we could do about it.”

The family is entrepreneurial as well. Grevlos’ parents and then his brother Dave owned the Shop ‘N Cart stores. Grevlos owned the Neon Casino and other casinos for years. He also had an aqua massage store at the Mall of America and now works in gaming and procurement for partners internationally.

He initially reached out to Bri Kacmarynski at NAI Sioux Falls after learning of the Spring Creek listing to get some numbers, not thinking it would come together to buy it, he said.

“Then, I got home and talked to our kids and my brother Mike, who is a performance coach for golf and wrote a book on golf, and his son, Will (who is a pro golfer), and said, ‘Why not us?'” Grevlos said. “We had 60 days to close, so we had to raise enough money to purchase it and put together a team.”

He ultimately amassed 20 local investors, with the criteria being that had they to be people “who really love golf,” he said. “So it was really nice to meet with them and most said yes, and we have a really good group of investors who want to be part of a golf course and love to golf.”

The South Dakota Parks & Wildlife Foundation acquired Spring Creek as a contract for deed by the original owners and developers, Spring Creek Country Club, in 2015 and then leased it back to the group with an agreement that it would maintain and run the course. At the time, the thought was that the course eventually could become part of Good Earth State Park.

The foundation’s board of directors “made the strategic decision to sell the golf course, ensuring that the property continues to serve the community while enabling the Foundation to focus on its core mission,” it said.

Proceeds from the sale will be reinvested to support future enhancements at Good Earth State Park and the surrounding area.

“Our foundation is thrilled to announce the sale of Spring Creek Golf Course to Fore Score LLC,” said Patrick Wyss, board chair.

“Our intention has always been to preserve Spring Creek as an outdoor recreation asset for the community. While we are not equipped to operate a public golf course, we are confident that this sale keeps Spring Creek a vibrant recreational destination. The proceeds from this sale will be reinvested into the park system, especially Good Earth State Park, to benefit future generations.”

Along with the proceeds from the $2.5 million sale, the Parks & Wildlife Foundation is planning to launch a statewide fundraising campaign to support 28 unique improvement projects across 19 state parks. Projects include new visitor centers, indoor fish-cleaning stations, amphitheaters, trail bridges and more.

“Our foundation exists to enhance outdoor recreation for future generations,” executive director Kristina Coby said. “We will continue to support South Dakota’s parks and wildlife, just as we have for nearly 40 years.”

The deal was brokered by NAI Sioux Falls, including Kacmarynski and brokers Gregg Brown and Dennis Breske. It was financed partially by Plains Commerce Bank.

“We’re excited that we procured a buyer group of resourceful and entrepreneurial professionals committed to keeping the golf course public and accessible to all Sioux Falls residents,” Breske said.

The course will continue operating under its current management while the Grevlos team works through an operational transition sometime this summer.

“Everyone wants this a public course. We had no intention of doing anything but a public course,” Grevlos said. “There are a lot of family engagements. Sioux Falls Christian and Harrisburg students golf out there, and we like that. We’ve all golfed there many times, and I love the course.”

The current groundskeeper “does an excellent job” and will stay on along with the team, he added.

Going forward, there are several improvements planned, beginning with replacing a bridge at hole No. 12 that washed out years ago. That will allow the hole to go back to a par 4 from a par 3.

The plan also is to upgrade the golf carts and add two golf simulators to start as part of a broader effort to bring in winter revenue and look for additional amenities for the neighborhood.

“We want to be good with the neighborhood,” Grevlos said. “We’re looking at something we can do for the neighborhood that would be a winter activity.”

There also will be beverage carts added and additional food options that are being determined.

By the end of next golf season, the team might be ready to raze the current clubhouse and build a new one that also would function as an event venue. Some of the investors have a background in the event business, he said.

“An event center at a golf course can generate some really nice net income,” Grevlos said. “We brought in people that have the same vision. We’re going to throw revenue into upgrades. We’re not a distribution business for now. We want to get this thing state-of-the-art and make it as good of a golf course as it can be.”

The course currently does about 26,000 rounds annually, he said.

“We think we can get that up to where some of the city courses are, to add 10,000 or 12,000 rounds a year, which will be really good for the city and the investors,” he said.

For Grevlos, who lives less than 15 minutes from the course, the whole deal has been a bit of a dream come true, he said.

“The ironic part is I was golfing a few times a week with our kids, and I haven’t golfed in weeks,” he said because of all the work to put the deal together. “We all got together last night and celebrated until 1 a.m. because we couldn’t believe it happened.”