Event venue adds restaurant; golf course opening delayed
Aug. 21, 2020
A new event venue east of Sioux Falls that’s the host for AutoMania this weekend has added a bar and grill, but the golf course won’t be ready until next year.
Exit 5 Bar & Grill has opened at SpringBrooke Events, Golf & Grill in Beaver Creek, Minn., which is along Interstate 90.
The restaurant is in a temporary space on the main floor that usually serves as a cocktail lounge for the event center and will move later this fall to the lower level, where golfers eventually will also check in and rent carts.
“We started off simple (with the menu), and we’re adding to it,” said Chris Yungeberg, who manages the property for owner Rick Gourley of Sioux Falls. “We’ve got awesome burgers and fries, Wing Wednesdays, salads, fries, onion rings, cheeseballs, a steak sandwich and an amazing Cuban, fish and chips, and we’re slowly adding more.”
SpringBrooke has a full liquor license and also serves soda, coffee and ice cream shakes.
For now, hours are 5 to 9 p.m. Wednesday through Saturday.
Because of the COVID-19 pandemic, the state of Minnesota is limiting restaurants and event venues to 50 percent capacity, but SpringBrooke has lots of room for guests, Yungeberg said. With the restrictions, there is seating for almost 200 inside and 60 on the patio, he said.
The event center began hosting weddings and receptions in December and had to close for several months because of the state’s shutdown. Celebrations have started to return, said Gourley, who bought the former Beaver Creek Golf Course in 2018.
“We’re back in business,” he said.
But it will be awhile longer for the nine-hole golf course, which opened in 2001 and closed in 2007. Gourley’s crews have been working to restore the course and make it a little easier to play.
“Here’s the deal with the golf course,” he said. “The backbone is the irrigation system. The fortunate thing is the 260-some sprinkler heads … most of those were in good shape. … However, we have had to repair hundreds and hundreds of feet of sprinkler pipe. We’re on our very last hole of repair. We should get it all done in time to plant for the fall growing season. We’re hoping that early next spring we’ll be able to play.”
This weekend, muscle cars, sports cars, hot rods and classics will be parked across the course. SpringBrooke, which is 16 miles east of the Interstate 229 interchange, is the new host for the longtime car show AutoMania.
The fun kicks off tonight with a charity poker run that starts in Brandon, a dock diving competition for dogs and live music.
The car show runs from noon to 9 p.m. Saturday, with live music and vendors selling food. Exit 5 won’t be serving food, but it will be selling beer out of the lower level, Yungeberg said.
Saturday’s bands include Mogen’s Heroes, Last Call Band, Surfin Safari, DNR and PowerPlay.
Admission is free.
