Mapletøn’s New Autumn Color: Green

Suddenly Eric Peterson is looking for reasons to go.

Jump in the car. Hop on I-29. Drive 40 minutes from his front door outside Brookings to his new playground outside Sioux Falls. Mapletøn Golf Club is changing every day and Peterson, the retired business owner, can't stay away. Just last week, he returned and couldn't believe the progress.

"Whoa," he told his wife and daughter along for the ride, "this thing has really come a long way."

Peterson snapped a few pictures and sent them to two fellow Mapletøn members, who joined the club with him in early October. They immediately called to express their surprise, too.

What's sparking their childlike fascination? What's driving the surge of visitors? Simple: Mapletøn's flashy new color.

While South Dakota embraces its autumn reds and browns, its new golf attraction is growing greener. New bent-grass fairways are sprouting seed. Lush bluegrass sod arrives by the truckload. Mowers are actually rolling the putting surfaces.

Three months ago, if you toured Mapletøn, you needed a course map and a translator to know what you were looking at. Now the scenes are simple and spectacular. You can stand on every tee box and see your assignment, daunting as it might be.

"There's a lot more interest in what we're doing once you can see grass," said Mapletøn superintendent Mike Nelson. "It really brings life to everything. There's a lot of buzz."

From the general public, of course. But especially from the Mapletøn members who feel validation for their leap of faith. This is not exactly the dusty pasture they observed a year ago.

Now all the course features are coming into focus. The creative contours and shapes — look at the little tongue on the fourth green! The hole-to-hole variety — check out the tee shot on No. 5! The acres and acres of sand.

"The bunkering is just amazing," Nelson said.

Strategically, the superintendent says, the bunkers make the golfer think before every swing. But the more obvious attraction is visual. The bunkers are sprawling, rugged and natural. "I love that look," Nelson said.

Nelson is on site every day, so he doesn't notice the week-to-week change as much as visitors do. What he does observe is a bigger picture forming here.

The best golf venues aren't just 18 random challenges. A great course is a compelling story. A four-hour journey. A winding treasure trail. And all that green grass — the short stuff especially — provides the directions.

Bells and whistles are great. But there's a purpose to everything that Scott Hoffman designed here. That's the coolest part for Mapletøn members this fall. They get a chance not only to see what's flashy, but to learn the personality of this place.

Which wind direction might be toughest? Which pin positions are most treacherous?

What it's like to stand in No. 7 fairway and make a decision on the short par 5, bisected by Slip Up Creek. What it's like to address the ball on No. 15 tee — the reachable par 4 over the lake — take a deep breath, harness the nerves and execute the perfect drive, knowing the fine line between birdie and double bogey.

What it's like to stand on No. 8 tee at sunset and absorb half the golf course. Or the urge to climb the back tee on No. 16 just for the view.

There are so many highlights at Mapletøn, yet they're all unique.

"This is going to be one of a kind," Peterson said.

Peterson, who retired recently from his construction business in Brookings, watched Mapletøn unfold from afar the past 18 months. He even visited the site a couple times. Then on Oct. 8, he attended the Mapletøn open house with his friends. They decided it was time to commit.

"I don't want to be in Sioux Falls in a year, standing there and watching the waiting list grow, wondering why I didn't do it," Peterson said.

Now he enjoys the progress, soaking up as much green as possible before the ground turns white and Mapletøn goes into winter hibernation. In 2025, Peterson knows that a bigger reveal is coming. And it comes with his first opportunity to hit the shots he envisions.

There's only one downside, he says.

"Waiting."