A Topgolf competitor is coming to the southwest suburbs to provide another game-like driving range to the Twin Cities metro.
LaunchPad Golf, a Canadian company, will open its first U.S. location next to Mystic Lake Casino Hotel in Prior Lake, per the Shakopee Mdewakanton Sioux Community (SMSC). It will include a driving range, 40 heated golf suites, two bars and a restaurant. That will add to the casino's abundance of eating, drinking and recreational draws, including its own 18-hole Meadows at Mystic Lake golf course.
Thad Hellman, economic development administrator for the SMSC, said the tribe has been looking for an addition like this as golf is a growing sport in the area. The National Golf Federation released data last year showing 40% of people picking up and swinging golf clubs were not doing it on a golf course but rather at indoor simulators and driving ranges.
"It is a huge category," Hellman said. "We've seen a lot of interest in golf across the board."
Plans call for starting construction in late spring or early summer, and the facility should open in late summer or early fall of 2025. Hellman declined to disclose the project budget, and because the site is on tribal sovereign land, SMSC does not need to seek project approvals from the city.
Prominent U.S. chain Topgolf — which shares a very similar concept with LaunchPad — has more than 80 locations in the country and plans to open its second metro location in Woodbury. Construction should start this spring on the 68,000-square-foot, three-story project and completing in late summer or early fall of 2025. Its much-antipicated Brooklyn Center location opened in 2018 on the site of a former 20-screen movie theater, and the company hired 500 people to staff the business.
"I think Topgolf is unique use that attracts visitors from across the Twin Cities metropolitan area," said Eric Searles, assistant community planning director for Woodbury.
Another golf entertainment chain has also recently come to the Twin Cities in Dallas-based Puttery, which touts itself as a modern, indoor version of mini golf. It opened in downtown Minneapolis in July 2023 on the ground floor of the 270 Hennepin apartment tower. The 20,265-square-foot venue includes three nine-hole courses, a bar, lounge, art museum and library. There's another new putt-putt venue called Puttshack — from the same creators of Topgolf — opening in Minneapolis' North Loop late this year with a location in Edina's Southdale Center mall opening this spring.
Hellman said the SMSC did not consider any other golf entertainment options at Mystic Lake.
"LaunchPad Golf is not your average driving range," said Barry Ehlert, owner and CEO of LaunchPad Golf, in a statement. "We offer the most innovative technology to elevate your golf experience."
