My 2nd time playing Mapleton in Sioux Falls, SD. This is Scott Hoffman's follow-up to the wildly popular Lost Rail.
Mapleton is really good! It's gotta challenge Sutton Bay for the top ranked course in South Dakota...though I still need to see Sutton Bay to make that call.
Great club, great course, great staff. And now a 6 hole short course as well. The short course is great fun!
More to come from a cold rainy day at Mapleton. Here's one of my few really good shots today, on what might be my new favorite par 3 in South Dakota...the 17th.
Spoiler alert: Mapleton is really really good!
Mapleton Golf Club
Scott Hoffman - 2025
Private
After years designing some of Tom Fazio’s best golf courses, Scott Hoffman now has the limelight to himself…and he is making it count.
Scott wasn’t in a hurry to build a follow up to Lost Rail, but when he saw this site in Sioux Falls, SD and saw the vision of Founder Danny Amundson, he knew it was right. A rollicking site with mountains of sand right near town, it’s perfect for golf.
Mapleton, like Lost Rail, is a pure Golf Club. No tennis or pools, it’s about the golf. The golfer IQ is high, which means play is fast and there are some sticks here. We finished in just over 3 hours on a busy afternoon.
The land is made for golf. Sandy soil that drains great and is made to be firm and bouncy. The ground movement is excellent and central to the design strategy. Speed slots and sideboards can be played to gain advantage, you can take on the fairway bunkers or add yardage to stay safe. Slip Up Creek runs through the course and adds strategy and challenge.
The greens are wild. Big greens with many pin positions, the golf course will play so different day to day. The internal contours are no joke, they affect your putts but also can create great options for your chips and pitches. I was saved by them and also punished by them.
A cool Hoffman signature is the clubhouse par 3. At both here and Lost Rail, a gorgeous par 3 tee box sits right in front of the clubhouse. If it’s a busy day on the porch, you may have some hecklers there ready for your tee shot.
The hole variety is excellent. Big holes that demand a good drive and a hybrid for normal players, to a very realistic drivable par 4. You will use every club in the bag. The fairways being wide and the green being large, you won’t lose many balls…but that doesn’t mean your score will be low. It challenges without punishing, the best kind of challenge.
The course still needs grow in time and the rough fescue will need a couple years to really get where it needs to be, but it’s already clear that this place is a huge win. The course is awesome, the clubhouse is amazing, the restaurant is already packing in the members. A 6 hole lit par 3 course will join the fray next year along with 12 single suite rooms in the cottage.
Mapleton is the place to be.
Scott Hoffman hit a home run with his first solo design, Lost Rail.
But can his second outing live up to that standard? Lost Rail has met with unanimous praise and is in the top 100 convo.
Blessed to play his recently opened Mapleton today. Full review tomorrow, but spoiler:
Mapleton is AWESOME.
No. 18 is the perfect exclamation point. A bold tee shot challenges the right side and reduces yardage into the green. The view from the fairway is amazing, but beware the bunkers.
Make birdie in front of the clubhouse patio and the post-round drink will be extra satisfying.
The old grain silo draws all the attention at No. 8, but don’t let the scenery distract you. This approach shot, influenced by two knobs (short-left and center-back), is one of Mapleton’s most intriguing and strategic.
Birdies are available on this one-of-a-kind par 4.
The par-4 opener offers a sneak peek at some key Mapletøn themes: wide fairways, dramatic contours, long views and — of course — spectacular sand.
Challenge the right side with a big drive and you can attack a horizon-line green, the largest on the course (9,300 sq ft).
One of the biggest & boldest greens opens the back 9 with a bang. The contouring is pure art.
Enhancing the drama, the tees are right off the clubhouse patio. Hit a good one and you can tip your hat to spectators. Hit a bad one and…well…you might hang your head in shame.
Every great course needs a punishing par 4 in the home stretch. Mapletøn’s 16th demands a golfer’s absolute best.
The target is a gorgeous green in the shadow of an old elm. To get there you must avoid tons of sand, including a huge waste bunker left.
Par is an achievement.
One of Mapleton’s signature natural features is Slip Up Creek, wiggling through the valley like a toddler’s pencil line.
The rippling water is the star of the show at the par-5 7th, where its strategic value matches its beauty.
1/2
On the course map, the 4th hole at Mapletøn looks simple enough. Benign.
340 from the back tees. A fairway stretching almost 80 yards wide. No major hazards or elevation change. Where’s the fun?
Then you step to the tee and behold a scene that looks foreign to Sioux Falls. 1/
No. 8 green now proudly sits to the right of the silo—a unique and striking feature that anchors the hole and preserves the history of the land it stands on. A before-and-after worth celebrating, where tradition meets world-class golf. #makingmapleton#golf2025
Meet Jason Oren, the heartbeat behind the Food & Beverage scene. He’s bringing the tunes, good times, and unforgettable flavors to your clubhouse experience.
https://t.co/CxizT9XfPi
#makingmapleton#golf2025
The first pin has officially been cut on No. 18 — a defining moment on the road to opening day. The countdown is on: 80 days to go, and the excitement is real. #MakingMapleton#Golf2025
@paultenhaken@AveraHealth Couldn’t agree more with the Mayor. It’s affordable and easy to schedule and takes very little time. Diagnostics are vital to your overall health and wellbeing.