to Owatonna

By PRESTON MEIER Guest Writer

With all the different parks and outdoor entertainment options, there is never a dull moment when summer time hits in Owatonna. However, it’s a different story in the winter when many of these places are inaccessible or forced to close due to frigid weather.

Golf is one of the most popular summer activities in Owatonna. Having three courses spread across the city makes it open to players of all skill levels. But, when courses have to shut down during the winter, it leaves no local place for golfers to escape to.

With the sport having such a large following, many people desire the ability to play during every season, rain or shine. These golfers are really left with two options —travel around Minnesota to find a golf simulator or hang up the clubs until nice weather comes around. This is the problem Jesse Sletten, James Harsma, Shawn Sundine and Blake Krueger set out to solve.

The group of four are avid golf players that often play together. During every offseason, they noticed the staggering lack of options for indoor golf. This year, they will be bringing indoor golf to the city of Owatonna.

“It started with us just looking for places to play golf during the winter,” Harsma explained. “We were traveling around and there are lots of options outside of Owatonna to play at. It really came down to us not wanting to drive places to play indoor golf.”

Inside Swing is the name of the indoor golf simulator business, which is set to open on Sept. 1 of this year. It will be located on W Bridge St. in the Bridge Street Center — specifically in the former location of Torey’s Restaurant and Bar before the establishment moved downtown years ago. The business will feature four stalls of high definition golf simulators that can be reserved or will be available for walk-ins. There will also be a full bar with bar seating and weekly drink specials.

The idea to open the business really sparked with the group after developing simulators of their own. They worked on a design at Sletten’s home and realized that they could provide it to the public.

“We built a couple of our own iterations at my place,” Sletten said. “Some of our clients at James and I’s other business found out that we had built some at my house, so then we did some drawings and designed a few different simulators.”

With how big the game of golf has become in Owatonna, Harsma and the other owners believe that it will not be a challenge to fill up the stalls once the business opens.

“I think there is a large group of people that play golf in Owatonna,” Harsma said. “It’s a big enough city to where it seems silly that there’s not [a simulator]. The fact that just us as a group of people were looking for a place to do that, shows there is demand.”

Inside Swing will also be par tnering up with another business to share the space and offer a unique experience. Basilleo’s Pizza Restaurant will also be opening in the same building, providing a full italian menu with carry out or dine in options and a separate dining area away from the bar and golf simulators.

Tom Lester has been the owner of Basilleo’s for five years and never anticipated opening a location in Owatonna. Currently, the restaurant only has one location, which is in Faribault, but Lester said the partnership with Inside Swing is what made him want to expand.

“Partnering up with them was the reason why I decided to come and help them work on it,” Lester said. “I wasn’t planning on opening a location here by myself, but having someone that helps us definitely was a key factor.”

Although they are two separate businesses, Inside Swing and Basilleo’s will work together hand and hand. There will be a constant flow of customers within the building that will attract people to each business. Harsma believes the restaurant will provide a welcoming environment throughout the entire building.

“We’re gonna help each other, it’s going to be a good relationship,” Harsma said. “There will be people coming in to pick up a pizza or have dinner and see what we have to offer then maybe a few days later, they come back and play a round.”

The owners have high hopes for Inside Swing when it first opens. With the help of Brooktree Golf Course, they plan to start hosting weekly golf leagues within the first year of opening.

Although there are many different parts of the business, the overall goal is to provide a top tier simulator experience for all the golfers in Owatonna.

“The biggest thing that we want to accomplish is to provide the capacity for inside simulators in the winter for the community of Owatonna,” Sletten said. “We don’t want people to have to leave town or decide they just aren’t going to swing the sticks over the wintertime.”

Construction of Inside Swing is currently underway preparing for its opening in September. The business plans to be open seven days a week, all day with extended hours on Friday and Saturday.