Suite Shots to open this spring after $5 million upgrade in Jenks
By Ken MacLeod
A $5 million facilities renovation and a new operator later, the former FlyingTee and GolfSuites facility at Jenks Riverwalk will reopen in April or May as Suite Shots, the second venue for a Fargo, N.D. group.
Both OneFire, the holding company for the Muscogee Creek Nation which owns and operates Riverwalk, and the principals of Suite Shots hope the third time is the charm for the three-story, 60-bay eatertainment facility after both Flying Tee and Golf Suites left over lease payment disputes with OneFire.
Suite Shots, started by PGA professional Mark Johnson and his brother Chuck Johnson, now the Chief Operating Office as well as co-owner, is a similar facility, also with three stories of 20 temperature controlled bays each. It also has indoor simulator suites that will not be part of the setup in Jenks.
What the new Suite Shots will have is a boutique casino, an extension of the nearby RiverSpirit Resort & Casino operated by the Creek Nation. It will consist of 36 slot machines on the ground floor. There will still be four bars, an outdoor putting green, restaurant and greatly expanded meeting space to host larger corporate events.
FlyingTee opened in 2016 and changed over to GolfSuites in November of 2019. GolfSuites, based in Riverview, Fla., was evicted in April of 2024 with OneFire suing GolfSuites for $2 million in unpaid lease payments. In September it secured a judgement of $5.1 million against GolfSuites for breach of its lease. It is not known how much if any of that judgement has been collected.
Under the new arrangement, OneFire will finance all the $5 million in improvements and Suite Shots will be hired as an operator rather than as a lessee. Improvements include a net net, new turf and nine targets on the outdoor range, Top Tracer swing technology in every booth, wind guards every fourth booth. The entire range area is undergoing extensive renovation, with new table tops and couches. Reinforced Callaway clubs will be available on the range and golfers can still bring their own clubs to use.
Customers will still be able to play courses from around the world but Chuck Johnson said more popular in Fargo are games such as Angry Birds Golf, in which golfers hit at targets to launch angry birds on the screen in imitation of the popular video game. He also stressed that the Fargo facility, which opened in 2021, has done well with juniors, league play, women’s groups and corporate outings.
The venue is expected to hire at least 150 employees. A new website was launched this week and is https://suiteshotsjenks.com/
Lane Castleberry, the marketing and special projects director for Onefire Holding Company whose purview includes promoting Riverwalk, said all options were on the table after the GolfSuites ending, including razing the building and putting in apartments. But the preference was to keep it as a golf facility and an anchor for Riverwalk at the north end much as Los Cabos Mexican Grill is at the south end, benefitting everyone in between.
Also planned to open at Riverwalk this spring are a District Burger and School of Rock franchise. The center will be 80 percent occupied at that point, Castleberry said.
Chuck Johnson said his group is thrilled with the arrangement and excited to be opening in Jenks this spring. His company has two other venues under construction but the Jenks location will be their second establishment.
