Jason and Kaari Speer Purchase Balmoral Golf Course in Battle Lake

BATTLE LAKE, MN (KDLM) – Jason and Kaari Speer purchased the Balmoral Golf Course in Battle Lake from John and Karen Young for $2.2 million, according to a Minnesota Department of Revenue filing.

“It was definitely part of the decision,” said Young, a PGA member of 28 years. “Knowing that Kaari and her family were going to run her and own her made it easier because we know we’re leaving her in good hands,” he said.

Kaari worked for John at Balmoral while she was in college. Speer earned four letters while playing golf for Augustana from 2005 to 2009, then became an assistant coach for the Vikings.

“We are both avid golfers and we decided to take the opportunity to buy the course. We thought it was a very solid business,” Kaari said.

Jason and Kaari, who are from Henning and Battle Lake, returned to the area about five years ago. In 2020, the couple purchased and renovated the Vining Palace Bar and Grill to secure its place in the community. But the bar didn’t suit the couple’s lifestyle of raising young children, so they sold it to make way for the purchase of Balmoral Golf Course in January 2023.

Balmoral is an 18 hole course which was built in 1961 and designed by Arnold Hemquist. Kaari’s grandfather helped the original owners fund the original course.