New Faces, New Energy: Meet the Team Behind Lazy J Sporting Club's Next Chapter
If you've visited Lazy J Sporting Club recently, or you're planning your first trip to Ideal, SD, you're walking into a lodge with some serious new momentum behind it.
Earlier this year, Lazy J went through what our Director of Operations, Reagan Nielsen, calls "a total restructuring of the leadership" — and it's been, in her words, all for the best. In April and May of 2026, three new team members joined the Lazy J, and together they've hit the ground running.
The New Additions
Chef Adam joined in April 2026 and has completely transformed the food program at the lodge. What used to be a single dinner menu has grown into a full tiered system: lunch tiers, supper tiers, chicken and steak options, and a curated cocktail menu that leadership built together as a team. Adam's trial by fire came almost immediately: his first big event was our pre-sale dinner, and he had to turn out 125 steaks with barely two weeks on the job. He nailed it.
Troy Lantz came on as Outdoor Operations Leader the same month, and he's the one scouting locations, running safety protocols in the field, and doing the legwork on some of our newest additions, including dove hunting and the early stages of an in-house long-range shooting program.
Patrick Sanders, our Sales and Guest Experience Manager, joined in May. Originally from the Nebraska panhandle, Patrick brings a background in hospitality and sales, and he's the voice you'll hear if you call or fill out an inquiry on our website.
Leading the charge through all of it is Reagan Nielsen, who stepped into an unofficial role at the lodge in 2025 to help with HR before growing into the Director of Operations position as the team scaled. Reagan has been with Jorgensen Land & Cattle for just over two years and is Bryan Jorgensen's youngest daughter, meaning this isn't just a job for her, it's family history in the making.
Why It Matters
A brand-new team building something from the ground up could easily mean growing pains. Instead, what's emerged is steady, sustainable growth. Patrick describes the club's social media engagement as growing "month over month" with no boom-and-bust pattern, just consistent momentum.
That steadiness shows up everywhere: in the new AM/PM hunt blocks that maximize a guest's time in the field, in the redesigned website and inquiry system, and in the expanding calendar of monthly socials, seasonal dinners, and community events.
What's Next
This is a team that's already thinking years ahead, toward an 18-hole golf course still in development, an expanded long-range shooting program, and more community events designed to get people into the lodge simply to enjoy it.
As Reagan puts it, the goal has always been simple: get people into the lodge. Everything else...the hunts, the events, the menus, the cocktails...is in service of that.
Ready to see what the new team has built? Start planning your visit today.
