Odessa Golf & RV has new owners

ODESSA – As of Jan. 4, 2021, Odessa Golf and RV has new owners. D & H Rentals, LLC, a local Odessa company, has purchased the business. A second local business, Odessa Farm Links, LLC, has been established by Dillon Jahns and Hannah Schmidt to lease the golf course and RV park and manage all related operations.

The two say they have plans to keep up with the current level of maintenance that has garnered much attention since Jahns began working at the course in 2013. His love of golf, as well as his family’s work in construction and irrigation systems, gave him a good background for his employment at Odessa Golf and RV. The past year has been tough with all of the pandemic-related restrictions resulting in canceled tournaments and clubhouse events. But both Jahns and Schmidt are optimistic about the future. Even though revenue was down in 2020, it was not absent, as people were able to maintain social distancing while golfing. And many folks from out of town came to Odessa to golf, they said, because courses in Spokane, for example, were too crowded for some of them. Since golf was about the only sporting event left for folks to pursue after the pandemic hit, courses kept busy despite the lack of tournaments.

At the clubhouse, staff members quickly adapted to governmental restrictions and offered take-out service or limited indoor seating when that was still allowed. The course and clubhouse stayed open a month past their usual closing date, Schmidt said, but they found that the cooler weather led to quite a drop in revenue that final month.

Jahns is a native of Othello, where his father David was a long haul trucker who opened his own construction business in 1986, while his mother handled the accounting side of things. Dillon is the youngest of four siblings. He and his two older brothers, Jacob and Davey, all worked in the family business at one time or another. His sister Danielle is married to Joel Hardung and lives in Odessa. Furthering his education and his love of golf, Jahns attended Southwestern College in Coos Bay, Ore., where he played golf and studied general business. The 10-11 hour drive to see family prompted him to transfer to Columbia Basin College in Pasco, so he could resume working in the family business.

Schmidt is a native of Odessa, the daughter of Lynn Schmidt and Shari Goetz. She is a 2014 graduate of Odessa High School and completed her Bachelor’s Degree in Criminal Justice at Central Washington University in Ellensburg. After college, she returned to Odessa, helping out with her family’s farming operation, working at the golf course part time and then working full time for the accounting firm of Leffel, Otis & Warwick. Sitting behind a desk all day did not appeal to her in the long run, so she submitted her resignation and returned to the golf course.

As her friendship with Dillon Jahns developed, so did their ideas about owning and operating the golf course together. Negotiations began several months ago regarding purchase of the business from the group of investors that owned it. All of the legal paperwork was signed on Jan. 4, 2021, and this young couple joined the ranks of Odessa business owners.

We wish them every success.