Tony Cacchiotti wasn’t familiar with Golfland when he first began considering buying the business. However, he has friends from the Tri-Cities who grew up on its greens and driving range, honing their skill and love of the game.

He and his wife, Laynie, bought Golfland in January and have since dived into running the golf park located just west of the Tri-Cities Airport at the corner of Argent Road and Road 40.

The couple have made some small tweaks and brought on a new staffer to keep the grounds at their best. But their overall plans are to further cement Golfland’s role as an accessible option for beginning golfers.

“It’s family friendly and affordable, and we plan to keep it that way,” Tony Cacchiotti told the Tri-Cities Area Journal of Business.

Entrepreneur dream

Tony Cacchiotti grew up in Yakima and that’s where he and his wife were when he started looking to buy a business, a goal he had long envisioned. He previously trained and worked as a pharmacist but “found out healthcare wasn’t for me.”

In late 2025, he came across a listing for an unnamed golf facility for sale that turned out to be Golfland. After looking more into the operation, the Cacchiottis made an offer for the facility and moved to the Tri-Cities. The sale price was not disclosed.

While Tony Cacchiotti said he enjoys playing golf, that wasn’t the primary driver behind buying Golfland.

“The Tri-Cities is a good growing market for small business,” he said.

Affordable greens

Before the Cacchiottis, Golfland was owned and operated by Justine VerMulm and her husband, who bought it in 2020 from Bill and Donna McIntyre, who are VerMulm’s grandparents. They owned it for 27 years and largely developed the facility into what it is today.

Today, Golfland offers a nine-hole course alongside its driving range, chipping area and putting green, all squeezed onto a roughly 28-acre lot leased from the Port of Pasco. A bucket of 25 balls for the driving range comes in at just under $6.50 while a round of 9 holes is for just under $21, both about two-thirds the rates for similar play at other area golf courses.

Golfland does have a membership program, but it’s fairly small, Tony Cacchiotti said, and there are no tee times. Rather, patrons just drive up, park in the gravel lot outside the office and pop in to buy a pass before getting on the green.

“You can come anytime and that can make it crowded,” Tony Cacchiotti said. He added that about 300 to 400 players use the grounds on a Saturday while about 150 to 200 stop in on weekdays to hit a few balls during their lunch or on the way home from work.

A practice facility

Since the Cacchiottis don’t have experience managing a golf course, their new grounds superintendent oversees the greens and puts their current payroll at five employees.

“We’ve gotten a lot of compliments on how the grounds look,” Tony Cacchiotti said.

The new owners want to lean into Golfland’s role as a practice facility with grass rather than artificial turf. They now post the yardage of where the colored flags on the driving range are so golfers can get a sense for their range and work to improve.

So far, business has been doing well, thanks to a relatively warm winter that led more golfers to tee up than usual. And Tony Cacchiotti is definitely enjoying his new job that gets him outside more and allows more flexibility with his young family.

“This is kind of my vibe,” he said.

Pasco Golfland: 2901 N. Road 40 in Pasco; Pascogolfland.com; 509-544-9291; Facebook.