Coppell Chronicle Vol. 5, No. 29
Coppell’s Only Golf Course Has Been Sold • Neighboring Cities Link Their Water Lines • Humane Society Seeks Fosters and Funds • Planners Deem Goodwill Proposal a Bad Idea
Coppell’s Only Golf Course Has Been Sold
Riverchase Golf Club has a new owner, even though there’s scant online evidence of a sale.
Coppell’s only golf course is still listed on the website of Encore Leisure Group, the San Antonio firm that has managed Riverchase since 2014. And the associated records on the Dallas Central Appraisal District’s website have not yet been updated. But Encore CEO Dale Folmar confirmed via email that his firm sold the course last month, although he could not provide any other details due to the terms of the purchase-and-sale agreement and a confidentiality agreement.
It was one year ago this week that I reported Riverchase Golf Club was on the market. At that time, Folmar said the initial asking price was $4.5 million.
(See “Coppell’s Only Golf Course Could be Yours” in Vol. 4, No. 29.)
A Chronicle subscriber made me aware of the course’s availability last year, and a different subscriber informed me last week that it had been sold. That second subscriber, who frequently visits Riverchase, was told by a course employee that the new owner’s name is Yuki Sasada.
Sasada owns at least one other golf course: Willows Run Golf Complex in suburban Seattle. It’s not hard to find news articles about him buying that course in 2019 under the name Sasada Sports International; one report says the purchase price was $11.3 million. Sasada is listed as the general manager on the Willows Run website.
Meanwhile, the Daily Commercial Record published this notice last week:
“Application has been made with the Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission for a Mixed Beverage Permit with Food and Beverage Certificate Required for MYS Riverchase, LLC dba Riverchase Golf Club at 700 Riverchase Dr, Coppell, Dallas County, Texas 75019. Yuki Sasada - Manager”
My attempts to reach Sasada and ask him about his plans for Riverchase have been unsuccessful so far. He reportedly made improvements at Willows Run after taking over there, and I’m sure local golfers are hoping he’ll do the same here. Based on recent reviews, there’s nowhere to go but up.
This comment was posted on Riverchase’s Facebook page in April: “The condition of the course, since first playing there, never changes. Poor cart paths that jar any back, strong or not. Weeds half inch to well over a foot are everywhere. If not in the fairway, the rough is U.S. Open deep. … I don’t know who owns the course, but they should be ashamed for its consistent poor ratings.”
This review was uploaded to Google Maps a couple of months ago: “The fairways were overgrown to the point where they looked and felt like rough at most other courses. The greens were in equally poor shape — patchy, slow, and sandy, making them nearly unplayable. Dry spots and what I can only describe as ‘sand canyons’ ran across several greens, making putting an exercise in frustration. It’s clear that basic maintenance hasn’t been done in quite some time.”
A Yelp reviewer had this to say last month: “Course is in awful condition. Paths are a hazard. Have to carry your clubs a long way if you just want to use the range. And the price they have the audacity to charge is outrageous. Used to be decent. Far from it now.”
Neighboring Cities Link Their Water Lines
Did you know that every drop of water emanating from the faucets, hoses, and showerheads throughout Coppell is transmitted via one 36-inch pipe? If something interrupts our flow of H2O from Dallas Water Utilities, it’s a major problem.
This summer, contractors hired by the city have been working on establishing emergency water interconnects at Coppell’s borders with Grapevine and Lewisville. This means if our traditional water supply was unavailable, we would be able to tap into those cities’ supplies, and vice versa.