Va. Golf Club Built to Cater to Affluent Opens to All

After Failing to Attract Enough Members, Exclusive Presidential Bought and Remade Into Public Course

Fred Kent had always wanted to take a few swings at the members-only golf course in Ashburn named the Presidential. Like other Northern Virginia golfers, he admired its rolling hills, bunkers and myriad water hazards amid the skyscrapers and office parks of the Route 28 corridor.

Yesterday, Kent finally got to swat a bucket of balls on the course's driving range. That's because an exclusive club built for deep-pocketed executives has been thrown open to the public.

"I always drove by here and was a little disappointed that I couldn't play," said Kent, a medical specialist, as he practiced during a midafternoon work break. "Now that I'm here, it's exciting."

The Presidential has reopened under a new name -- the 1757 Golf Club (named for the year Loudoun County was founded) -- and new management. Billy Casper Golf, based in Vienna, which manages more than 100 courses in 25 states, announced last week that it had signed a long-term lease to manage the course. So far, almost 500 golfers have tried out the driving range. About a dozen tee times for the club's nine-hole course are scheduled for a tentative opening Friday.

Gone is the promise of an exclusive golfing getaway for executives from the Dulles area. In its place is a public-access course with competitive prices.

The Presidential had opened in May 2008 to fanfare, with membership limited to 150 companies that agreed to pay $60,000 a year for access to the course and 16,000-square-foot clubhouse.

Big names signed up, including Ted Leonsis, the former AOL executive who now owns a majority of the Washington Capitals hockey team, and former Washington Redskins football cornerback Darrell Green.

But by September, the Presidential had shuttered, a victim of a worsening economy. More than a dozen contractors filed liens, saying they were owed for work on the $40 million first phase of the project.

For months, the club went unused. Now it is open again, with notable changes. A small bucket of balls for the driving range costs $7; a large bucket is $12. Nine holes, with a cart, will cost $39. The full 18-hole course is slated to be finished by spring 2010.

"The old owners had a business model that was risky. It was a niche," said Joel Gohlmann, Virginia regional manager for Billy Casper Golf. "This is an excellent course with some great amenities, so for us, it's a no-brainer."

The Presidential was not the first private course in Loudoun to undergo a makeover. Creighton Farms, an 18-hole course near Aldie, is under new management after the luxury hotel chain Ritz-Carlton attracted only about a fifth of the desired membership. In addition, developer Donald Trump last month scooped up the 800-acre Lowes Island Golf Club in Sterling and renamed it Trump National. To boost its appeal, Trump has promised better food, a new fitness center, improved caddie service and extended hours for child care.

As a private course, the Presidential was modeled after the Fiddler's Elbow Country Club in New Jersey, a prime spot for Manhattan financiers. A golf academy and meeting rooms equipped with WiFi and video conferencing were built. DullesWest Properties purchased land on the course's eastern border, a part of the old WorldCom campus, to build an adjacent office park and high-end hotel.

But in the year the club opened, the economy tanked.

Joe Rice, chief marketing officer of the National Golf Course Owners Association in Charleston, S.C., said golfers across the country are flocking to lower-priced courses, leaving private clubs in a scramble to hold their own. Destination courses in tourist hot spots, such as Arizona, Florida and the Carolinas, have been hit the hardest, according to data collected last month, Rice said.

The newly public course along Waxpool Road is a welcome sight for the cost-conscious golfer, enthusiasts say. "It's definitely worth it now," Kent said. "Not that it wasn't before. But we can afford it now."