A timeline hasn’t crystallized yet, but the owner of Reston National Golf Course is preparing to embark in earnest on a long-debated overhaul.
War Horse Cities, which has owned the 168-acre golf course property at 11875 Sunrise Valley Drive since 2019, formally launched its “RNGC Evolution 18” initiative at an open house on June 19, outlining plans to renovate the golf facilities, while also allowing housing development on a 14-acre portion of land.
Representatives of War Horse Cities, golf operations manager KemperSports and designer Quitno Golf Designs made the case that the existing 18-hole, publicly accessible course is in desperate need of upgrades after nearly six decades of operations.
While some community members have accused the property owner of “running [the course] into the ground” to make a feared redevelopment more palatable, KemperSports Vice President of Operations Matt Lindley said spending on maintenance and renovations has increased “dramatically” since his team was hired by War Horse in July 2020.
Seeking to improve course conditions and address concerns about the pace of play, Reston National undertook a “significant” renovation of the clubhouse and has prioritized updating its golf equipment, replacing almost its entire fleet of golf carts in the past five years.
“If you remember the old clubhouse, there was a lot of wood paneling, it was dark and … almost looked like a dungeon when I first walked in there,” Lindley said. “It looks a lot different now. They completely rebuilt the kitchen to where we’re able to service and offer a much different menu for the players.”
However, much of the course’s underlying infrastructure has barely changed since it opened in 1970. According to Lindley, the irrigation is “frankly on its last leg,” and soil compaction and drainage issues have become more persistent in recent years.
So many golf balls have been squished into the turf over the years that digging two feet under the driving range would reveal nothing but golf balls, War Horse Cities founder and Reston National owner Scott Plank told FFXnow.
“It’s the number one reason why you can’t grow grass there, among other things,” he said.
Piecemeal replacements are no longer sufficient, according to the property owner and manager.
“Despite all of our ongoing maintenance practices, we’ve gotten to a point where we can’t go any further,” Lindley said. “We need to really invest back into the golf course in order to get these conditions and get the surface and the subsurface of the turf [to a] quality, where we can maintain it consistently on a day-in and day-out basis.”
In addition to installing new sprinklers, greens, fences and maintenance facilities, the planned renovation will reconfigure several holes to make room for the new housing and additional amenities, including a dedicated short course and practice area for junior golfers.
Other proposed upgrades include a two-story driving range and putting green with lighted targets, along with new food and drink options, both in the clubhouse and in a new “Back 9 Grill” near the 12th and 13th holes, as detailed in a Planned Residential Community (PRC) Plan currently under review by Fairfax County staff.
The redesign will have the biggest impact on the first, eighth and ninth holes, essentially switching the front and back nine, Quitno Golf Design founder and president Todd Quitno said at the open house. However, he assured golfers in attendance that the “same quality of holes” will be maintained.
“The goal of all of this from the golf course itself is to keep 18 holes, to keep par above 70, to maintain as much yardage as we possibly can, and to deliver you guys the same great product that you’ve had here for decades,” Quitno said.
According to Plank, the renovations will amount to “millions of dollars of work,” and allowing housing on a portion of the property will enable War Horse to fund the project without passing on the costs to players by increasing fees or fully privatizing the course.
Developer NVR Homes has been enlisted to build 306 stacked townhomes on the western edge of the property — an area that War Horse Cities claims has been zoned for residential development since 1966.
War Horse had previously proposed a full redevelopment of the golf course, replacing it with housing and 81 acres of open recreational space for public use. But after the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors declined to consider that plan multiple times, the property owner decided to pivot.
“This path’s been here since 1970,” Plank said. “We thought that it would be worthwhile to look at other paths that might be interesting to the community. This is the path that we’re going to work on now. This is the path we’re going to execute.”
The PRC Plan application states that the development would include 18 designated affordable dwelling units, but a Reston National spokesperson told FFXnow that NVR will build “34 homes affordable to county residents such as schoolteachers, health care workers and other Restonians.”
FFXnow has asked for clarification. As of press time, the application’s status is listed in the county’s land use database as “waiting for resubmission.”
With the PRC Plan application still under review, the project team hasn’t determined a start date for construction, but they hope the golf course renovations will only affect one playing season, potentially starting in the winter to allow seed and grass work during the summer.
“Obviously, some holes will have to come out of play, and we’ll work around that,” Lindley said. “We’ll find ways to maneuver people around, but always, always, always give people access to the golf course, and we’ll price it accordingly, and maintain those holes [in] as good a condition as we can throughout the process.”
Plank indicated that the course renovations and housing construction would be coordinated, possibly taking place simultaneously.
“We want to make sure that we’re doing it the most efficient way possible and thoughtful with the least impact,” he said. “So, we think the best way for the least impact is do it all the same time.”
Before they can put shovels in the ground, War Horse Cities and NVR Homes still need to obtain Fairfax County’s approval. The PRC Plan is scheduled to go to the county’s planning commission on Sept. 23 for a public hearing that will likely draw plenty of passionate testimony.
Reston Association’s board of directors voted at a late June meeting to actively oppose the development of housing on Reston National’s property. Though the golf course and potential homes aren’t governed by it, there are 1,080 households adjacent to the property that would be affected and are members of RA, according to a staff memo.
“Should this development be approved, residents in these homes would experience a significantly different way of life with new factors including traffic, noise, and light in their community,” RA staff said, also citing ecological and stormwater impacts and the maintenance of native plant and wildlife species in the area as concerns.
Plank said the natural habitat currently preserved on the golf course “is important to us.” The PRC Plan identifies tree preservation areas and proposed new tree and shrub plantings, but doesn’t specify that the species will be native to Fairfax County.
