Belle Haven Country Club Driving Range Project (2004)

W.B. Hopke Co. was founded in 1956 and for more than 67 years has distinguished itself as one of the most trusted wet utility contractors in the Washington-Metro area. As they reflect about their years in business, they thought it would be nice to revisit and share some of the interesting projects that meant so much to Hopke and our clients and that helped Hopke become the company they are today.

Belle Haven Country Club Driving Range Project – Things have changed for the better at Belle Haven Country Club, located in Alexandria, VA. In 2004, the clubhouse was rebuilt, and where it was situated did not allow much in the way of parking as it shared space with the existing driving range. So, the board decided to approve the expansion of a new parking lot and move the driving range.

Fortunately for Belle Haven, it owned several unused acres at the South-Eastern end of the property. The land had been purchased 40-50 years earlier and almost forgotten. The unused acreage bordered the outer loop of the Beltway and over the years had become a dumping ground by local homeowners and construction companies. In fact, it was littered with debris from the construction of I-495.

Mike Hopke, an avid golfer and still a member at Belle Haven Country Club, remembers it well and said, “The property was a mess and required a lot of work. Apart from being a dumping ground for old couches, refrigerators and other construction debris, the property was located at the lowest end, and situated in the flood zone near the Potomac River. It was very muddy and soggy.”

To allow room for the range, the board decided to re-arrange some of the existing holes on the golf course and to make use of the forgotten acreage. Because of their expertise in the wet utilities and drainage business, W.B. Hopke was hired to do the work.

Mike said, “It took quite a bit of work to remove all of the debris that had accumulated over 50 years. Once we removed the debris, we had to contend with terrible drainage and water issues. We did the grading, took appropriate steps to complete the drainage to help control the flooding conditions and we added irrigation lines to the range. Today we have a driving range with rich green grass, and it is 300 yards long.”

Contact W.B. Hopke about a career in utility installation and site work at 703-971-0404 or info@wbhopke.com.