ASHBURN, Va. — As soon as you crest the hill after Dulles Town Center heading west on Va. 7, toward the Va. 28 turn off, you can see them. The tall screens of the new entertainment center poke above the rolling hills, strung between towering poles, as construction enters the final stages before the Sept. 3 grand opening.
You may be familiar with TopGolf from its Alexandria, Virginia location. If that site is the stock model, the new site in Ashburn is the one with the V8, turbocharged engine power moon roof and 24-inch rims.
鈥淭hat ain鈥檛 TopGolf,鈥� jokes a grinning Kyle Rickman, the operations project manager in charge of getting this and one other new location up and running.
What Rickman means is that the Alexandria TopGolf 鈥� the very first in an empire that has expanded to 15 locations across the country and three more in the U.K., with 10 more planned to open in the near future 鈥� is dwarfed in size, scope and amenities by the new Loudoun County location.
Not only will the new three-level, 102-stall complex tower above its predecessor, it will have flat screen TVs at every turn (over 200 in all), a stage area for live entertainment, a 3,000 square foot party space and a game room downstairs with Xbox Kinect stations.
That鈥檚 where TopGolf leaves the traditional idea of what it means to play the sport behind, as its boisterous, multipronged entertainment approach shapes to changing priorities of a younger generation.
鈥淭opGolf is just a niche that any community needs, because it鈥檚 so much more than golf,鈥� says Willie Wilson, director of operations for Topgolf鈥檚 new Loudoun County facility.
鈥淚t鈥檚 just flat-out fun. It鈥檚 known to be a global sports entertainment community creating the best times of your life.鈥�
The genesis of that attitude can be seen at the company鈥檚 hiring events, one of which took place at the Embassy Suites in Ashburn Wednesday afternoon. Scheduled to run from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m., a dozen applicants are聽already filling out applications by a quarter to one. By the time the top of the hour strikes, dance music is聽blaring from inside the conference room, where hiring is taking place.
Current staff members and applicants alike gather in a circle. They pass a beanbag from one person to the other, the bearer of which steps to the middle of the circle and freestyles a dance, then passes the bag along. The crowd chants the person in the middle鈥檚 name, with extra loud cheers coming for shows of originality.
Suddenly, it makes sense why applicants are told to wear nametags on both the fronts and backs of their shirts.
One intrepid soul heads to the middle of the circle and flips into a headstand, losing a boat shoe in the process before spilling head over heels onto the carpet. The crowd goes wild.
Wilson laughs, having seen it all before. This is just the third of 14 recruitment events to fill 450 positions at the new complex. But Wilson鈥檚 been a part of the company for four years, working at the Alexandria site for the majority of that time before moving to Alpharetta, Georgia temporarily to help open that site. It鈥檚 clear that he buys into the culture the company had created, and has concrete opinions of why people should join his team.
鈥淏ecause we鈥檙e fun,鈥� he said. 鈥淲e believe in excellence. We believe in one team spirit; team together, team apart.鈥�
The next hiring event takes place from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturday, July 18.聽 and to register for the event. Advance registration is recommended, but not required, as events cap out at 300 applicants.
