The golf courses at East Potomac Park, Langston and Rock Creek, all part of the National Park System, were created with a singular purpose in mind: to provide a space for sport and leisure of the utmost quality that would serve as the preeminent example of egalitarian recreation for all other American municipalities to follow.

“Thinking about public or municipal or people’s golf, or whatever you like to call it ... it might be said that the public courses that are to be made in the East Potomac Park at the capital of this country will be the chief of all public courses. They are at the head-quarters of the nation anyhow. Here then there should and will be something interesting.”

— Sam Solomon in THE AMERICAN GOLFER (April 1917)

Surrounded on three sides by the brackish remnants of the Chesapeake and settled inconspicuously in the heart of our Nation's capital sits an extraordinary strip of land known as East Potomac Park. This narrow peninsula is home to one of just three golfing properties situated within the boundaries of Washington, D.C..

Walter Travis - one of the premier golf course architects of the golden age – took inspiration from the Old Course at St. Andrews to design the original 18 holes next to the Potomac consistent with the city's aspirations for the park. The layout was designed to be reversible, creating exciting variety for golfers on a day-to-day basis and spreading out the wear and tear from the droves of golfers patronizing the popular course.

Washington DC’s second public golf facility at Rock Creek was designed by William Flynn. Flynn was a giant of early 20th century golf design, and would go on to design legendary courses such as Shinnecock Hills and Cherry Hills.

In contrast with Travis’ design at East Potomac, Rock Creek Golf Course was built to accentuate the character of the former farmland and hardwood forests.

Infrastructure investments such as the restoration of William Flynn’s original course routing, a new driving range and a Par-3 course for this centrally-located facility present a compelling opportunity to better serve the community and build a successful business that honors its original pedigree.

“In 2013, Langston golf was inducted into the National Black Golf Hall of Fame because ‘it stands as the enduring symbol of the struggle to find equality in golf for black Americans.’”

- National Park Service: A Historic Resource Study of National Park Service Golf Courses in the District of Columbia

Langston was built in 1939 on the west bank of the Anacostia River as a replacement for a nine-hole course that was the oldest golf course in the country built specifically for African Americans. The course is also home for the oldest African American men’s and women’s golf clubs in the United States. Langston’s history is directly tied to the desegregation of sport in our country. 

The course was managed by professional golfer Lee Elder, the first African American to play in the Masters and 2019 recipient of the USGA’s prestigious Bob Jones Award, from 1978 to 1981. Elder invested in improving the course, and added a driving range to make the facility more popular.

A renovated Langston will hopefully become the home course for the Howard University’s men’s and women’s golf teams The relaunch of Howard’s golf program has been made possible by a generous donation from NBA great Stephen Curry.