The Drive to Revitalize Municipal Golf Will Begin in Washington
A plan to renovate the three public courses in the nation’s capital is just the first wave of a massive campaign.
An aerial view of the Langston Golf Course on the Anacostia River.
Source: National Park Service
At the historic Langston Golf Course in Washington, the portable hand-washing stations are either broken or bone-dry. The asphalt cart paths, worn by time and use, are mostly chunks and dust. When I visited in February, a snow shovel lay beside the tee marker of the second hole for no apparent reason other than to clear, if you wished, what appeared to be an almost intentional ground cover of goose droppings over every brown blade of dormant Bermuda grass.
Yet for all this disrepair and neglect, dozens of golfers were walking the course that Saturday afternoon, letting out familiar groans over narrowly missed putts and cheers of joy from the simple pleasure of bending a small ball to one’s will and skill.