We have seen this statistic floated around and we want to offer a correction. Our landscape plan for the new clubhouse and maintenance facility includes planting 200 native trees. Having listened to the concerns of certain members of the public and environmental organizations, we have volunteered to plant an additional 1,800 to 2,400 trees on the property (3-1 mitigation as compared to native or healthy trees being removed) that will result in a net gain in tree canopy (7.1 native acres added vs. 6.2 being removed many of which are harmful, invasive trees).

These specific efforts are in addition to the many environmental sustainability initiatives we will undertake at the rehabilitated Rock Creek Park Golf. These initiatives include planting 11.1 acres of meadow habitat to increase biodiversity of the property, using solar and geothermal energy, capturing and reusing rainwater for irrigation, and using the increased revenue to sustainably manage the forest and meadows.

As it stands, Rock Creek Park Golf is not a viable facility. Decades of deferred maintenance have resulted in the golf course barely being playable due to poor turf conditions. In fact, when National Links Trust took over in October of 2020, only nine holes were open as the back nine was completely overgrown. The lack of sunlight and airflow throughout the course, resulted in patchy grass coverage prone to erosion and sediment runoff. Tree removal will promote healthy turfgrass, providing quality playing conditions while reducing the need for chemical and other inputs and reduce erosion and runoff. Tree removal will also restore the historic landscape as recommended by the NPS in its Cultural Landscape Report (which governs the treatment of landscapes on the National Register of Historic Places) which notes the pastoral nature of the property when originally laid out by William Flynn. Tree removal is necessary to restore the architectural, historic, and cultural value of the landscape and ensures that the course can be a maintained in way that is attractive to all levels of golfers. The end result will be a facility that is economically viable, that will be able to actively manage the landscape and give back to the community through programming.

This information is incorrect. Rock Creek Park is federal land, so the designation of heritage trees does not apply. This specific designation refers to trees over 100 inches in circumference. In our project, only 57 trees of this size will be removed. We encourage everyone to learn more here.

Driving ranges are an essential tool for introducing people to the game as they are less difficult, less time consuming, and less costly to use than playing a round of golf.

The new driving range at Rock Creek will also greatly contribute to the facility’s bottom line. As an example of the importance of a driving range to the economics of our golf courses, the driving range at East Potomac currently generates over 25% of the total revenue for our entire three course operation. The revenue from the Rock Creek driving range will allow National Links Trust to plant trees, install and maintain much needed meadow habitat, actively remove invasive plants, create new jobs for District residents, and run programs like the Jack Vardaman Workforce Development Program.

This concern has been a point of emphasis for NLT throughout the design process. The lighting at the facility will use DarkSky compliant fixtures where possible, limit light spill off the site, use targeted lighting, limit intensity and amount to the minimum necessary, use 3000 kelvin (or less) fixtures, and will utilize a timer that will shut off the lights approximately two hours after sunset never going past 10 pm. Between these efforts and the natural topography, we anticipate no light spill off property. The National Park Service has a strong desire to meet Dark Sky guidelines and we are working together to move this forward.

As a young non-profit organization, we did what we believe is best practice – trust the experts and ask those who are more experienced. This starts with the National Park Service who have been our steadfast partners in this process. It also includes experienced contractors who we have hired to help navigate the compliance and approvals process.

Yes. We are a non-profit organization, and our goal is to deliver on our mission without passing the costs associated with the projects onto our customers. Affordability is a central tenet to our mission and will always remain so. We believe in maximizing accessibility to the game and doing what we can to lessen financial barriers is crucial to this. We do not currently have projected prices but given our current commitment to affordability at all three of our courses, we know our community trusts our intentions. Additionally, we have partnered with Youth on Course, an organization that provides access to golf for juniors at $5 per round.

We have been disheartened to see our inclusive vision for the future of Rock Creek Park Golf as a subject of misinformation from detractors. Specifically, some groups have said that this project only engaged stakeholders of which “85% are white” and only “10% are women”. We simply do not know where these numbers came from. As anyone who has spent time at our facilities can attest, these numbers certainly do not reflect the demographics of our everyday patrons.

What we do know is that golf on a national level is becoming more diverse. The National Golf Foundation notes that there has been a 25% increase in golf participation for women over the last five years and a 27% increase in golf participation for people of color in the last five years. In Washington, DC we have done an even better job in engaging these typically underrepresented segments of the game. For women, we have a 15% higher participation rate than the national average. For people of color, we have a 70% higher participation rate than the national average. Last year, 80% of those who participated in beginner golf programs at our courses last year were women. These statistics show that our facilities are utilized by a diverse range of people who trust our ability to deliver on our mission.

No. As a result of this project, there will actually be less fertilizers and chemicals required to maintain turf at the facility. This is due to increased sunlight and airflow on the turf due to healthily maintained forest edges and using modern turf grass that requires fewer inputs.

Currently, the facility contains three distinct vegetative areas: maintained turf, degraded forest, and a small amount of unmaintained meadow area. Following the project, there will be five distinct and well-maintained vegetative areas: maintained turf, healthy forest, pollinator meadow, native successional meadow, and native grass meadow. The introduction of intentionally established pollinator and native meadows will actually increase the diversity of habitat on the site and therefore increase biodiversity.

NLT will use the revenue from the improved offerings at the facility to actively manage the entirety of the landscape led by the dedicated maintenance team and supported by NLT community volunteers. This is work that we, along with the Rock Creek Weed Warriors, have been doing at a small scale for the last few years, and we are excited to greatly expand the scope of this management.

As a result of increased revenue at the facilities, NLT will fund the planting and maintenance of these crucial meadow vegetative areas. The expanded maintenance crew will oversee much of this work much as they do at golf courses all across the world where managing meadows and forest edges is common practice. For context, the current revenue of the course barely supports a maintenance staff of two people but, after the renovation, it will support a staff of at least ten people. When appropriate, we will supplement this core effort by partnering with local environmental organizations, engaging with our volunteer community, pursuing grants and other private fundraising, and hiring third-party invasive management experts where necessary.

A number of factors are in play here. Restoring the original front nine is an impossibility. When Military Road was expanded in the 1950s, three Flynn holes on the front nine were lost and a number of others were combined into the nine that are there today. Due to decades of neglect, the back nine has become almost entirely overgrown with some corridors narrowing to such an extent that the tree canopy from either side almost touches. Restoring these nine holes was an option that was seriously considered but ultimately, NLT decided not to do this as it would require even more extensive tree removal (to ensure adequate playability and turf conditions) and less biodiversity than the current plan.

Instead, we propose to convert some of these corridors into much needed meadow to increase habitat and biodiversity for the site and for Rock Creek Park as a whole. A par 3 course is proposed for the other unused corridors on the back nine as this will allow golfers to play in and amongst the trees with minimal tree removal as the maintenance footprint of each par three is a fraction of a regulation hole.

The end result of this process is a plan that includes A) a regulation course using the corridors and green sites selected by Flynn that highlights both the pastoral nature of the historic front nine (holes 1-5 on the proposed course) and the more wooded back nine (holes 6-9 of the proposed course), B) a par 3 course using the corridors and some of the green sites from Flynn’s original design while minimizing maintained turf grass area amongst the trees, C) a driving range that provides the economic engine to fund community programming and comprehensive maintenance of the facility, and D) an ecologically diverse and healthy landscape throughout the property and specifically in the corridors of long-unused Flynn holes. While not a complete restoration, we believe that the plan faithfully pays homage to Flynn’s use of the property.

It is important to note that this project comes at zero cost to taxpayers. NLT has taken on the responsibility of paying for this project through private philanthropy and operations.

A rehabilitated Rock Creek Park Golf will provide free or low-cost recreation options and employment opportunities for area residents, as well as access to our workforce development program and college scholarships for kids and teens in the community. In addition to affordable golf, a driving range, and restaurant, there will be a number of free recreation options including a putting course (think miniature golf but on grass!), multi-use trails, beginner golf clinics, and a picnic pavilion. It will allow those who do not play golf to come to an inclusive facility and have access to greenspace.

For kids and teens, we will establish a Jack Vardaman Workforce Development Proram cohort and offer both internship and caddie positions. As a result, even more kids and teens from the community will learn valuable job and life skills and be shown a pathway to full college scholarships through the Western Golf Association’s Evans Scholar Program. We produced our first Evans Scholar through the Vardaman Program this past year – a first-generation college student who otherwise would not have been able to afford college. NLT has also partnered with First Tee – Greater Washington, DC to provide increased space for their programs as a result of this project. Through this, they will triple the impact they have on kids and teens in the community. Additionally, NLT will host free clinics to introduce youth to the game on a regular basis.

We have highlighted our sustainability initiatives on this page. In addition to these, we want to highlight how we will reuse felled trees in an effort towards carbon sequestration. Chips from these trees will be used on-site for soil augmentation and plantings, and NLT will partner with Baltimore Fallen Lumber to produce 97,000 board feet of lumber to be used architecturally and for furniture. The voluntary planting of 1,800 – 2,400 trees will further address this issue as young forest sequesters more carbon due to density and rapid growth.

Our plan results in significant reduction in soil erosion and sediment run-off into Rock Creek through rain gardens, healthy turf coverage, meadow grasses, and other stormwater management techniques.