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Above : Langston ’ s bunkers before the renovation project . At right : D . C . congresswoman
Eleanor Holmes Norton at Langston ’ s Heritage Celebration in 2013 with Calvin Peete ,
Lee Elder and James Black .
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Thus began a collaborative effort between Golf Course Specialists and the Mid-Atlantic Association of Golf Course Superintendents to revive Langston , and specifically , its practice area that had fallen into disrepair .
A HISTORIC COURSE Langston opened in 1938 and was built at the insistence of Secretary of the Interior Harold Ickes during the administration of Franklin D . Roosevelt . In the era of segregation , Washington ’ s black golfers were not allowed to play the city ’ s other public courses , save for a threadbare facility near the National Mall with sand greens and dusty fairways .
The Civilian Conservation Corps and the Works Project Administration , both created as part of Roosevelt ’ s New Deal to provide jobs during the Depression , began construction starting in 1936 . The facility was named for John Mercer Langston , the first African-American from Virginia to serve in the U . S . Congress .
For more than 20 years , up until 1997 , there was some talk that the golf course would become a parking lot for RFK
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stadium , or that it would be the site for a new football stadium . Fortunately , neither happened .
Instead , over the years , Langston became a gathering point for African-American players all around D . C . and the nearby Maryland and Virginia suburbs . It attracted its share of celebrity African-American players , including boxer Joe Louis , entertainer Sammy Davis Jr . and musician Duke Ellington , not to mention playing professionals like Ted Rhodes , Jim Thorpe , Lee Elder and Calvin Peete .
Langston also played host to a number of tournaments on the old United Golf Association circuit , the only tour where black pros could play competitive golf ( for pitiful purses ) before the PGA of America eliminated its Caucasian-only clause in 1961 .
Now listed on the National Register of Historic Places , Langston has always been under the purview of the National Park Service , which owns the property . It ’ s never really been a significant priority , and the hoops that must be run through to get adequate funding to keep all three courses in prime condition has always been a problem .
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FINDING A SOLUTION When Thomas and Norton visited Langston , one need stood out more than most . Back in 1998 , the U . S . Golf Association Foundation gave the course a grant to construct what was then a state-of-the art short game practice area . Over the next 20 years , it was heavily utilized by The First Tee , not to mention the scores of players who blasted shots out of its seven bunkers , chipped to a practice green and worked on their putting virtually from dawn to dusk .
Two decades later , that area needed serious help . There was hardly any sand left in the bunkers and not much playable grass all around .
“ When we showed it to them ,” Thomas said of the World Golf Foundation , “ they liked the idea of renovating it . It was very visible , and it was an amenity that everyone could enjoy .”
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PHOTOS COURTESY LANGSTON GOLF COURSE |