Update 10/2/20: The National Park Service has made things official, announcing Friday that it signed a 50-year lease with National Links Trust (NLT) to manage three public golf courses in the District. Starting Monday, October 5, NLT will take over operations at East Potomac, Langston, and Rock Creek golf courses.

The announcement marks the end of a long and complicated process to find a new company to operate and improve the conditions of the courses. NLT’s plans include a number of renovations, including refurbished 18-hole courses and driving ranges, and new practice areas and putting courses.

“We are very excited to take on the stewardship of these remarkable properties, and are fully confident that our plans, which will be implemented over the next several years, will substantially benefit both golfers and the surrounding communities,” Michael McCartin, co-founder of NLT, said in a statement. “We are grateful to the National Park Service for this opportunity and pleased that they have placed their trust in our team.”

Original 6/25:

The National Parks Service has found a new organization to operate three historic golf courses in D.C. after a competitive bidding process that began last July, ending longstanding questions about the future of the courses. Local nonprofit National Links Trust will begin negotiations immediately to take over the lease for East Potomac, Langston, and Rock Creek golf courses, NPS announced Wednesday.

The three public courses, built between 1918 and 1939, have a complex history that involves civil rights battles, and all three are listed on the National Register of Historic Places. But the courses have millions of dollars worth of unfulfilled maintenance needs, ranging from bunkers that need to be rebuilt to more serious irrigation problems.

NLT will take over the lease no later than Sept. 30, when the current lease ends, and will begin a long-term process of renovating the courses, says NLT’s co-founder Michael McCartin. NPS says that bids were reviewed and rated by a panel, which made a recommendation to select NLT’s proposal. The agency declined to share how many proposals were submitted.

McCartin, who grew up in Alexandria, learned to golf at East Potomac Park and wrote his master’s thesis at the University of Georgia based on the idea that “affordable golf and and really interesting and engaging courses are not mutually exclusive.” He used the East Potomac course as a case study.

A golf course designer by trade, McCartin co-founded NLT in the spring of 2019 with Will Smith (not the actor, but president of the Outpost Society national golf society), with the intention of preserving the stories of golf courses. When the Park Service launched its request for proposals to operate the courses, they built a team to create a compelling offer, McCartin tells DCist.

“The culture at each of the three courses is so welcoming and inclusive, and just represents the best of what golf has to offer,” McCartin says. “They’re really special places to me and to so many people. It’s pretty crazy to be in the position to be helping to ensure their future.”

The organization is partnering with Troon Golf, a course management company, to take over concessions for the courses, and is enlisting a team of renowned architects to redesign and renovate parts of the courses. McCartin says he draws inspiration from the original designs of the courses, as well as their history.

Langston Golf Course, for example, was the first course in the District that African American golfers could really call their own, as golfing at other public courses often led to harassment and racism. At Langston, organizations created by Black golfers have thrived for decades and fought for the integration of public recreation facilities in D.C. — such as the Wake-Robin Golf Club (the oldest African American women’s golf club in the country), the Royals, and the First Tee youth golf program.

McCartin, who now lives in Capitol Hill, says NLT is committed to supporting these programs and keeping the courses affordable and accessible. He also hopes to restore some of famous course architect Walter Travis’ original design for East Potomac, which was designed to be playable in reverse. The park was once host to a major national tournament called United States Public Links Championship. Langston, meanwhile, became known for its big-name celebrity visitors, including boxing legends Joe Louis and Muhammad Ali, but also as a place for the surrounding neighbors to gather for community events and to simply hang out.

“The histories of those courses are equally compelling, and there’s so much to draw from in terms of how to make investments in the courses that really respect where they come from,” says McCartin. “Golf courses can be more than just for golfers. They can be a place for people to gather. Langston is one of the coolest places I’ve ever seen in terms of having groups of people who come and use the property to just be with their friends.”

Among the development plans, per McCartin: Restore some of the original 18-hole Blue Course at East Potomac, and maintain its nine-hole courses and driving range; build out a new nine-hole, par-3 course and construct a practice area at Rock Creek Park, where the back nine-holes are currently closed; and improve the conditions of the greens and bunkers at Langston.

Additionally, McCartin says NLT has a partnership in place with the Anacostia Watershed Society to restore Langston’s surrounding vegetation and improve its views of the Anacostia River.

Golf Course Specialists, the current lease holder, has operated the three courses over the past 30 years, and was largely prevented from making improvements under its short term contract extensions. For years, the future of the courses has been in a state of limbo, as talks of upgrading the courses came and went.

McCartin says NLT wants to ensure a smooth transition between Golf Course Specialists and Troon to ensure that as many people who are employed at the courses (such as those who teach golf lessons and work at the club houses) can continue working there as possible.

In an emailed statement to DCist, Paul Killebrew, a vice president at Golf Course Specialists, said the company is pleased that NPS has started negotiations on a long term lease.

“The Park Service has been working towards this moment since 2015, when GCS informed the NPS that we did not intend to renew our year-to-year concession contracts,” Killebrew said. “GCS agreed to continue operating the golf courses while the Park Service worked on a long term plan and we are thrilled that National Links Trust has stepped up to take the baton from us.”

The changes won’t happen all at once, but will likely be spread out across the next decade or so, as McCartin says restorations will begin in sections. East Potomac has 36 holes, for example, so “we would do nine hole renovations at a time to preserve access to 27 holes and the driving range at any time,” he explains.

The Park Service says it selected NLT because of its proposal to expand opportunities for underserved communities, share the history of the courses, support youth golf programs, and improve access to the natural environment surrounding the courses. “NLT has shown a commitment to keeping golf affordable and accessible at the East Potomac, Langston and Rock Creek courses,” Park Service spokesperson Katie Liming said in an email.

D.C.’s Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton, who has long advocated for an investment in the three courses, celebrated the announcement on Wednesday.

“From the time Congress created the first of the courses in the 1920s, they have been underfunded. I introduced legislation in 2014 for the public-private partnership announced today to increase use by our residents and our many tourists,” Norton said in a statement. “The public-private partnership we have finally achieved will infuse desperately needed capital into these golf courses to maintain and preserve their historic features, not to mention reverse decades of deterioration.”