News
East Potomac to close 15 November as Links Trust hands it back
The Washington DC public course will close on 15 November, a Justice Department filing confirms, and Tom Fazio's redesign goes to the planning commission on Friday. The National Links Trust keeps Langston and Rock Creek Park.
The National Links Trust will stop running East Potomac Golf Links by close of business on 15 November at the latest. The date is set in a new lease with the National Park Service, which the Justice Department described in a court filing on Wednesday night. The non-profit keeps the city’s two other public courses, Langston and Rock Creek Park. In May it had reached a settlement with the administration that left it running all three.
On Tuesday Judge Ana Reyes had asked the government whether it planned to close the course around 15 November. The filing says the Park Service will close the whole of East Potomac Park south of Buckeye Drive on 15 November, golf course included. Associate Attorney General Stanley Woodward wrote that President Trump “has twice directed” the Interior Department and the Park Service to close the park by that date. At a hearing on 19 October, Woodward had told Reyes: “With regard to the November 15th date … there is no plan to close the course.”
Reyes’s injunction of 26 October requires the government to give her 10 days’ written notice before closing or permanently altering the course. The filing came 18 days before the closure date. The injunction also bars further tree removal.
On Friday 30 October the Park Service will submit Tom Fazio’s rendering to the National Capital Planning Commission, which is due to consider the plan at its meeting on 3 December. According to the filing, the redesigned course would be able to host events such as the US Open. Golf Channel reported that Fazio’s rendering, which Trump posted, removes Ohio Drive, the road that loops round the course, to bring the holes closer to the Potomac.
In a Truth Social post late on Wednesday, Trump said the government would hold Reyes “fully responsible for anybody who is hurt, or killed” at the course. Woodward is due to appear before Reyes at a status hearing on Friday, the Associated Press reported.
Sources
- Associated Press via WBAY: Justice Department announces Trump plans for golf course are in the works, course will close Nov. 15
- Associated Press via News4Jax: Justice Department announces Trump plans for golf course are in the works
- Golf Channel: DOJ says East Potomac Golf Course will close Nov. 15, Trump plans are in the works
- Golf Digest: Trump administration strikes deal to renovate East Potomac, keeping National Links Trust in charge of D.C. public courses
Spotted an error? Tell us and we will fix it. Our editorial standards.
