Redesign of DC's muni courses ...

[XHoop24]

The NLT group was on a few podcasts and said this is unlikely due to the fact its national park and not city (Torrey) or state owned (Bethpage) . Its harder to justify a local rate when the locality has not paid for the course. They are hoping to keep it 'affordable' for all. I think that is going to be very difficult for them to do but I'm hoping for the best.

[ALTSean]

That's a good point about it being federal land vice State, City or County. Maybe they could get creative with the pricing tiers such as juniors, seniors, military / first responders, etc., but that's still going to leave a lot of local regulars with the higher price point.

[XHoop24]

I'd be totally onboard with a local discount and would love for them to get creative with it :) Just passing along what I heard on the pods...

[cristphoto]

With it being Federal property how could they possibly offer a local rate? An Alaskan resident pays Federal taxes just like a DC resident. Giving a decent discount to juniors and seniors sounds reasonable. However if the rates go to $60 or $70 I don't see a long future for East Potomac. Too many options in the suburbs. It would probably still attract tourist golfers but that sounds odd as I don't see people coming on a DC vacation to play golf - could be wrong however.

[dcmidnight]

 

Depends on how the project comes off. If they build it as say a reversible loop design? With a full blown practice facility? And maybe a 9 hole practice course for juniors/beginners? Completely spitballing here.

But I say things like that all the time (people arent going to go there just to play golf) about a place like Sweetens Cove - and thats 1000x harder to get to and has absolutely zero things to do nearby. You can do a million other things in this city AND play golf...if the course was done in a way that attracted enough people.

[golfday]

Personally, I think if they are going to do anything decent at EP the price has to come up. At the current rate you basically can't pay to maintain anything decent. Improving that course will also cost a good amount of money - lots of dirt to be moved there. I'd be happy to see this happen.

If the DC courses could just hit the average quality of the Montgomery County Munis at those rates I would be pumped. A lot of DC players frequent those courses and we would love to stay closer to home to play. However, I do have a friend that will not be happy when the rates go up. He plays 2 - 3 times a year shoots 100+ and isn't willing to drive far or pay more, the changes could pretty much make him quit playing.

For those not familiar Bobby Jones Golf course did a major overhaul in ATL not that long ago. An 18 holer that had fallen on hard times (not quite as bad as the DC courses), now it's a cool reversible 9 with a large practice area. HOME - BOBBY JONES Golf Life: Atlanta’s Bobby Jones Golf Course becomes reversible in its rebirth

 

 

[XHoop24]

Rock Creek is in pretty bad shape and I love the ideas they have for it - a driving range, 9 hole course, and a 9 hole short course.

Doak said something interesting on the Fried Egg Pod that the NLT guys need to go out and get funding for all of these changes....that is not going to be an easy thing to do right now. Did anyone else hear that on his most recent pod?

[cristphoto]

Is Langston on Federal park land like the other two? I always thought that was fully independent from the Feds.

[FlyingLaw1]

I've lived in Arlington for over a year now (moved from outside of the area) and just played East Potomac for the first time time. The worst part about it to me was that it was absolutely sopping wet. It's not in the best shape but I paid $37 to play 18 on a weekend in DC. That's less than half of my next cheapest round. The day before I played Laurel Hill (my favorite course I've played here so far) and paid $84 (I've paid as much as $114). Bottom line to me is... Is EP nice? No. Is it packed? Yes. But I felt like--considering everything else around--like it was well worth it. I'll be playing there many more times.

[Schley]

Holy cow guys, can we be a little more positive here? Why is this not universally cheered by passionate golfers, which I would call posters on this site? These are public courses that by all accounts need extreme amounts of work to improve for who........ yes you and me! And we have good news the NLT has undertaken exactly that and even gotten the best GCA in the business (Doak/Hanse) to volunteer their time to do it.

 

Why be negative at all, they aren't raising your taxes, nor even asking for your vote, it is happening thank goodness and support it or not it is happening in spite of those who are negative about it. I would have hoped more of you would be looking for ways to help and contribute (which I'm sure some are thankfully) then analyze and naysay public golf improvement woefully neglected for decades.

 

Stop the madness and ask not what public golf in your area can do for you, but what you can do for public golf in your area.

 

Some are doing just that and thank you to Will Smith and Mike McCartin for not talking, they are doing.?

[cristphoto]

I'm all for preserving golf courses and preventing them from being converted to real estate.  I think this discussion turned its focus on the difficulty of putting large upgrades into the courses and maintaining moderate greens fees.  East Potomac and Rock Creek are on two properties that are difficult to build interesting layouts (I've never played Langston so can't comment).  EP is dead flat and RC is almost vertical.  It's an honorable endeavor but local competition is stiff.  Best wishes however.