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The $389,355 federal contract now attached to East Potomac Golf Links is the easy part to understand. The National Park Service hired Vanasse Hangen Brustlin Inc. to handle environmental and historic-preservation compliance work. A separate advance notice projects a construction contract worth up to $49 million, with a solicitation expected Jan. 31, 2027.
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The public still cannot see the plan those contracts are preparing to support.
President Donald Trump has promoted a championship course capable of hosting the U.S. Open, Ryder Cup, PGA Championship and PGA Tour events. His administration has also promised that East Potomac will remain accessible and affordable. Yet federal officials have not released the final routing, future green fees, tee-time policy, construction schedule, public-private funding split or a list of the existing facilities that will survive the redevelopment.
By this point, “concept” is doing too much work. The Park Service has signed one contract and advertised the possible size of another. Golfers still have no way to compare the course they use now with the one being planned for them.
The Numbers Are Public. The Operating Terms Are Not.
Federal work is moving forward, but golfers still cannot compare the East Potomac they use today with the course being planned for them.
The distinction matters: An advance notice is evidence that federal planning is progressing. It is not a completed design, final budget or construction award. Read the contract reporting.
The Word Public Can Hide a Lot
My concern begins with the day-to-day operation, not the deed to the land. I ran a municipal golf course. I have also spent decades trying to get young players onto courses and keep them there. In that world, public access isn’t determined by who owns the property.
A parent does not experience access as a mission statement. They see a $9 junior round on the Red Course, a range stall available after school and a tee time they can book without planning a resort trip. Remove or reprice enough of those pieces and the property may still say public at the entrance while serving a different golfer.
East Potomac provides a clear baseline. An adult can currently walk the Blue Course for $42 on a weekday or $48 from Friday through Sunday and on holidays. Junior 18-hole rates are $24 and $25. The nine-hole Red Course costs a junior $9. The White Course gives families and developing golfers a shorter step before the 6,599-yard Blue Course.
The property also has a 100-stall range, three practice holes, miniature golf, FootGolf and more than 18,000 square feet of free putting space. Its website says the course sells out on weekends. Those are not decorative extras surrounding the 18-hole course. Together, they explain how the property functions as municipal golf.
What “Accessible and Affordable” Looks Like Today
East Potomac is more than an 18-hole routing. Its mix of prices, shorter courses and practice options allows beginners, juniors, families and experienced golfers to use the same property.
Rates and facilities checked Sept. 17, 2026. Prices and operating conditions can change. View current East Potomac information.
The Promise Has No Operating Terms
The federal government and National Links Trust said in May that East Potomac would remain accessible and affordable. The announcement also described a top-tier course capable of hosting major tournament golf and said private contributions would support the work.
Since the May announcement, officials have not posted a rate plan or promised a share of tee times for daily play. They have not said which existing golf facilities stay. What has appeared is advance notice that the possible federal construction contract could be as high as $49 million. Interior says that number is premature because the design is unfinished, and the contract has not been awarded. The gap between the earlier reference to private contributions and the potential federal expense remains unexplained.
Rep. Jared Huffman of California, the ranking Democrat on the House Natural Resources Committee, said the engineering contract was awarded without a public announcement or advance notice to Congress. Huffman and four other lawmakers have requested the project’s documents, communications and records from Interior Secretary Doug Burgum and acting National Park Service Director Jessica Bowron.
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East Potomac can be tired and still be worth protecting from a poorly explained redevelopment. I would like to see what a great architect could do there. I also want to know why golfers are being shown the dream before they are shown the price and the rules.
The Previous 50-Year Deal Lasted Five Years
National Links Trust took over East Potomac, Langston and Rock Creek under a 50-year lease signed in 2020. Interior ended it in December 2025. The department said the nonprofit missed improvement benchmarks and failed to correct alleged defaults. National Links Trust disputed that claim and put its investment across the three properties at more than $8.5 million, made while negotiating federal permits.
Five months later, National Links Trust received new long-term responsibility for Langston and Rock Creek. East Potomac was carved out. National Links Trust remains the interim operator while the Park Service pursues its separate redevelopment. Around the same time, the administration said Fazio Golf Design was preparing plans. The Justice Department later told a federal judge that the design Trump reviewed in June was only conceptual.
East Potomac Park was created through an 1897 act of Congress for the public’s recreation and pleasure. The golf course opened in 1919. That history is central to a pending lawsuit filed by the DC Preservation League and two area golfers, who allege that the redevelopment conflicts with the 1897 act and that required reviews were bypassed.
Reyes did not stop the project in July. She was unwilling, however, to let the government surprise the court with major work while the case was pending and sought firmer notice assurances. The new compliance contract addresses environmental and historic-preservation work. It does not settle the plaintiffs’ claims, and it gives golfers no picture of the finished property.
The Redevelopment Is Not Starting With a Blank Sheet
Any new design will be drawn over more than a century of public recreation, tournament golf and civil-rights history.
Protecting East Potomac’s history cannot stop with saving a name, clubhouse or architectural feature. Its public purpose, including affordable play and room for golfers who are still learning, belongs to that history too.
Historical information: National Park Service, Links to the Past.
A Major Championship Is an Answer to a Different Question
Bethpage Black, Torrey Pines and TPC Harding Park have shown that high-level tournament golf and public ownership can occupy the same property. Their existence does not guarantee the same result at East Potomac. The local experience will be determined by rates, access and the facilities available during the other 51 weeks of the year.
No governing body has committed a U.S. Open, Ryder Cup, PGA Championship or PGA Tour event to East Potomac. Accommodating one would require more than a celebrated routing. Spectator movement, hospitality, broadcast compounds, transportation and security all consume space. Federal officials have not explained how that infrastructure would fit at Hains Point or affect the surrounding public park.
The contract process may continue without those answers. For the golfer trying to decide whether East Potomac will still belong in a Saturday budget or a junior’s summer, “accessible and affordable” is not enough information.
PGA of America Golf Professional Brendon Elliott is an award-winning coach and golf writer who serves as Athlon Sports Senior Golf Writer. Read his recent “The Starter” on RG.org, where he is their Lead Golf Writer. To stay updated on all of his latest work, sign up for his newsletter or visit his MuckRack Profile.
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This story was originally published September 17, 2026 at 3:48 PM.