BeltwayGolfer

Connecting with interesting people & stories in the golf world around the DC area

05/26/2026

Issue One of Beltway Golfer Magazine is complete. It’s officially been sent to the printer and will be hitting mailboxes soon.

This process took a bit longer than anticipated, but couldn’t be more excited to deliver a high-quality print publication that represents golfers throughout the DMV and beyond.

We are publishing twice a year, printing on premium stock, with nine written pieces per issue. A front nine in the first half of the calendar and a back nine later in the year. Hit the link in the post or head to BeltwayGolfer.com to subscribe now.

Our inaugural issue has been beautifully designed by . Contributing writers include , , , , .beck & with killer photography from , .parsons.photography & . Meticulously edited by , art from & cover art by .

Appreciate all the folks who have already subscribed or ordered issue one, as well as your patience as we put this together.

Long live print!

05/16/2026

Exactly 50 years ago was the last time the PGA Championship came to our region, when Congressional Country Club played host in the summer of ‘76, just a few weeks after our country’s bicentennial celebration.

Dave Stockton took home the trophy and 45k for winning the tournament that finished on a Monday due to weather, after outlasting the likes of Ray Floyd, Jack Nicklaus & Ben Crenshaw.

In four more years the will make its return to the beltway when Congressional hosts again in 2030.

This tune hit #1 that summer and Starland Vocal Band apparently wrote it about a lunch item they had at Clyde’s of Georgetown, because it’s definitely not about daytime coitus.

05/14/2026

Tom Fazio’s design plan for East Potomac has been shared by the Department of the Interior.

The image includes a completely new 18-hole routing that tips out to 7600 yards, bearing no resemblance to any current or past iteration of the course. It also shows a large range & practice area, along with a short nine-hole par 3 course squeezed into where holes 6-7-8 on the White course currently sit. It does leave the mini-golf course alone, and doesn’t seem to impact Ohio Drive, however does gobble up about two-thirds of the existing parking.

05/12/2026

Loudoun Golf and Country Club has been going through a phased-renovation in the leadup to next year’s club centennial. The course started as a nine-hole layout before Ed Ault and Al Jamison expanded it to 18 holes in 1961. For almost a century, it has been one of the most understated private clubs in Northern Virginia. Ahead of the club milestone, the membership brought in McDonald and Sons to lead the reno, working a few holes at a time. The design work comes from Logan Thompson and Joel Weiman, with superintendent Chris Hinesley and his team executing on the ground. Weiman led McDonald Design Group for 25 years before launching Weiman Golf Design, but has stayed on the Loudoun project since it began under his watch. Thompson is the current lead designer at McDonald Design Group.

We played it earlier this month, and the greens gave us fits... quick and deceptive. On the first tee we got to meet Larry Ringer, newly inducted into the Maryland Golf HoF, who was filling duties as starter on our day at the club. The back nine at Loudoun, in particular, has super fun golf holes throughout. Tree removal has opened sight lines and restored some of the original views that had been lost over the decades. Renovation work is on track to be completed for next year’s celebration and the course is looking dynamite.

05/09/2026

Deal has been struck. will maintain control of Langston GC & Rock Creek Park GC. Will receive a new long-term lease for Rock Creek and likely one for Langston but details are very much tbd. National Links Trust is out at East Potomac. No word on when operations there are planning to cease.

more details still to come.

05/07/2026

Round 1 at LIV Golf Virginia out at Trump National. Crowds were light, weather was good, got our steps in, including a little pilgrimage out to the River of Blood plaque behind 15 tee.

Look it up.

05/05/2026

Renovation plans at The Courses at Andrews are moving forward and the details are included in a public environmental review posted on the base website.

We played the South Course at Joint Base Andrews last week and saw the 8 foot PVC pipes staked out across the property marking future tee boxes, fairways, and greens for the Nicklaus designed North Course. This project is moving forward and could get underway in a matter of weeks.

A newly published Air Force environmental filing just put the specs on the public record for the first time. Par 72. 7,536 yards from the tips. That’s longer than anything currently at Andrews and nearly 800 yards more than the existing South Course, the longer of the current two. The par 4 average is around 430 yards. There’s a 624 yard par 5 on the back nine.

The filing also shows future phases still in the pipeline: a renovated 18-hole South Course, a 9-hole ADA-accessible short course labeled “Warrior”, which could be a concept that really stands out, particularly for golf facilities at military installations.

During our round, Air Force One happened to be doing touch and go exercises overhead, making loops around the course on and off the adjacent runway.

Full breakdown on the blog. The design team, the funding questions and whether future maintenance budgets will be able to maintain what Nicklaus team is building.

https://beltwaygolfer.com/renovation-plans-coming-into-focus-at-joint-base-andrews/

05/02/2026

East Potomac Golf Course may be shutting down after the last tee time on Sunday, according to a report yesterday evening from NOTUS. However, as of this morning, that would be news to National Links Trust, who say they haven’t been notified of any shutdown.

The report doesn’t mention what this means in the near term for Langston, aside from referencing a Washington Post report, which also dropped yesterday, that the administration tried to get the Washington Commanders’ charitable arm to take over Langston Golf Course.

The NOTUS report also says NLT will be offered a new lease just for Rock Creek, which just reopened yesterday after months of being closed. NLT says they haven’t been notified of any such offer.

Meanwhile, the lawsuit against the DOI rolls on. Yesterday the administration also dumped a trove of documents on the case, but it remains to be seen if any of that will have a real impact on the proceedings. Shutting down East Potomac right as peak season gets underway would be a tough loss for the thousands of golfers who rely on it as one of the most accessible public courses in the region. But given how things have transpired over the past six months, it wouldn’t be surprising.

In any case, we’ll be out at East Potomac tomorrow at sunset. You may want to grab a weekend tee time while you still can. As this weekend could be your last chance to play it in its current form.

Stay tuned.

Opening 📸 courtesy of

03/26/2026

Spring has sprung. Let’s play ball.

BG magazine is on deck.

Grab a subscription at BeltwayGolfer.com

03/14/2026

Another cherished golf spot is getting redeveloped. If you ever spent an evening smacking range balls at Olney Golf Park on Georgia Avenue, pour one out. The 22-acre site is being redeveloped into 200+ townhomes, per the Washington Business Journal. Standalone driving ranges seem to be becoming an endangered species.

02/03/2026

One of the more notable silent observers in the ongoing DC public golf situation has been the First Tee of Greater Washington.

Under National Links Trust’s plans for Rock Creek Park, the First Tee was slated to receive a new headquarters in the newly built clubhouse. Since this situation began, from the ongoing dirt dumping at Rock Creek through the termination of NLT’s lease and into the current uncertainty around all three courses, has not made a public comment. No statements to parents, no social posts, nothing public stating they hope that the administration could perhaps work with NLT, their partner of the past five years.

We’ve been fans of First Tee DC for a long time. Family members have participated in their programs, and we’ve featured and supported First Tee across multiple podcast episodes. Which is just a part of why the silence is so noticeable.

At the same time, we are hearing rumors that the administration has promised First Tee a new home at Langston, and that conversations with the administration were underway well before news of the lease termination became public. One can only guess what that switch up would mean for the future of Rock Creek Park GC.

It’s understandable that the First Tee wants stability for its programs and doesn’t want to rock the boat as it simply wants a home for its program with whatever operator is in charge. But total silence during a moment that directly affects public access and youth golf in DC on its face is a bit disappointing.

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