The National Park Service expects renovation to begin on the Rock Creek Park Golf Course late this year, despite community concerns that plans including the removal of 1,100 trees will damage the park’s ecosystem, threaten animals’ habitat and reduce tree canopy.
“People love Rock Creek Park and generations of golfers have played this historic course,” the park’s acting superintendent, Brian Joyner, said in a statement announcing the overhaul. “We’re creating links between history and nature — a place that welcomes everyone to relax and see wildlife, get some exercise, and learn, enjoy and be frustrated by the great game of golf.”
Funding for the course renovation will come from National Links Trust, a local nonprofit awarded a 50-year lease in 2020 by the Park Service to operate Rock Creek, East Potomac and Langston, the three public golf courses in Washington. The Rock Creek course renovation is expected to cost $25 million to $35 million, said Will Smith, a co-founder of the trust.
Representatives of 20 environmental groups, including Casey Trees and the Sierra Club’s D.C. chapter, signed a letter to the Park Service last fall calling the plans for the renovation a “cause for alarm.” and noting that stakeholders, including neighbors and community organizations, had not been notified when the Park Service first posted the proposal on its website.
“At a time when the District is losing tree canopy while simultaneously feeling the ever-growing impacts of a changing climate, we should be prioritizing retention of our city’s mature forests and natural ecosystems,” the letter stated.
Mark Buscaino, executive director of Casey Trees, a nonprofit created to protect and enhance the tree canopy in the District, said Wednesday in a statement that the organization was discouraged that the plan was going forward unchanged despite being “widely opposed by DC residents and over 20 local community organizations.”
“We’re pleased that the golf course is getting some much-needed attention; however, we’re saddened that the plans require the removal of hundreds of arboreal giants that have graced the park for a hundred years or more,” Buscaino said. “We encourage NPS and NLT to prioritize Rock Creek’s natural resources for the long-term benefit of the golf course, its patrons, and the community.”
In its statement announcing the approval, the Park Service said it “understands the concerns about the number of trees to be removed and carefully reviewed all comments received during the extended public comment period. The project will include planting hundreds of native trees, 11 acres of new pollinator meadows and increased habitat for wildlife.”
The Rock Creek course started as a nine-hole course in 1909 before expanding to 18 holes in 1924. It is the least-played of Washington’s public courses and fell into disrepair over the last 20 years. A number of holes became unplayable, and the greens and fairways were often in poor condition.
In an interview Wednesday, Smith said that when completed, the new course layout “is going to be playable and fun. It’s going to require good players to think their way around the golf course while allowing beginner and novice players an opportunity to advance the ball, find their ball, and really play the golf course.”
He said efforts would be made to keep the course open and operating after the construction project begins in November but said there would be periods it may need to be closed. Once the new driving range is completed it will remain open while work continues on the course.
Smith also acknowledged the concerns raised by environmental groups but said NLT had been working with the Park Service for several years to make sure plans for renovation of the course are environmentally sound.
“Pretty much every decision that we make we look at through the lens of environmental sustainability,” Smith said. “This is a complex issue, and there are trade-offs for everything you do. But we are confident that with the Park Service we have come up with a solution that is best for this particular project and this particular site.”
The new facility will use solar panels and geothermal energy to power its operation, and work on the course will include the removal of invasive plants and the planting of hundreds of trees to replace ones being removed, Smith said.
“We understand that there will be some tree clearing that is necessary that won’t sit well with everybody,” he said. “But it is what is necessary in order to have a viable, sustainable golf course and golf course facility that will be economically viable, that will allow us to be able to manage the forest and, over the long term, actually increase tree canopy on the site.”
