Langston Golf Course is an 18-hole golf course in Washington, D.C., established in 1939. It was named for John Mercer Langston, an African American who was the first dean of the Howard University School of Law, the first president of Virginia Normal and Collegiate Institute (now Virginia State University), and the first African American elected to the United States Congress from Virginia. It was the second racially desegregated golf course in the District of Columbia, and in 1991 its first nine holes were added to the National Register of Historic Places. The courses official address is 2600 Benning Road NE. The courses front nine are located just south of the National Arboretum. Part of the courses back nine holes are located on Kingman Island, which is bordered by the Anacostia River in the east and Kingman Lake in the west. Langston Golf Course should not be confused with the Anacostia Golf Course, an 18-hole golf course also located in Anacostia Park. Anacostia Golf Course was on the eastern shore of the Anacostia River. It opened in May 1933 and closed in June 1958. Langston Golf Course is an 18-hole, par 72 course. Other services offered at the course include a driving range with 50 slots, golf school, golf shop, putting green, and snack bar. There are several junior golf programs for children and teens, and a learning center aimed at low-income children. In 2009, about 25,000 rounds of golf were played on the course each year. Some of the more famous people who have regularly played the course include boxer Joe Louis, baseball player Maury Wills, golfer Ted Rhodes, golfer Calvin Peete, golfer Charlie Sifford, golfer Al Morton, comedian Bob Hope, President Gerald Ford, swing singer Billy Eckstine, tennis legend Althea Gibson, celebrated African American amateur golfer Ethel Funches, and football star Jim Thorpe. According to a report in the Washington Post, every great African American professional golfer in the United States has played at the course since its opening, with the exception of Tiger Woods. Langston Golf Course is considered the best publicly owned course in the city. In 2004, a local newspaper described its driving range and practice tees as excellent. The course is the only golf course in the city with water hazards. Holes 8 and 9 are considered quite challenging. A reporter with ESPN, however, evaluated the courses toughest holes differently: ...[There is] a tee shot that requires a 200-yard carry to clear Kingman Lake on the 538-yard par-5 10th hole. There is a tough, 440-yard slight dogleg par 4 at No. 12, and the No. 1 handicap hole on the course is No. 3, a 520-yard par 5 that requires one shot over a creek and an approach to a small, elevated green. The Washington Post has characterized the first hole as a treacherous 483-yard par 5 over water... In 2009, the courses manager was Jimmy Garvin. He had been the golf courses manager since 2001. Courtesy of The Costen Cultural Exhibit
Posted on: Tue, 16 Sep 2014 11:22:39 +0000
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