Mike McCartin and Will Smith grew up in the Washington area, and they met at the University of Georgia while both pursued a somewhat unusual concentration: golf-course landscape architecture. Recently, we met up with them at East Potomac Golf Links’ historic mini-golf course in Southwest DC, which McCartin has been going to since he was a kid. “At the time these courses were built, great, affordable golf was a somewhat groundbreaking prospect,” said McCartin, tapping an orange ball into the 14th hole.

McCartin and Smith aren’t just friends: They’re also cofounders of the DC organization National Links Trust, a nonprofit devoted to renovating the kinds of public golf courses that make the sport accessible to people who otherwise couldn’t afford it. East Potomac Park Miniature Golf Course—the oldest continuously operated mini-golf course in the country—was their first project. During the five-month renovation, they refreshed the turf and recreated lost historical features that were present on its 1931 opening day, including monument-shaped obstacles and a challenging metal loop.

Now National Links Trust is tackling its next public-golf efforts, and these are decidedly less mini. In recent decades, DC’s three public courses—Rock Creek, Langston, and East Potomac—have fallen into varying states of disrepair. In 2019, the National Park Service started to rethink the way it oversees these facilities, putting out a request for proposals for an organization to take over their operations. McCartin and Smith had both recently moved back to DC at the time, and they decided to put in a bid. Their proposal emphasized preservation of the courses’ history, affordability, and surroundings. The two friends ended up getting the 50-year lease to operate the properties, and National Links Trust was born.

Rock Creek Park Golf, located off 16th Street, Northwest, opened in 1923 and was popular for decades, but it’s now in bad shape, with four of its 18 holes unusable. NLT’s renovation plan will create a refreshed community space for golfers and non-golfers alike; the $25-million-to-$35-million project will be funded via grants, private philanthropy, and revenue from operating the course. And the organization says it’s committed to encouraging members of underrepresented communities to pick up a club. “You can’t just open the doors and expect people who were locked out to feel welcome,” says NLT executive director Damian Cosby.“You have to be intentional.”

Renovations are set to begin later this year, after a contentious approval process during which some community members pushed back against NLT’s plan to cut down about 1,070 trees. Letters signed by the environmental organization Casey Trees and other prominent groups urged changes. “At a time when the District is losing tree canopy while simultaneously feeling the ever-growing impacts of a changing climate,” one letter read, “we should be prioritizing retention of our city’s mature forests and natural ecosystems.” But in early September, final approval was granted to move ahead.

McCartin and Smith concede that the very existence of a golf course is less environmentally friendly than, say, a forest. Still, they claim their plan will ensure the sustainability of the course and surrounding environment. “We wish we could cut down zero trees,” McCartin says, “but we’re going to do everything we can to create a thriving environment that generations to come will enjoy.” NLT has also promised to plant more than seven acres of forest in the area around the course.

After Rock Creek, NLT will take on renovations of Langston and East Potomac. Beyond that, McCartin and Smith see even larger-scale plans on the horizon. As Smith puts it, “There’s a reason we decided to have ‘National’ in our name.” But for now, they’re focused on local spaces. “We think there needs to be a leader in the nation that gets up every day and thinks about affordable and accessible golf,” Smith says. “And that starts with what we accomplish in our hometown.”

This article appears in the October 2024 issue of Washingtonian.