Langston Golf Course

Langston opened in 1939 on the west bank of the Anacostia River, on ground that had been a city dump, and it was named after John Mercer Langston, the first African American elected to public office in the United States. It replaced a nine-hole course that was the oldest in the country built specifically for Black golfers.

The context is the point. When Langston opened, it was one of about twenty courses in America open to African Americans; white golfers had some six hundred and eighty. It became the centre of Black golf on the East Coast, and the United Golfers Association held tournaments here that drew Joe Louis, Ted Rhodes and Charlie Sifford. In 1941 the Wake Robin Golf Club and the Royal Golf Club, both based here, petitioned the Secretary of the Interior, who ordered the desegregation of the courses run by the National Park Service. The course was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1991.

What it asks of you

Eighteen holes to a par of 72 over rolling ground, with serious water: the tidal marsh and the Anacostia run along the whole of the back nine. That is the defining feature and it works in one direction only, so a player who fades the ball will spend the back nine aiming away from the river and accepting a longer approach.

The hole names commemorate Black pioneers of American golf, which makes the card itself a piece of the history rather than a scorecard with a plaque next to it.

The ground is municipal, not manicured, and the course plays shorter than a modern par 72. What it asks is placement off the tee on the holes where the marsh is in play, and patience on greens that are maintained to a public budget.

What players say about it

The points below summarise what recurs in public reviews on course sites, booking platforms and local coverage. These are other people’s opinions, not ours: we have not played the course, and we name and quote no one.

What comes up in its favor

• The history is the first thing every account mentions, and visitors say the place carries it without turning it into a museum.
• The setting along the Anacostia, minutes from the Capitol, is unexpected for anyone who assumes there is no golf in the city.
• The price is low for the District, and the course is genuinely public.
• The staff and the regulars are described as welcoming to visitors.

What comes up against

• Conditioning is the recurring complaint: this is a municipal course on a limited budget, and reviewers say so plainly.
• The water on the back nine costs balls to a high handicap.
• The course has needed restoration work for years, and campaigns to fund it come and go.
• Pace of play is often slow at weekends.

Getting there and when to go

The course is on Benning Road NE, on the Anacostia, about ten minutes from Capitol Hill and reachable by Metro, which is unusual for a golf course.

The season is effectively year-round in Washington. April, May, September and October give the best conditions; the summer is humid and the marsh holes are at their worst after heavy rain. Tee times are booked through the operator.

Green fees

Rates and tee times are set by the operator. See the operator’s own site.

How this page was made

The factual frame comes from public sources: OpenStreetMap for the location, the National Park Service, the District’s historic landmark nomination and the operator’s own history for the opening, the naming, the desegregation petition and the National Register listing, and the operator’s course page for the par and the layout. The opinion section summarises public reviews read in September 2026; we report recurring themes rather than individual voices, and we reproduce no quotations.

We have not played this course, and this page is no substitute for a round. Nobody has paid for this page, and no one saw it before publication. If you know the course and something here is wrong or out of date, write to us and we will correct it.