Even though President Donald Trump’s administration terminated the National Links Trust’s lease overseeing D.C.’s three public golf courses, it did not stop Langston Golf Course from hosting its annual MLK Day of Service event.
Dozens spent the morning of Martin Luther King Jr. Day pulling invasive plants, grasses and shrubs along the Anacostia River and Kingman Lake.
Mike McCartin, co-founder of National Links Trust, told WTOP the organization hosts this event every year.
“It’s always been a very popular, but chilly, time,” McCartin said. “It’s important to the golf course because these buffer zones along the lake and the river are full of invasive plant material.”
One of invasive species being targeted is the bush honeysuckle. Volunteer Bianca Andre, who has a degree in environmental studies, said it needs to be removed because it’s the favorite food of an invasive insect — the spotted lanternfly.
“We’re removing some of their habitats so hopefully we have less of an infestation next summer,” Andre said.
While not everyone is as knowledgeable about invasive plant life as Andre, a lot of the volunteers did understand the importance of Langston Golf Course.
“Langston is an incredible place with an incredible history. It was where Black golfers who were displaced from a course around the Lincoln Memorial in the 1920s worked for 10 years to get a new course built at a time when D.C. was segregated,” McCartin said.
Bianca Hill, who was one the volunteers, told WTOP that while she just took up the sport last year, Langston has been part of her family’s life for a long time.
“My uncles were caddies here. I just appreciate the history of how my people have overcome and have this awesome course and opportunity for not just African Americans, but everybody to have affordable golf,” Hill said.
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