Join the leadership team of the Langston Golf Course Conservancy for an exciting morning of networking and sharing as we discuss our plans to support the future vision for the Langston Golf Course community. Join us and enjoy gourmet brunch items and prepare to be inspired by a powerful agenda as we learn about and celebrate the ambitious community-driven mission of this dynamic new organization.
We are here to celebrate the potential and future of the Langston Golf Course community! Built in 1939 on the west bank of the Anacostia River the course is home for the oldest African American golf clubs in the US. Langston’s history is directly tied to the desegregation of sport in our country.
The course was managed by professional golfer Lee Elder, the first African American to play in the Masters and 2019 recipient of the USGA’s prestigious Bob Jones Award, from 1978 to 1981. Elder invested in improving the course, and added a driving range to make the facility more popular.
The Langston Golf Course Conservancy will collaborate with new golf course manager National Links Trust to raise funds for a myriad of exciting projects.
In recognition of the numerous contributions that African Americans have made to golf over more than a century, the Conservancy seeks to finance, build, and ensure the perpetual operation of the first National Black Golf Heritage Museum. The museum will serve as a centralized repository for artifacts and is envisioned as a state-of-the-art facility and event venue designed to preserve and share the national historical record of African American involvement in golf on amateur, professional, and social levels.
Thanks to a generous donation by basketball star Stephen Curry, Howard University has its first NCAA Division I golf program. Presently, Howard University is seeking support to build a dedicated, year-round golf training facility which will help ensure they stay competitive with golf programs outfitted with indoor state-of-the-art technology practice facilities. Our efforts will play a proactive role in helping to raise funds for future development of a Howard University golf practice facility that would incorporate features such as a driving range, indoor climate-controlled bays, and locker rooms.
Understanding the importance and potential of junior golf in our community, the Conservancy seeks to support programs that have exhibited proven results through year-round youth golf literacy, instruction, and mentoring. Several programs are successfully using the principles of golf including discipline, hard work, sportsmanship and integrity to enhance academic achievement and life skills of Washington D.C. students.
Langston Golf Course stands as a shrine of African American golf history in Washington D.C. and has a legacy steeped in phenomenal stories of perseverance, persistence, and faith. As the new golf course manager National Links Trust strives to operate Langston in a way that preserves the course's affordability and accessibility, the Conservancy will provide fundraising assistance to help augment the substantial investments needed for the comprehensive restoration, rehabilitation, and environmental protection of this historic course.
Through sustained leadership, strategic efforts, and significant investment the Langston Golf Course Conservancy seeks to be a neighborly partner in its vision to help establish the Langston Golf Course community as a world-class golf destination which serves as a national model for cultural and ecological preservation, urban development, and community engagement. Learn how this group, colloquially nicknamed “Friends of Langston,” is working to keep this legacy alive through activities that focus on stewardship and community engagement.
After a careful search, Howard University chose Sam Puryear to run the Howard University Golf Program. The golf coaching legend has won Pac-10 golf titles at Stanford, Big Ten titles at Michigan State and has been named NCAA national coach of the year for his outstanding leadership in the sport. As the Bison golf season tees off, Coach Puryear will share his plans to build the foundation for this exciting startup program while navigating challenges such as team readiness in the wake of the pandemic.
Peter I. May, Ph.D., Assistant Research Professor, Environmental Science & Technology, University of mayrland, college park
Dr. Peter May has agreed to advise the Langston Golf Course Conservancy as the organization engages local universities around projects that will create interest and generate in kind resources for course and environmental improvements. He will share the ways in which golf courses such as Langston can be community assets by providing green breathing spaces in a concrete landscape. Through concerted environmentally-friendly course improvements, Langston Golf Course may provide ecological benefits to site and surrounding habitats such as soil protection, water filtering, pollution fixation, and biodiversity conservation.
Sinclair Eaddy was named the executive director of National Links Trust in November 2020. He plans to apply his knowledge from leading First Tee of Baltimore to help grow the game in underserved D.C. communities. Eaddy will share why out of the three municipal golf courses now managed by National Links Trust, Langston may be the most exciting prospect, with plans for the course's layout to include views of the Anacostia River while keeping the game affordable and accessible to all communities.
Join us for an intimate fundraising reception on day four of the Masters and the official launch activities of the Langston Golf Course Conservancy. Guests will enjoy brunch items, open bar featuring specialty golf themed cocktails, and a chipping contest.
CASUAL "GOLF CHIC" ATTIRE SUGGESTED. MASKS REQUIRED.
"FRIEND OF LANGSTON" DISTINCTION (EVENT TICKET INCLUDED): $500
STANDARD EVENT TICKET: $125
