Review: East Potomac Golf Links (Blue Course)

There is not a lot of golf to be played within the confines of Washington, D.C. This is probably not a surprise. D.C. is not very big, and it's all city. However, there are three golf courses: East Potomac, Rock Creek, and Langston. Of the three, East Potomac is the crown jewel, hosting 36 holes in total. The Red course is a 9-hole par 3 course, the White course is a 9-hole executive course, and finally the Blue is a 6,600-yard par 72, designed in the early 1920s by Walter Travis. It's located on Hains Point Island in the middle of the Potomac River, and in its day it was actually very ambitious. The land is extremely flat, so Travis bunkered the course extensively; not only that, the holes were originally reversible.

The fourth hole.

The fifth green.

Very little of that grand ambition remains today. An occasional odd slope bordering a green, or a green with a bit of a fallaway at the back is all you can really see of East Potomac's original form. 100 years of neglect, mismanagement, and many, many rounds have reduced the course to its most basic form. Very few bunkers, all of which are basic ovals, and fairly simple greens. There are too many trees in places, especially around the perimeter of the course, blocking out views of the surrounding river. Though perhaps I can let that one slide, since there are running/biking paths going around the course which were very heavily used and very much in range of wayward golf shots.

The seventh hole. Yes, the Washington Monument does appear several times during the round.

The eighth hole.

This is usually the point where I go into the individual holes, but I'm not going to do that today. For one, I'm writing this a few months after I played there, so I can barely remember the holes. Two, what I do remember is honestly not worth talking about, unless I really want to stretch for strategies that really aren't there. And three, the course in its current form won't be around too much longer. The three D.C. municipal courses are now under the management of the National Links Trust, which is seeking to revitalize, renovate, and redesign the courses to their former glory. Tom Doak is tackling East Potomac and will restore the reversible design.

The tenth hole.

The thirteenth green.

The fourteenth green.

I will say this about the course; in several ways it reminds me of Charleston Municipal. Now, I don't know what that course was like pre-renovation, but both courses are very flat, next to a river, and both seem to have a solid walking culture. Admittedly, the weather was ideal for my round at East Potomac (can't beat 75 degrees in the middle of November), but something like three-quarters of the golfers I saw (and there were many) walked. That made me very happy. With Tom Doak overseeing the redesign, something really special could result, and it would be a shame if carts dominated a course that should be walked.

The sixteenth hole.

The seventeenth hole.

The seventeenth green.

If you're looking for value, obviously East Potomac isn't brilliant, but compared with the area, it isn't terrible either. Conditions weren't too bad, though the tees were pretty grim. To put it bluntly, I'd rather drive an hour (or way more if we're talking rush hour traffic) to play Mount Pleasant in Baltimore than go 10 minutes to East Potomac in its current state. Prices are similar and Mount Pleasant is actually interesting. But I'm glad I went to see it at least one, and I'm very eager to see it again once its been restored. That should be an interesting round.