D.J., Tron and Soly host our final Sunday night pod of 2025 with a two-part episode. We begin with a birdies and bogeys segment highlighting the biggest newsmakers and moments in 2025. Then, part two focuses on the National Links Trust and the political involvement that could harm access to affordable golf in DC. Soly and TC visit with Mike McCartin, co-founder of the NLT, for the latest on the interactions with the White House and the mission and goals of the NLT.
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Listening to this made me realize a few things about the NLT issue
- already knew this, but damn the government permitting process is slow
- the slow process is likely driving the narrative from the administration’s level (even though they could push it through the red tape)
- The lack of clarity from the administration is ridiculous and likely a move on their end to do what they want with East Potomac. Doubt they care much about Rock Creek or Langston.
- Had no idea about the seawall issue, seems like a massive undertaking and will prohibit anything substantial happening at East Potomac until that gets underway.
- Seems like a done deal at the point, which stinks on a lot of levels
If Fazio takes this and runs with it (as was reported in the WSJ article), he and his associates should be blackballed (which won’t happen, but would in a just world).
Hate what all of the means for public golf in DC and eventually the country with the NLT not getting the opportunity to fulfill their goals in DC.
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When you say “what they want to do with East Potomac” what do you think they want to do with it? As someone who thinks our president is an irredeemable piece of flaming garbage, my mind goes to “is this somehow going to end up in his personal portfolio of courses”. Are they looking at it becoming an upscale public that increases government revenues? That’d be fine if you want to charge a premium to non-locals—I wish our munis in Cleveland would do the same.
How are they telling the NLT they are in default of their lease but then giving a reason? This sounds like a totally sinister Trump move, but was it really his idea? If he really cares about something that’s small potatoes when considering the burden of running a country then I’m actually kind of surprised.
I basically said nothing here, but I’m confused and really don’t get what the end game is.
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Admittedly I don’t know enough about what’s going on, but it sure sounds like a president using presidential power to transition national park land to land that will garner him a private profit…which (if accurate but hopefully not) surely can’t be legal
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I get the fact that the NLT-people have to weigh their words very, very, very carefully, and can’t speak freely on this outside of the general dynamics in play, but jeeeeez, I wish someone on the other side had the cojones to mention the huge, stinky elephant in the room.
This would not be happening under any other administration.
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That never stopped him before. Who’s going to enforce it? To quote @OffTheDole ”laws are just words written on paper.”
They are in default because they said so. Trump likely sees it a lot from the air and goes to developer mode and thinks what it should be in his mind (waterfalls, a giant clubhouse, concrete cart paths, comfort stations. I bet he cares a lot, and in his mind probably thinks he’d be doing everyone a favor. I seem to recall him saying something along the lines of golf being “an aspirational game”, so he probably thinks a $400 per round course fits if that’s really his mindset.
I’m doing a lot of assuming here, but that’s what a message board is for.
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wearelaughing.gif. I know you know how much Trump sucks even as one of our northern neighbors. But it’s like can he leave nothing alone if he thinks there’s a chance to profit? He makes no one’s life better unless it does the same for him 10x. Christ.
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He wants to leave his mark wherever he can and as a nuclear power he can do whatever he wants.
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NLU 
SGS
Unwilling to speak the truth about what is happening here, might lose listeners.
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Do you think any good comes from the NLT being on a podcast where they blast the administration?
NLT has to choose their words carefully and I’d assume they would ask anyone interviewing them to understand that lobbing bombs at the administration during an interview would be harmful to the cause. The best the NLT can do is to tell their side of the story and hope it helps them gain enough support to save their vision (or at least part of it) for DC.
Have played a fair amount of golf at all of these courses when I lived in DC (Langston is by far the best of the three). Truly stinks, but is exactly what I would expect from our Dear Leader. The best one could hope for is that the slow National Park Service process prevents the Dear Leader from screwing up East Potomac before the end of his term. Sometimes the bureaucracy can work to your advantage.
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Would love to hear a larger conversation about municipal golf in general (which is different than public golf). My small city runs a golf course and the efforts by political foes to try to screw up operations for political reasons is one of the underrated challenges that I am sure other municipal courses face. It is one thing to try to run a low margin business with significant capital improvement costs. It is another thing to do so when your political overseers are actively trying to sabotage the business.
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This would make a lot more sense if this was the first Trump Admin where he would say things off the cuff and then his staff would know those things weren’t possible and would quietly just let them go away. This admin is the complete opposite. If he says he wants something his staff of sycophants are going to do whatever it takes, legal or illegal, to make Trumpy-boy happy. Just look at what happened to the Kennedy Center.
No amount of silence or toeing the line is going to save them. If Trump wants this to happen, nothing is going to stop him.
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It’s highly likely they are getting booted from all 3 properties if that’s what Trump wants (and it appears that is what he wants).
Pissing him off by calling him out directly and punching back takes that from 99% likely to 100%.
Also, it would prevent them from being able to negotiate something to keep the Rock Creek and Langston projects if East Potomac is what Trump is focused on.
If you really think there is that much of a difference between 99% and 100% when it comes to this regime, then I appreciate your optimism, but I just don’t see it.
If there was going to be a negotiation, it would have happened already. Instead they just announced they were taking it over and everyone is supposed to be cool with it. The kicker is that while this is a big story for people like us, golfers who are paying attention and who know the work NLT has put into these places, the vast majority of the population likely does not care. It’s such a low priority on the totem pole so as to not exist as something they will be worried or care about. Hell, there are probably some golfers out there who are pumped about this idea/development.
Trying to play nice with someone like Trump isn’t going to get you anywhere.
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Not golf related, but Utah Senator Mike Lee is trying to do this as well in different public areas of Utah. If they get their way it’ll be another rich man’s playground (Wasatch Peaks) or just more stripping the land of natural resources for profit. It all sucks.
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It seems to be an epidemic. It’s happening in Ontario as well. Premier Ford is expropriating a big portion of a nature/farm land for a highway. He also bulldozed a lakefront park to build a private spa. Grifters everywhere.
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As the former Republican Charlie Sykes said this week, Trump is like his two male German shepherds when he lets them outside: They have to put their mark on everything they sniff.
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Live in Northern VA, just saw the post broke the story that the NLT lease is officially cancelled. So brutal for our area and affordable golf.
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This is terrible, the NLT can take them to court and I assume they will. However, it’s terrible. Trump will spend a billion dollars building Fazios on all 3 sites, his company will manage them with 100 year leases, and Greens Fees will be a few hundred dollars (but free range balls with a paying round for DC residents).
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