Even though the Trump administration terminated the National Links Trust\u2019s lease overseeing D.C.\u2019s public golf courses, Langston Golf Course’s annual MLK Day of Service event went on.<\/p>\n
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Volunteers help spruce up Langston Golf Course on MLK Day<\/p>\n
Even though President Donald Trump\u2019s administration terminated the National Links Trust\u2019s lease overseeing D.C.\u2019s three public golf courses, it did not stop Langston Golf Course from hosting its annual MLK Day of Service event.<\/p>\n
Dozens spent the morning of Martin Luther King Jr. Day pulling invasive plants, grasses and shrubs along the Anacostia River and Kingman Lake.<\/p>\n
Mike McCartin, co-founder of National Links Trust, told WTOP the organization hosts this event every year.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s always been a very popular, but chilly, time,\u201d McCartin said. \u201cIt\u2019s important to the golf course because these buffer zones along the lake and the river are full of invasive plant material.\u201d<\/p>\n
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\u2019s the favorite food of an invasive insect \u2014 the spotted lanternfly.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re removing some of their habitats so hopefully we have less of an infestation next summer,\u201d Andre said.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
\u201cLangston 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,\u201d McCartin said.<\/p>\n
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\u2019s life for a long time.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy 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,\u201d Hill said.<\/p>\n