Golf Course Celebrates Its Heritage - Wake

Langston
Golf Course
Celebrates
Its Heritage
Historic African-American
Facility Inducted into
Black Golf Hall of Fame
/Photo courtesy of Golf Course Specialists, Inc.
By Stacy M. Brown
WI Contributing Writer
For many, like Ray Savoy,
who regularly tees off at the
historic Langston Golf Course
in Northeast, the 74-year-old
sports cathedral is a home away
from home.
ESPN recently noted that the
famed course is the only one in
Washington, D.C., where you
can still get breakfast at 6 p.m.
More importantly, Langston has
been both a playground and a
meeting ground for generations
of African-American golfers.
“I play twice, maybe three
times a week and what never
gets lost in everything that goes
on here is this golf course’s
tremendous importance in the
area and to all of golf,” said Savoy, 68, a Greenbelt, Md., resident and the founder of the
Langston Junior Boys and Girls
Golf Club.
26 June 6, 2013 - June 12, 2013
This Saturday, course officials
will host a Langston Heritage
celebration.
The June 8 event is an historic, educational, community and
family-focused day honoring
Langston Golf Course and the
Wake-Robin Golf Club for its
recent induction into the National Black Golf Hall of Fame
in Decatur, Ga.
The induction has inspired a
more expansive vision to recognize the heritage of Langston
The Washington Informer Golf Course, the groups who
rallied for its creation in 1939,
and its supporters’ dream in
helping it maintain a foothold in
the community, said Louis Tate,
a Professional Golf Association
(PGA) member and Langston’s
general manager.
“Langston was commissioned
to be built by the Department
of Interior in 1938 to accommodate African-American golfers in the District of Columbia
who could not play on any of
the area golf courses because
of the ‘whites only’ laws of that
time,” said Tate, who lives in
Northeast.
Not readily apparent in history is the large number of blacks
of that era who were avid golfers, Tate said. “When Langston
opened its doors in 1939, the list
of African-American celebrities
from the music, sports, government and golf world made
it very apparent that golf was
very much a part of the African-American culture,” he said.
An African American renaissance in golf began based on
the creation of Langston, which
essentially became the Mecca
for black golfers.
World Heavyweight boxing
champion Joe Louis, famed Big
Band leader Billy Eckstein, singers Dionne Warrick and Lena
Horne and Hall of Fame baseball player Willie Mays counted
among the famous to patronize
Langston.
Former President Gerald
Ford, entertainer Bob Hope,
and PGA champion Lee Trevino are among the notable
non-African Americans who
have played 18-holes at the fabled course.
“When I’m not traveling, I go
there pretty much every day to
meet and talk to my friends,”
Herman Boone, the pioneering
football coach at T.C. Williams
High School in Alexandria, Va.,
said in an interview in February.
See LANGSTON on Page 27
www.washingtoninformer.com
LIFESTYLE
Ron McPherson enjoys a round of golf on Sunday, June 2 at Langston
Golf Course in Northeast. /Photo by Khalid Naji-Allah
Golf instructor Ray Savoy stands in front of the Langston Golf Course clubhouse in Northeast on Saturday, June 2. This Saturday, course officials will
host a Langston Heritage celebration. /Photo by Khalid Naji-Allah
LANGSTON
continued from Page 26
“I can’t think of any place I’d
rather be,” said Boone, 77, who
was portrayed by Denzel Washington in the movie, “Remember the Titans.”
Northwest resident and golfer Luke Watson is also a regular
at Langston and his review of
the course on his “hot dogs and
golf ” blog echoes the thoughts
of many who have had teetimes there.
“The first hole, a 472-yard
par 5, is a perfect hand shake
to start your round. The course
quickly offers its challenges,” Watson said. “Hole 4 is a
treacherous par 3 that requires
excellent distance control. Too
far requires a precise chipping
game, and too short may leave
you in a valley 30 feet below the
green.”
The next contest is the wideopen, grip it and rip it, number
6, Watson noted. From the tee,
the hole is pretty straightforward but the approach to this
massive green requires careful
club selection.
“Coming in, the designers have put together a masterpiece,” Watson said. “The
opening hole on the back is
pure bliss. At 538 yards, the par
5, 10th hole is not overly long,
giving the mounds on the right
and the prevailing slope toward
Kingman Lake on the left, a dewww.washingtoninformer.com cent drive can leave you in significant trouble.”
Langston is much more
than a golf course to the black
community, said Paulette Savoy, 2nd vice president of the
Wake-Robin Golf Club in
Lanham, Md., the oldest African-American women’s golf
club in the country.
“It’s a course built only because black golfers got together
and met with government officials, held rallies, wrote letters,
sent petitions to make Langston
a reality for black golfers,” said
Savoy, 68.
Langston is also the only
course the federal government
built specifically for African
Americans. It was named after John Mercer Langston, an
abolitionist, attorney, activist,
politician and the first dean
of Howard University’s Law
School. Langston, who lived
from 1829 to 1897, also served
as president of Virginia State
University and served as the
first representative of color to
be elected to the United States
Congress from Virginia.
“For decades Langston was
the center of black golf in the
city. Even though the Royal and
Wake-Robin Golf clubs started
petitioning back in 1938 to desegregate the public courses in
Washington, D.C., this was not
done until 1955,” Paulette Savoy said.
tion of a new
clubhouse with
banquet facilities and the development of a
museum.
“Many of us
are determined
to do what we
can to upgrade
the facilities at
Langston,” Paulette Savoy said.
“After all, it has
been designated an historic
landmark and it
should be treated accordingly.”
The June 8
celebration will
feature a numJohn Mercer Langston. /Photo courtesy of Golf
ber of champiCourse Specialists, Inc.
on golfers, who
will share their
remembrances
about the stoLangston is bordered on the
ried
course.
Lee
Elder, the first
north by the National ArboreAfrican
American
to play in the
tum as well as schools, housing
Masters, Calvin Peete, the most
and residential streets, which
can be seen from the west side successful black golfer on the
PGA tour during the pre-Tiger
of the course.
Woods era, and Charlie Owens,
To the east lies the Anacostia
a two-time PGA tour winner,
River and the course surrounds
are among those scheduled to
parts of Kingman Lake, on the
attend.
grounds of the golf course.
A large and emotional gatherPlay traverses the water on
ing is expected for the Heritage
the back nine holes. The length
celebration where golfers are
of the course is 6,652 yards and
sure to reminisce about 5-putt
much of its historical layout has
bogeys, game-changing birdies,
been preserved.
rare eagles and the once-in-aTate said plans are in the
lifetime hole-in-one.
works to refurbish the course, a
“I’m sure there will be a
transformation that will include
whole lot of memories about
upgrading it to championship
Langston that will be shared
on Saturday,” said Jim Jenkins,
quality, including the construcThe Washington Informer
a course regular for 44 years.
“Langston really became a stopin place for African-American
celebrities and recently, (former
World No. 1 golfer) Vijay Singh
was there. I remember walking
18 holes with Gary Player and it
was an experience that opened
my eyes and one I will never
forget,” said Jenkins, who lives
in Bethesda, Md.
Player, a nine-time major
champion, hails from South Africa and Jenkins said the initial
meeting between the men was
uneasy.
“Growing up in the civil
rights era, I was skeptical of
Player because he is a South African,” Jenkins said. “But, he totally changed my view of things
because he was such a great guy
and we had a lot of fun. This
is what the Heritage celebration
is about and these are some of
the great memories that will be
shared.”
The Heritage Golf Tournament is scheduled to kick off at
8:30 a.m., and guests are invited
to participate in interactive golf
activities, including a beat the
pro contest.
Additionally, 10-minute lessons will be offered along with
hole-in-one contests, and a
demonstration of the latest golf
products, compliments of Nike.
The event is free and open
to the public, but there is a
$35 sign-up fee for those who
would like to participate in the
golf tournament.wi
For more information about
the heritage celebration, visit www.
langstongolfcourse.net.
June 6, 2013 - June 12, 2013
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