One of the most interesting and positive developments on the elite American amateur game in 2023 was the debut of the National Links Trust Championship. It’s a mid-amateur tournament with a taste of the former U.S. Amateur Public Links, which was open only to public-access golfers.
The NLTC was a great success last year, and it will return this year. The second National Links Trust Championship will be held October 5-6 at the Blue Course at East Potomac Golf Links, a 1923 Walter Travis design in Washington, D.C. Qualifying tournaments begin June 4 and will be held at 11 public-access courses around the country.
National Links Trust is a nonprofit organization dedicated to positively impacting communities and changing lives through affordable and accessible municipal golf. The NLT has a 50-year lease with the National Park Service to operate and rehabilitate Washington’s three public golf courses: Rock Creek Park, Langston and East Potomac. The NLT has partnered with Troon to manage operations and to collaborate on course renovations to help rejuvenate the three iconic courses.
“We are exceptionally excited to bring the National Links Trust Championship back to our nation’s capital this fall,” said Sinclair Eaddy Jr., the tournament chairman, a senior adviser to the NLT and a member of the USGA’s Executive Committee. “This is an important initiative, an opportunity for public golfers from around the country to compete for a national championship, and we hope to bring together a highly competitive field diverse in their backgrounds and experiences in the game.”
“Our goal is to spur public golf around the country, and to provide skilled public-access players an opportunity to enjoy their own championship.”
Rob Addington, CEO, Anera Sports
The NLTC limits entries to male and female public-access golfers ages 25 and older with a USGA Handicap Index of 8.0 or less for men and 12.0 or less for women. The 78-player field will compete in 36 holes of stroke play. Aligning with Links Trust’s commitment to accessibility in golf, the tournament entry fee will be $75, and travel stipends of up to $300 will be provided to players living beyond a 50-mile radius of East Potomac.
Last fall, players from California to Massachusetts came to Washington to compete in the inaugural NLTC. Following their victories, men’s champion Tyler McKeever of Atlanta, Georgia, and women’s winner Stephanie Tran of Orange, California, were invited to play in national invitational tournaments. McKeever will compete in the prestigious George L. Coleman Invitational at Seminole Golf Club in April, as well as the Travis Invitational at Garden City Golf Club – another Travis-designed course located near New York City – in May. Tran has been invited to the Amateur Golf Alliance Women’s Amateur Championship at The Bay Club in Mattapoisett, Massachusetts, in May.
“Our goal is to spur public golf around the country, and to provide skilled public-access players an opportunity to enjoy their own championship,” said Rob Addington, CEO of Anera Sports, the tournament organizer.
Founded in 2019, the National Links Trust is a nonprofit dedicated to positively impacting the Washington, D.C., community and changing lives through affordable and accessible municipal golf. The trust holds a 50-year lease with the National Park Service to operate and rehabilitate Washington’s three public golf courses – Rock Creek Park, Langston and East Potomac – that are deemed to be valuable historic and cultural assets.
The National Links Trust leads community-focused programs such as the Jack Vardaman Workforce Development Program – an internship and caddie program for local youth and adolescents – and is working toward undertaking a series of renovation projects dubbed the Nation’s Capital Project. The trust also hosts the annual Symposium on Municipal Golf, a series of panel discussions and networking events.
The National Links Trust Championship is one of several initiatives from the NLT that aims to position the organization as the leading advocate and resource for municipal golf across the United States. For more information, click HERE.
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