In June, the Maryland and Virginia state golf associations announced a partnership to take over hosting and managing the DC Amateur from the Washington Metropolitan Golf Association. For them, it was important to keep a championship going that has meant so much to golfers from Washington, D.C., Maryland and northern Virginia. But they also wanted the tournament to serve a bigger purpose.
“How can we tie it to something that benefits golf in the region?” said Matt Smiley, the VSGA’s executive director. “And that’s how we got National Links Trust, which is obviously making a huge impact locally as well as their impact on municipal golf across the country.”
On Thursday, the rebranded DC Amateur Championship will tee off at Argyle Country Club in Silver Spring, Maryland. Proceeds from the tournament, as well as the Summer Team Matches in which clubs from Maryland and Virginia are invited to participate as part of the partnership, will support the National Links Trust Championship, a national competition for men and women open exclusively to public-access golfers ages 25 and older.
According to Sinclair Eaddy Jr., MSGA president and National Links Trust Championship tournament chairman, creating a link between the DC Amateur and the Links Trust event serves a larger purpose.
“We felt responsible to not only continue the legacy of the [DC Amateur] championship but to continue helping grow municipal golf in the local communities,” said Eaddy, who also serves on the USGA Executive Committee.
The DC Amateur dates to 1914 when the WMGA was founded. While originally called the DC Amateur, it became known as the Washington Metropolitan Amateur Championship in 1983 and was played under that name until 2024.
Because the WMGA lacked the resources to keep operating the championship, its officials approached the MSGA to take it over. Because Washington, D.C., is part of the MSGA’s territory and because of its rich history, the decision was easy.
“We didn’t want to lose that legacy and history,” said Kelly Newland, the MSGA’s executive director.
The MSGA decided to partner with the VSGA to help run the championship, as players from northern Virginia regularly played in the event, too. Together, the organizations restored the championship’s original name and created a logo that pays homage to the WMGA with an image of the U.S. Capitol and the year the WMGA was founded above it.
The MSGA and VSGA will alternate management of the tournament, with the MSGA running it this year and in 2027, and the VSGA assuming responsibility in 2026.
After the partnership announcement in June, Newland says the spots in the new DC Amateur filled up in about a week. So many golfers signed up that the MSGA decided to increase the available spots from 120 to 132.
“There are barriers to entry for public municipal golfers to travel around the country. We wanted to offer some assistance to players.”
Sinclair Eaddy Jr.
“I did not expect for that to sell out within the first week,” Newland said. “That was really exciting for us.”
The proceeds of the DC Amateur and Summer Team Matches will go toward an annual $20,000 contribution to the National Links Trust Championship. If those proceeds are less than $20,000, the non-hosting organization that year will cover the remaining funds.
According to Eaddy, the money will be used to defray costs for competitors, including travel and lodging.
“There are barriers to entry for public municipal golfers to travel around the country,” Eaddy said. “We wanted to offer some assistance to players.”
In golf, barriers to entry are common, even for municipal courses.
“A lot of communities the municipal golf course is in traditionally aren’t the communities that are invited to play,” said Damian Cosby, executive director of the National Links Trust. “People walk by it and don’t feel welcome.”
The National Links Trust has many strategies to make golf more accessible. Its Nation’s Capital Project seeks to restore three municipal courses in Washington, D.C. It has a workforce development program for kids to learn helpful life skills. An Evans Scholar came through the program, and the organization strives to produce more.
The National Links Trust Championship, slated for October 17-19 at Washington’s East Potomac Golf Course, is another way the Links Trust is making golf more accessible. First staged in 2023, the tournament was created to replace the USGA’s U.S. Amateur Public Links Championship, which ran from 1922-2014.
“There was a void,” Eaddy said. “There were players from public backgrounds who enjoyed that competition.”
In its first two editions, public golfers from 15 states and the District of Columbia have participated. With the annual $20,000 stipend from the DC Amateur and its new operating associations, Eaddy believes the National Links Trust Championship will continue to reach more golfers.
“It creates a new tradition in bringing new competitors to the NLT,” he said. “The NLT Championship has created a great community for public municipal players across the country. They love the game and the competition.”
Everett Munez