Trump's D.C. Golf Project: Fazio Spills the Beans on East Potomac's Future
So, you wanna know about this whole East Potomac golf course thing? The one the President is trying to put his stamp on in D.C.? Yeah, it’s a mess. And you bet your ass the guy doing the work, Tom Fazio, has some stories. He’s the big-shot designer, the one they called in. And let me tell you, saying no to the President? Not easy. But Fazio? He did. At first, anyway.
Late last year, the President calls up Fazio. Wants him to take on East Potomac Golf Links. It’s an old D.C. muni, sits right there by the Mall. Prime real estate. Fazio, who’s no spring chicken at 81, didn’t hesitate. A quick “no,” he says. Why? Because he hates the aggravation. You know, all the permits, the approvals, the red tape that comes with public projects. It’s a nightmare. Plus, D.C. already had plans. The National Links Trust had a 50-year lease. They were bringing in another big name, Tom Doak, to fix it up. So Fazio stepping in? That was gonna cause some serious friction.
When the Site Itself Changes Your Mind
But then, the wife. Sue Fazio. She’s got a trip to D.C. planned. Urges Tom to tag along. He’s busy, of course, but he caves. Uses the trip to check out East Potomac. It’s on this peninsula, water on both sides, Washington Monument views. Pretty damn sweet spot. And Fazio? He sees it. He’s like, “Holy mackerel, this is awesome.”
So, what does he do? Calls the President. “Told you no,” Fazio says to Trump. “But you were right.” Yeah, the site. It was just too good to pass up. The potential, you know?
The Trump Connection: More Than Just a Project
Fazio and Trump go way back. Designed four courses for him. Trump Bedminster, that fancy place in Jersey? Fazio did the first one. And it’s not just Tom. His nephew, Tommy Fazio, and Tommy’s dad, Jim Fazio, they’ve all got Trump courses to their name. They talk golf sometimes, mostly on the phone, weekends. Fazio jokes, “He’s got other things to do. He’s running the world.” Right.
But this East Potomac thing? It wasn’t just a casual chat. Signs were popping up. Back in October, dump trucks full of dirt from Trump’s East Wing renovation project started showing up at East Potomac. Dumping debris near the 4th and 9th holes on the executive course. The place has a regulation 18-hole course, a par-3 nine-hole course, and this executive nine-hole thing. Lots of dirt. Lots of debris.
Then, in December, the Interior Department pulls the plug on the National Links Trust lease. Allegations of not paying rent, not doing enough with the courses. NLT, naturally, disputes all of it. Suddenly, the future of these D.C. munis is up in the air. Awkward. Unsettling. This limbo lasted for months. Then, in May, the administration says they’ve struck a deal. Fazio Design is in. Immediate renovations for East Potomac. Langston and Rock Creek? Back to NLT.
Pushback and Protests: It's Never Simple
You think this went down smooth? Hell no. In February, some D.C. golfers, along with the D.C. Preservation League, sued. Said the administration was messing with East Potomac’s role as a public park. A judge stepped in. Said they could do maintenance, but no overhauling without proper notice and approvals. There’s this group, “Save East Po.” They’re protesting, saying they love the place and want to keep its character for future generations.
Fazio’s getting emails. People telling him, “Don’t work on that project.” Some are insulting. Some are just… ridiculous. But he says he’s used to it. Dealing with all sorts of opinions and personalities. He figures the payoff will be worth it. This site, he says, it’s special. “Pebble Beach quality land,” he calls it. Trump’s idea? Make it a “national monument.” And Fazio agrees, “no reason it can’t be.”
Concerns from the Locals: Green Fees and Gatekeepers
Fazio gets it, though. He knows what East Potomac means to D.C. folks. Friends whose kids grew up playing there. They’re worried. What happens to the green fees? Right now, they’re capped at $48. This new design? It can play almost 7,700 yards. Trump wants majors, a Ryder Cup. Will that push out beginners and shorter hitters? Will it become too upscale, too exclusive? Will it lose its history, that Walter Travis design from way back in 1921?
“It’s controversial,” Fazio admits. “Anything he’s involved with becomes controversial.” But he stresses, it’s too early to judge. Not enough facts out there yet. The administration hasn’t spilled all the beans. Interior Secretary Doug Burgum shared Fazio’s preliminary design, saying it’ll be “championship-quality golf at affordable, highly discounted rates.” Like Bethpage Black and Torrey Pines, he says. For locals, of course.
Fazio doesn’t know about the rates. But he figures they’ll be subsidized. Like at other big muni rebuilds. The Park in West Palm Beach. Memorial Park in Houston. The Patch in Augusta, where Fazio also did a re-design. He’s not used to dealing with municipalities, all those different opinions. But his job? Build the best damn course he can within the rules.
And he wants to work fast. Trump’s a guy of action. He wants it done. Not some decade-long slog. “He wants to get it done now,” Fazio says. That’s Trump’s style. White House additions, renaming the Kennedy Center, statues by the Potomac. He wants to leave his mark. Physically.
The Timeline: Can It Actually Happen?
But Fazio can’t just snap his fingers. He needs engineering, environmental, legal clearances. Groundbreaking? “We’ll probably know in a month or so,” he says, depending on permits and regulations. Best case scenario? Start construction this summer. Grass the course next summer. Ready to play by spring 2028. “Most optimistic schedule,” he calls it. Trump’s last day in office is January 20, 2029. Tight.
Drainage, Dirt, and Design Decisions
When Fazio gets going, drainage is a big one. The low-lying areas flood. Rain, tidal surges, you name it. “We’re evaluating what do we do to keep it from flooding? How do we grow grass?” They’re doing studies right now.
The President already asked about cost. Fazio doesn’t have a clue yet. “I don’t have an idea yet until we evaluate all the conditions and deal with the constraints of the site.” More rules, more regulations mean more cost. Simple facts. They’re figuring out how much dirt to move to raise those flood-prone areas.
About that dirt from the White House renovation? Over 30,000 cubic yards. Contains low levels of lead and chromium. Some savings, Fazio says, but “it’s nothing” compared to what the whole project needs. Trump was shocked when Fazio told him. He’ll use some for a couple of greens and bunkers, but it won’t fix the flooding. Won’t raise the land.
The current plan has the first two holes separate, in the northwest corner. A big practice range next to the 2nd hole. Then a par-3 course. The other 16 holes will be on the existing footprint. About half will use the old corridors.
Current holes run north and south. Fazio wants to change that. “Bend and twist,” he says. Create variety. Sun angles. Limited land, so it’s “space allocation.” He wishes he could extend it to the tip of the peninsula, but “that’s not the criteria that I was given to work with.”
Playability vs. Championship Dreams
From the back tees, it’s gonna be a beast. 7,660 yards. Trump wants to test the best. Locals are worried about playability. Fazio says, “I’ve never done a golf course that’s not playable for [a high-handicapper].” He promises at least two sets of forward, middle, and championship tees. “If we only put the third tee from the front,” he says, “guys who are serious players would say, ‘Oh my gosh, that’s a short golf course and I’m not interested in that.’”
But yeah, it’s meant to challenge the elites. “There’s not one golf course I’ve ever done that [the developer] hasn’t thought that we’d be able to hold a major championship on.” He’s aiming for the quality of Aronomink, Quail Hollow, Shinnecock. Event or not, it’s gonna be that good.
Trump wants an event. Fazio’s planning for galleries, how they’ll flow. Contour lines for vantage points. Getting tens of thousands of people in and out of the peninsula? That’s a logistics expert’s problem. But D.C. needs more tournament-ready courses. “There are many golf courses in the region that can host a PGA-quality event,” Fazio notes, mentioning Congressional, TPC Avenel, Caves Valley. “But most of them don’t want to, because that means you have to give up your golf course.”
Honouring the Past? Not So Much.
Preserving Walter Travis’s original design? Not high on Fazio’s list. Maps are scarce. Plus, the current design isn’t for modern golf. “There won’t be any holes that are exactly the way they are now because they’re not acceptable in today’s golf standards,” he says. He figures if the old masters like Donald Ross or A.W. Tillinghast had today’s budgets and equipment, they’d have done things differently too.
The clubhouse? The one that looks like a D.C. monument? It’s staying. Getting a facelift. Maybe a second clubhouse down the line. “Our job and my job always is to look at options and possibilities,” Fazio says.
The new driving range. Replacing the old, beat-up one. It’ll run south to north. Smart. So you’re not hitting into the setting sun. “When you hit a golf ball, especially on a practice tee, you kind of like to see it land.” It’ll stretch to 400 yards, balls flying towards the Washington Monument. “The president loves practice ranges,” Fazio says. And this spot? It’s epic. “Where’s the greatest practice range you’ve ever seen?” he asks. “Well, if you stood on the practice tee at the East Potomac and hit balls, that could be as good as any place in the world.” A big deal, indeed.
The par-3 course? Gone. Replaced by another nine-hole short course on the northeast corner. Yardages will be similar. The mini-golf course, the oldest continuously operating one in the country, is staying. It’s historic, after all.
Things are changing. And fast. With the President’s seal of approval. “As the president says, as a guy who’s a golfer, he’s just not happy with a golf course with very little grass on it, with bad drainage, with bad putting surfaces, with not quality experiences,” Fazio explains. “He’s going to fix it.”