Golf-Course Renovation Starts With 60 Trees And No Renovation Plan

WASHINGTON—More than 60 trees have disappeared from East Potomac Golf Links ahead of President Trump’s promised September renovation, giving the historic public course a head start on a project that still has no final design, construction schedule, disclosed cost, or final approval.

The Interior Department says arborists are performing routine maintenance by removing hazardous, invasive, declining, and dying trees. An informal count found fresh stumps around the parking area and playing corridors, including a cherry tree near the Blue Course’s 14th green and two large sycamores near the fourth hole.

The National Park Service awarded a $349,000 tree-and-stump contract on August 19, with work scheduled into October. Tree removal is common during golf renovations because it widens corridors and improves sunlight and airflow, but Interior has not connected this cutting to the president’s redesign. This allows the trees to be gone for maintenance while remaining entirely unrelated to the plan arriving behind them.

A federal judge overseeing a preservation lawsuit previously told government lawyers she wanted notice before more than 10 trees were removed or equipment larger than a sedan entered the property. The instruction was oral rather than a written order. The Washington Post reported that plaintiffs and the court had not been notified, while government filings say multiple public steps must occur before redesign work begins.

Environmental and historic reviews remain unfinished, and the National Capital Planning Commission has not given final approval. The paperwork will therefore approach a landscape already simplified for easier review.