Former Md. golf course gets a mulligan for the future
It’s been over 15 years since anyone living around the Lake Arbor Golf Course had to worry about an errant slice breaking a window, or their kids hearing the inevitable shouting and cursing that comes with another shot landing in the water.
The course, which operated for about 40 years, closed in 2010. But now, Prince George’s County, Maryland, is in the middle of giving it a mulligan, working to turn the nearly 130 acres of former fairways, greens and tee boxes into a park.
A key addition to that transformation came in the form of a grant that will help the county plant over 10,000 trees along the course.
“We’re going to do about 60 acres of planting, meadow creation, wetland creation on the former golf course,” said Dominic Quattrocchi, an arborist and supervisor with the Maryland National Capital Park and Planning Commission, the entity transforming this old course into something new.
“It’s a rewilding initiative where we’re trying to balance sort of natural resources management and stewardship and provide recreational amenities for the local community.”
The trees being planted will add some wooded areas to the park, while meadows and wetlands will also be created. The cart paths, used by residents as walking paths, will also be upgraded to offer a better trail system that meanders through other parts of the park.
“We’ll have trail going through where we’re planting new trees, and through the meadow area, so people can kind of veer off, if they want an experience through a mowed path, and then get back on the paved path system,” said Mary Jo Kishter, project supervisor and environmental planner with the Prince George’s County Parks and Recreation Department.
“It’s going to improve the area, the setting, and it’s going to facilitate people getting together, walking their dogs, meeting one another in the community,” Quattrocchi said. “Before, it was just the closed golf course that had some unique concerns and problems with it.”
Kishter agreed the transformation will make the space available to more people.
“It was a facility that was for golfers only, and now it’s going to be a park with a lot of different amenities for different folks with different interests to enjoy,” she said.
A similar project is being planned for the old Cross Creek golf course in the Calverton area. Montgomery County did something similar with Redgate golf course in Rockville, and other former courses around the country are also getting “rewilded.”
“We’re always looking to fill in the gap with our parkland acquisitions, expanding our greenway and hydrologic connections, and our trail connections,” Quattrocchi said. “Lake Arbor checked a lot of boxes in terms of future public use and need, environmental protection, expanding forested areas. It’s just going to be a quality asset.”