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Country's oldest mini-golf course gets $1M restoration in DC

The Miniature Golf Course at East Potomac Golf Links was built in 1931 and has features showing the White House, the Capitol and Mount Vernon

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The oldest continuously operating miniature-golf course in the country — not far from the Jefferson Memorial — recently received a $1 million restoration.

The Miniature Golf Course at East Potomac Golf Links was built in 1931 and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

“We don't have the clown's mouth and no volcanoes and no dinosaurs around, but again, we maintain the historical elements of the miniature-golf course with the wishing well. We have the, you know, the Capitol and the White House and Mount Vernon right behind me here,” National Links Trust Executive Director Damian Cosby said as he showed some of the holes on the course. “Those were all here when this miniature-golf course originally opened, and so we wanted to keep those elements and maintain them and restore them.”

The course was in bad shape when the National Links Trust took it over in 2020. But over the past several months, it’s been restored to its original design.

“And the great thing about it is you don't have to be a golfer to enjoy this space,” Cosby said. “You don't have to know anything about golf. You know, again, it's fun, it's engaging, it's really accessible, it's affordable, it's a great place to take your kids, take your family, take a date if you'd like. It's just really fun and it’s just a really easy way to get into the game.”

The course is open year-round, seven days a week from 8 a.m. until dark. Starting in September, it will stay open until 9 p.m.

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