On Friday April 17th seven Walter J. Travis Society members made the trip to Wasghington, D.C. play in the annual East Potomac golf course's Reversible Day. For those interested in learning more about the original, two-way course design inspired by St Andrews, and designed by Walter Travis, click here. To view the Reversible Day scorecard and the tournament information, scroll to the end for links to PDFs.
NLT representatives and volunteers served as tour guides, shepherding players around the reversible route that no longer exists. While what is now known as the Blue Course has been dramatically softened over the years, the reversible set up had players negotiating obstacles and features that have been lost to antiquity, and playing into greens sloping in the opposite direction from traditional avenues of play.
Despite the limited budget, the course was in fine shape. While most of the Travis features "softened" over time on the Blue routing, there is ample evidence of Travis in some of the areas which used to be part of the course, but have allowed to go fallow. East Potomac’s location on the Potomac River, with the National Mall just north of the course and Reagan National airport just south, is a great reminder of the importance of recreational golf in an urban setting. The surrounding scenery was unique with the Washington Monument visible from anywhere on the course.
The staff was very welcoming with coffee and donuts in the morning, drinks of choice on the course, and a summertime BBQ after the round. We want to thank all those who participated as well as those who organized the event.
Reversible Day - 2026 Tournament Paperwork.pdf
2026 reversible day scorecard.pdf
