Municipal golf can and should exist symbiotically with other forms of public recreation. That's how East Potomac is designed. The golf course preserves a large swath of green space in the middle, and non-golfers are invited to enjoy the recreational areas along the perimeter. The different sections of the park are mutually supportive. If the golf course subsumes everything around it, those interrelationships get broken. This is the kind of thing that gives golf a bad name and might make non-golfers everywhere wonder why public land and money should be devoted to the game.

The Trump administration has finally admitted that its plan for a redesigned East Potomac Golf Links eliminates the road, bike path, and all other recreational areas at Hains Point. Tom Fazio should be embarrassed to be involved in this heist of public lands.