By Joséphine Demos
As part of June’s international WorldPride celebrations, which Washington, D.C. hosted this
year, the city put on the inaugural Capital Cup Sports Festival: a 4-day multi-sport festival
centering the LGBTQ+ community and athletes.
When Chris Noble, life-long golf enthusiast, caught wind of the Capital Cup a little more than
a year ago, he knew golf had to be a part of it. Noble stated, “For me, that was kind of an opportunity to reach out and connect with the local LGBTQ+ golf league in D.C., which is called Lambda Links. I reached out to their group and I really have been working over the past year or so with my partner in crime. His name is Matthew Rice.” Noble told The Southwester about his collaboration with the Lambda Links Board Member, “We’re like: ‘Hey, how cool would it be if we can create a competitive type of atmosphere while also welcoming people from all different backgrounds?’”
These ambitions materialized into The World Pride Capital Cup Golf Championship:
3 days of golf at the East Potomac Golf Course. The field of players was made up of both D.C.
natives, and visiting athletes, with roughly half of the participating players being women and
around three quarters of them being part of the LGBTQ+ community, the rest being allies. May
31 and June 1 were dedicated to match play, while June 2 was reserved for one day of
stroke play.
The match play portion of the tournament consisted of five rounds of nine-hole games– match play is characterized by awarding one point for each hole won (as opposed to stroke play, which
tallies all strokes accrued across 18 holes, awarding the win to the lowest scorer). Incorporating
match play allowed for engaging and level-inclusive play. Scoring methods varied across the
different five rounds and included scramble, best ball, and total score, bringing variety and fun to
the competition. The number of rounds also meant there were ample points up for grabs to keep
the competition interesting, with scores staying well-matched throughout the 2 days.
The two-day match play tournament was championed by two members of Lambda Links.
Monday’s stroke play introduced more competition into the tournament; it was played on all 18
holes of East Potomac’s blue course, and prizes were awarded for Low Net Champion,
Men’s & Women’s Low Net & Low Gross Score, and more. Gus Lascola scored the lowest net
score of 69, but Minahill Choudry, a DC native, went home as the Low Net Champion, all
handicaps considered.
Lascola was one of the notable participants in the event: a former varsity golfer for Cornell
University, and now openly gay. For Lascola, who came out in college and only knew a handful
of other gay golfers prior to the tournament, the event acted as a reminder of how two parts of
his identities could intersect; he now plans on joining Lambda Links. Lascola attended the event
with his boyfriend.
The tournament had a similar effect on Benni Westcott, whose professional life is centered
around golf content and media. The Pride event was her first return to competitive play since transitioning. Noble relayed Benni’s story to the Southwester, proud to have played a part in the
event that welcomed her back to playing the game she loves.
To Noble, the host course was a large part in creating the inclusive atmosphere felt by so many
of the players. The East Potomac Golf Links course, which is publicly owned, is operated by the
National Parks Services and the non-profit National Links Trust. “It’s the first time that I’ve ever
truly felt that a golf course is saying, ‘Come as you are.’ And what I mean by that is you saw
people with soccer gear on or basketball shorts, people coming up on Lime bikes or maybe they
just got off work-– even people who are just on the running trail or the biking trail, they put their
bikes there and grab a beer on the patio and watch some of the golfers coming in.”
Noble stated, “I’ve never seen anything like that, and [it was important] for us, especially with really wanting to focus on the inclusion piece and accessibility.”
Noble knows there is still a long way to go in the pursuit of inclusivity in golf and he hopes to
continue working on encouraging diversity in the sport even beyond the LGBTQ+ community.
For now, this recent tournament is a first step in illustrating Noble’s guiding philosophy: “Golf is a
sport of invitation.”
