More often than not, U.S. Presidents play golf .
As Thursday’s televised debate on CNN proved, golf is no laughing matter when it comes to the highest form of government in the United States. Donald Trump and Joe Biden hurled abuse at one another, but they only truly crossed the line when their 18-hole handicap was questioned.
The nation now waits with bated breath to see if the two men agree to a golf showdown . Maybe whoever wins, takes office in the White House. It would be fitting, given the presidency and golf goes hand-in-hand. Since 1909, only Jimmy Carter, Harry Truman, and Herbert Hoover were U.S. Presidents who were non-golfers.
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While William McKinley made the first presidential putt in 1897, William Howard Taft (in office 1909-1913) was the first U.S. President to truly obsess over the game and insisted there was "nothing more democratic than golf". Taft played so much during the 1908 campaign that his predecessor Theodore Roosevelt urged him to quit.
Woodrow Wilson (1913-1921) used golf to relieve stress from World War I, playing over 1,000 rounds across his two terms. He even played in the snow, using golf balls that were painted black. But Wilson rarely broke 100, which would undoubtedly leave him open to ridicule from Trump.
After training his dog to retrieve golf balls on the White House lawn, William G. Harding (1921-1923) left his mark on the game by opening TPC Harding Park in San Francisco. Calvin Coolidge (1923-1929), who took office after Harding died of a heart attack, played golf but was notably not skilled at the game; the only thing Coolidge left behind in the White House after his presidency ended was his golf clubs.
Franklin D. Roosevelt (1933-1945) was an avid golfer, though. Club champion at Campobello Island Golf Club in New Brunswick, Canada, Roosevelt played until polio harshly stripped him of his ability to play. But his love for the game remained; he sanctioned federal funding of public works projects, including dozens of municipal golf courses like Bethpage State Park in New York and FDR Golf Club in Philadelphia.
Named Golfweek’s Golfer of the Century in 2000, Dwight D. Eisenhower (1953-1961) was a member of Augusta National Golf Club, home of the Masters . To the delight of future presidents, Eisenhower had a putting green installed and during his eight years in office, it is estimated he played more than 800 rounds and he even teamed up with Arnold Palmer to win a charity event in 1964. His successor John F. Kennedy (1961-1963) was a single-digit handicap and a member of the Harvard golf team.
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Lyndon B. Johnson (1963-1969) would reportedly take as many swings as he pleased to get around 18 holes, simply taking another shot if he was not a fan of his previous effort. And while Richard Nixon (1969-1974) was a keen golfer who played off a 12-handicap, he removed the putting green from the White House.
Seven-time major champion Palmer once said: “I liked Richard Nixon despite his quirks and apparent lack of warmth. I think his decision to abandon golf for political purposes revealed something fundamental about the dark side of his character, or maybe his deep social insecurities, that Mr. Nixon never permitted himself to examine.”
Gerald Ford (1974-1977) was one of the better presidents to play golf. He reportedly regularly broke 90 and was the first president to join the U.S. Golf Association while he served as honorary chairman of the first Presidents Cup in 1994. After pardoning Nixon, Ford reportedly attended the opening of the World Golf Hall of Fame to play a round with Jack Nicklaus, Gary Player, and Palmer.
Like Ford, George H. W. Bush (1989-1993) was a golf savant. Once an 11-handicap, he was inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame in 2011. But his predecessor Ronald Reagan (1981-1989) was not a keen golfer, even if he could break triple-digits. Blessed with a powerful drive, Bill Clinton (1993-2001) held little interest in playing by the rules and would regularly re-take a poor shot.
However, George W. Bush (2001-2009), who once shot 77 at Augusta, arguably has the most famous presidential golf moment. After calling out for international cooperation to stop terrorism, Bush said: “Now watch this drive.”
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Barack Obama (2009-2017) reportedly played every 9 days, teeing off with Titleist golf balls personalized with “POTUS” and the number “44” emblazoned on either side. This brings us to Trump (2017-2021).
Trump claims to have a single-digit handicap, even reaching as low as 2.5, while his golf game has been shrouded with allegations of cheating despite owning major courses in the U.S., Scotland, Ireland, and the United Arab Emirates. He is also known to have played rounds with Tiger Woods , Bryson DeChambeau , Dustin Johnson , Lexi Thompson, John Daly, and Nicklaus, while Trump paid $50,000 for a golf simulator.
Biden (2020-present) also plays golf. While it’s unclear whether his handicap is 6 or 8, the 81-year-old is a member of Wilmington Country Club in Wilmington, Delaware, which hosted the 2022 BMW Championship in the FedEx Cup Playoffs.
Ultimately, golf is a game naturally intertwined with the U.S. presidency, so perhaps a Trump-Biden showdown across sweeping fairways and undulating greens would make more sense than an election.
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