The Best of USA’s Golfing Presidents.
The Best of USA’s Golfing Presidents.
Golf Chats is a website to encourage discussions on various subjects relating to the game of golf. I am Mel Sole, Director of Instruction of the Mel Sole Golf School and SAPGA Master Professional. I invite you to enter into a discussion on this or any article on the golfchats.com website. The input is for the entire subscriber base to learn something new each time! Please post your comments below. Keep it clean and tasteful. We are here to learn from one another!
This month we talk about The Best of USA’s Golfing Presidents.
Donald Trump, the 45th President of the USA, has played more golf in his first month in office than any other former President. Is this a good thing or a bad thing? Well, I have always thought that people in positions of power and authority need the stress-relieving powers of a game of golf. But when is a lot too much. When does golf get in the way of running the country? I think in Donald Trump’s case, only time will tell. I think most Americans don’t care how much golf their President plays as long as he is making the correct decisions for the country’s good! Thanks to Swing by Swing, here is a list of 10 golfing Presidents of the modern era!
The president of the United States is one of the most stressful jobs in the history of America, so it’s no surprise quite a few Commanders-in-Chief took to the golf course to let off a little steam. In honor of President’s Day, we take a look back on 10 past U.S. presidents that found happiness with a golf club in their hands.
Dwight Eisenhower
Famously a member at Augusta National Golf Club where he used to have one of the most notorious trees in golf named after him (which unfortunately fell in 2014 due to a major ice storm), Ike played more than 800 rounds of golf while calling the White House home. Playing often with Arnold Palmer in the years following the conclusion of World War II, Eisenhower and the King brought the game to the masses. According “Ike’s Bluff”, a biography by Evan Thomas, “Ike loosened up in his White House bedroom every morning with an 8-iron, hit balls on the White House lawn every day at 5 p.m…the man was serious about his golf.”
George W. Bush
Bush 43 is a certified golf junkie. While not only a decent player in his own right, Bush enjoys watching the pros on television and is a frequent guest at the biennial Presidents Cup matches. Most famously, Bush is a quick player with rounds that surpass three hours being considered slow.
Richard Nixon
Nixon took up golf while serving as Vice President of the United States under Dwight Eisenhower. However, his plan to spend more time with his boss turned into a full-blown addiction, eventually leading friends to build a three-hole golf course at his home in California as a respite from the likes of Watergate and Vietnam.
Ronald Reagan
Reagan had been a golfer long before he entered the Presidency. As an actor and executive, he played the game often, and his natural athletic ability led him to be a pretty good player. Once in office, however, Reagan’s rounds were limited dramatically, save for his annual New Year’s Eve outings on a private California course. Famously, Reagan was playing a round at Augusta National when a gunman took two hostages in the club’s pro shop and demanded to talk to the Commander in Chief.
George H.W. Bush
Bush 41 was a golfer by blood, and that line ran throughout his family. In fact, his grandfather, George Herbert Walker, was a former President of the USGA. And the founder of the Walker Cup. Bush was inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame in 2011. He can be seen at multiple PGA Tour events each year.
To see the rest of the USA’s Golfing Presidents, go here!
Source: Swing by Swing
Pictures: Getty Images
Thanks for reading – The Best of USA’s Golfing Presidents.
Related Posts.
Golfing Presidents – Where does Obama rank?
Top 10 Longest Hitters of All Time on the PGA Tour!
Next Up in Golf – The President’s Cup – Why You MUST Watch!
Here are the top 10 stories from the President’s Cup – #1 is my Favorite!
10 Players who could still be picked for the Presidents Cup!
PLEASE SUBSCRIBE TO MY CHANNEL, LIKE THIS VIDEO, SHARE IT WITH A FRIEND, LEAVE A COMMENT!