Sixteen of the last 19 United States presidents played golf. Former President Donald Trump, of course, is well-known as an avid golfer and current President Joe Biden plays the game, too.
The list goes back to William Howard Taft, who was president from 1909 to 1913. According to the Washington Post, Taft was admittedly “addicted to golf,” playing so much during the 1908 presidential campaign that his predecessor, Theodore Roosevelt, urged him to quit playing altogether.
More than 100 years later, Trump spent $50,000 of his own money to upgrade the golf simulator inside the personal quarters at the White House.
William Howard Taft
President from 1909-1913
William McKinley made the first presidential putt in 1897, but William Howard Taft was the first U.S. President to really take up the game of golf.
“I know that there is nothing more democratic than golf,” Taft once wrote. “There is nothing which furnishes a greater test of character and self-restraint, nothing which puts one more on an equality with one’s fellows, or, I may say, puts one lower than one’s fellows, than the game of golf.”
Woodrow Wilson
President from 1913-1921
It was estimated that Woodrow Wilson played more than 1,000 rounds of golf during his eight years in office, according to presidentialgolftracker.com.
Wilson even reportedly played in the snow, using golf balls that were painted black. As much as he played, he rarely ever broke 100.
He credited the game as being major stress reliever during World War I.
Warren G. Harding
President from 1921-1923
Warren G. Harding loved the game and even trained his dog, Laddie Boy, to retrieve golf balls on the White House lawn.
He was never very good at the game but he certainly left his mark, as TPC Harding Park in San Francisco was named after him. The course gracing his name opened in 1925 and was once considered the second-best muni in the world, next to the Old Course at St. Andrews.
Harding died at the Palace Hotel while visiting San Francisco.
Calvin Coolidge
President from 1923-1929
Calvin Coolidge became president of the United States in August of 1923 when his predecessor, Warren Harding, died of a heart attack. His initial State of the Union address was the first to be carried live over radio.
Coolidge was not a talented golfer. In fact, it has been reported that the only thing Coolidge left behind in the White House after his presidency ended was his bag of golf clubs.
Franklin D. Roosevelt
President from 1933-1945
Franklin D. Roosevelt was an avid golfer and in college became the club champion at Campobello Island Golf Club in New Brunswick, Canada.
According to Don Van Natta, Jr., author of “First Off The Tee”, Roosevelt played golf until he was 38. He would often play with other politicians in Washington. Van Natta called him “probably one of the better presidential golfers.”
Roosevelt contracted polio at age 39 and it “robbed him of the game. He really, truly loved it,” said Van Natta.
Roosevelt left a legacy with the federal funding of public-works projects, which included dozens of municipal golf courses like Bethpage State Park in New York and FDR Golf Club in Philadelphia.
Dwight D. Eisenhower
President from 1953-1961
Dwight D. Eisenhower, named Golfweek’s Golfer of the Century in 2000, was famously a member of Augusta National Golf Club in Augusta, Georgia.
At the White House, Eisenhower had a putting green installed and during his eight years in office, it’s estimated he played more than 800 rounds.
While his handicap never reached single-digits, he did team with Arnold Palmer, a frequent playing partner, to win a charity event in 1964.
John F. Kennedy
President from 1961-1963
Like Eisenhower, John F. Kennedy played most of his golf at Burning Tree Club in the Washington D.C. area, where he reportedly skipped around the course, rarely playing a full 18. And despite criticizing Ike for his frequent golf, calling him the “Duffer in Chief,” Kennedy played enough to be a single-digit handicap.
Earlier in life, Kennedy was a member of the Harvard golf team.
Before JFK became president, he once nearly aced the 16th hole at Cypress Point, his 5-iron shot hitting the flagstick and ending up inches from the hole.
Lyndon B. Johnson
President from 1963-1969
According to his biographies, Lyndon B. Johnson was no stickler for the rules.
One historian said that Johnson would take up to 400 swings during an 18-hole round – if he didn’t like a shot, he’d hit another until he was satisfied.
It’s also been said that Johnson used golf rounds to sway senators into voting for the Civil Rights Act of 1964. Johnson knew by playing golf with political friends and foes, he’d get four hours (or more) of uninterrupted time with them to strengthen, or sway, their opinions.
Richard Nixon
President from 1969-1974
Richard Nixon took up the game while serving as Eisenhower’s vice president and is believed to have played to a 12-handicap, even breaking 80 on an occasion.
However, he is also known for removing the putting green from the White House lawn.
Arnold Palmer had several interactions with Nixon and 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
President from 1974-1977
Gerald Ford was a much better golfer than most people have been led to believe. He regularly broke 90.
Ford was the first president to join the U.S. Golf Association and was honorary chairman of the first Presidents Cup, in 1994.
One cool Ford golf story: After he pardoned Richard Nixon, the first thing he did was go to the opening of the World Golf Hall of Fame and play a round with Jack Nicklaus, Arnold Palmer and Gary Player.
Ronald Reagan
President from 1981-1989
Reagan wasn’t an avid golfer, though some say he had a good swing and could break triple-digits.
During a round at Augusta National in October 1983, an armed gunman drove his truck through an entrance gate and took five hostages in the club’s pro shop, demanding to speak to Reagan. Two hours later, the man was arrested. No one was hurt and the man ended up serving three years in prison.
George H.W. Bush
President from 1989-1993
Once an 11-handicap, George Bush was known for being a fast player.
Bush supposedly holds the presidential speed-golf record of one hour, 51 minutes for 18 holes. And that was with a foursome.
His maternal grandfather, George Herbert Walker, was president of the U.S. Golf Association and founded the Walker Cup.
George Bush was inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame in 2011.
Bill Clinton
President from 1993-2001
Bill Clinton is known for being long off the tee and a huge golf nut. He wasn’t too concerned with rules, however, often dropping a ball and re-hitting after a poor shot.
One time as president, he played by himself in the pouring rain at the Army Navy Country Club.
His foundation on a few occasions hosted the PGA Tour’s CareerBuilder Challenge in La Quinta, California.
Clinton was left-handed but played golf as a rightie.
George W. Bush
President from 2001-2009
Though he called his golf game “mediocre” in 2015, Bush is a decent stick, and like his father, is a quick player.
He said he once shot 77 at Augusta National. He often hosted the Warrior Open, a golf event benefiting wounded servicemen.
Bush played golf frequently but stopped after the attacks on 9/11.
Barack Obama
President from 2009-2017
Barack Obama was the eighth lefthander to serve as United States president and he played golf as a lefty, too.
Obama has been criticized for playing too much golf; it was once calculated he teed it up every 9.5 days. But a lot of the criticism came from the current commander in chief, who plays golf reportedly every 6.3 days.
Obama would play as president with custom Titleist golf balls, personalized with “POTUS” on one side and the number “44” on the other. According to a report, Obama personally paid for the balls.
He’s not the first, and likely not the last, president to have customized golf balls. Richard Nixon, Gerald Ford, Ronald Reagan and George H.W. Bush all had balls featuring their signatures, according to the book “First Off the Tee: Presidential Hackers, Duffers and Cheaters from Taft to Bush” by ESPN’s Don Van Natta, Jr.
Donald Trump
President from 2017-2021
Donald Trump is a single-digit handicap, he’s been called a cheater, he’s had his golf scores hacked, he plays a lot (maybe too much?) and his company owns many golf courses, including in the U.S., Scotland, Ireland and the United Arab Emirates.
Trump is also known to enjoy the company of famous people and that extends to the golf course, where he has played rounds with Tiger Woods, Dustin Johnson, Lexi Thompson, Jack Nicklaus and John Daly.
As for the golf simulator in the White House that he paid for with $50,000 out of his own pocket, he did so to replace the one originally installed by Barack Obama.
Non-playing presidents
Jimmy Carter, Harry Truman and Herbert Hoover.
Joe Biden
Biden is a member at Wilmington Country Club in Wilmington, Delaware, which hosted the 2022 BMW Championship, the second leg of the FedEx Cup Playoffs.
