Tee it up for democracy. Let’s see which presidential candidate is really better at golf | Opinion
When both presidential candidates argued about their respective golf games near the end of the June 27 debate, the door was opened for an opportunity that cannot be ignored. It is only fair that President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump face off in a live, nationally televised round of golf. It’s a chance for both.
It will allow President Biden to show that he’s as physically and mentally fit as he claims and Trump to show he has the skills and integrity to back up his claims of winning two club championships. “To do that, you have to be quite smart and you have to be able to hit the ball a long way,” said Trump about himself.
The United States Golf Association (USGA) website lists Biden with a handicap of 6.7 (as of July 2018). Trump’s handicap was 2.5 in June 2021, but Biden claims Trump “can’t hit a ball 50 yards.”
Sportswriter Rick Reilly discredits Trump’s handicap in his book “Commander in Cheat,” citing that Trump’s rounds are played away from public view on one of the 17 golf courses he owns nationally.
Yes, the banter can be dismissed as trash talk, but with actual claims, the American people deserve to see for themselves the truth of the matter. If their claims are true, both Biden and Trump are better golfers than John F.Kennedy, the 35th president, a Democrat, and Dwight Eisenhower, his Republican predecessor, universally recognized as the best president golfers of all time.
Eisenhower, the 34th president (1953-1961) loved the game so much that in 1954 he had a putting green to the south lawn of the White House, near the West Wing. During his eight years in office, according to Golfweek, Ike, who Kennedy called the “Duffer in Chief,” played more than 800 rounds. Kennedy, a member of the Harvard College golf team, played regularly as the Hyannisport Club on Massachusetts’ Cape Code and the Palm Beach County Club in Florida, five miles north of Trump’s Mar-a-Lago Club.
Golf has long been associated with U.S. president, dating back to William Howard Taft, the 27th president who served from 1909 to 1913, who once wrote, “There is nothing which furnishes a greater test of character and self-restraint, nothing which put one more on a equality with one’s fellows, or, I may say, puts one lower than one’s fellows, than the game of golf.”
Of the last 18 presidents, 15 have played the game. And, the job comes with a membership to the Army-Navy Country Club in nearby Arlington, Virginia.
For fun, I called Head Golf Professional Erick Charron at The Frankfort Country Club, home to the Daniel Boone Invitational. When I asked if he’d be willing to host such a match, he said, “Yes, very much so. I’ve never dealt with anything with that level of security required, but sure, I’d be willing to do that.”
Across town at the public Juniper Hill Golf Course, which hosts the annual Governor’s Open, PGA Golf Professional Kirk Schooley was unavailable, but Jay Karen, chief executive officer of the National Golf Course Owners Association, said: “Ninety percent of course owners would love to host this. It would be the match of the century. I suggest they put it up on Pay-Per-View, and all the proceeds benefit efforts to diversify and broaden the game.”
I disagree about pay-per-view, believing it should be seen by all, but Karen is right—it could make a mountain of money for some worthy cause. Talk about your must-see TV.
Stephen M. Vest is the Editor and Publisher of Kentucky Monthly Magazine.
This story was originally published July 10, 2024 at 6:00 AM.