It’s well-established that President Donald Trump most likely cheats at golf. LPGA golfer Suzann Pettersen said Trump “cheats like hell.” Shock rocker Alice Cooper said Trump was the worst celebrity cheat he’d ever encountered. Even sports journalist Rick Reilly wrote an entire book about Trump’s charlatan ways on the golf course.
But even this story is over the top.
According to freelancer writer Leif Skodnick, Trump (or somebody associated with Trump) posted a score of 68 on the Golf Handicap Information Network database. It’s, um, not exactly in line with some of Trump’s most recent entries into the GHIN database, including a 96 in the only other score from his presidency and a number of scores where he reached into triple figures.
BREAKING: President Trump has posted an 18-hole golf score to @USGA Golf Handicap Information Network for first time this season – a 68(!) on a course with a 75.3 rating/139 slope. pic.twitter.com/yiHKdhIWU9
— Leif Skodnick (@LeifSkodnick) May 17, 2019
As Skodnick wrote in a tweet filled with sarcasm, “This might be the best round of golf by a head of state since Kim Jong Il’s 38-under par performance (with five aces!) at Pyongyang Golf Course.
Of course, it’s highly unlikely that Trump is a good enough golfer to put together a score like that (though Skodnick said he believes Trump and not anybody else was the one who actually inputted the score into the database).
As Golf.com explains, “Several oddities jump out on Trump’s handicap card, which is publicly available on GHIN.com. First of all, the 68 was the best round he has ever reported; in fact, it’s the only sub-70 round he’s ever reported. His next-best tally was a 70 from August 2013. On top of that, Trump has only reported two official scores since becoming president, despite having played more than 100 rounds since his inauguration. Golfers are technically supposed to post every round they play, though many neglect to do so.”
Twitter wasn’t all that impressed with Trump’s supposed score.
I’m gonna tell you right now pic.twitter.com/DGKhsw2Jee
— Sarah Chovnick (@chovy_s) May 17, 2019
96 to a 68 pic.twitter.com/WguAQdG6pL
— TD (@td445544) May 17, 2019
— midDadChad (@chadrocadelic) May 18, 2019
Though Trump constantly attacked Barack Obama for golfing when he was president, the Trump Golf Count tracker noted that Trump has hit the links 176 times since taking over for Obama. According to Trump’s most recent score, he’s apparently spent most of that time getting really, really, really good at golf.
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