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Who was the first golfing president ?
President Taft - on the Tee
The first president of the U.S. to openly admit playing golf, from the great state of Ohio, was President William Howard Taft, the 27th President of the United States.
We say the first to admit because it is suspected that President Theodore Roosevelt may have also played golf, but like other politicians of the day, decided to keep his golfing private, as at the time, it was considered a game for the rich only.
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President Taft, on the other hand, not only instructed
his campaign people not to keep it private, but actually participated in
golfing exhibitions. He played rounds with both good and bad, covered by the
press, including American Golfer. He even partnered with Mr. Alan Lard in a match
against American
Golfer editor and former U.S. amateur champion Walter Travis teamed with Vice
President James S. Sherman.
In another high profile match President Taft partnered with Mr. Walter Travis against Presidential aide Captain Archie Butt and Brigadier General Clarence R Edwards. |
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He also openly celebrated the completion of
the Connecticut Avenue bridge which allowed for a quick and direct route to the
Chevy Chase Country Club from the White House for afternoon rounds of golf.
President Taft also played in a public round of golf at the Kebo Valley Golf Club in Bar Harbor, Maine, and he may have even established a course record of sorts at the 17th hole known as the Elbow hole, by taking a smooth 27 on the hole. How many of you, let alone how many presidents, would have the gumption to do that, period, let alone in the public eye ? |
After President Taft completed his term of office, he served as chairman of the 1913 U.S. Open played at Brookline Country Club, and not only witnessed Francis Ouimet's stunning Open victory, but was instrumental in it being used to further catapult the great game of golf into the American public consciousness.
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Other presidents who have had
open love affairs with the great game of golf include, Franklin Delano Roosevelt,
a superb golfer was Club champion at Campobello Golf Club, Campobello
Island New Brunswick before being stricken with polio.
President Dwight D. Eisenhower, namesake of the famous Eisenhower Tree at the
Augusta National Golf Club went so far as to have a putting green installed at
the White House; John F.
Kennedy, known more for his sailing was a low handicap golfer who
many say played with a relaxed and confident manner matched only by the best in
the game; President Gerald Ford was an avid golfer, in the President Taft vein,
often seen playing in such public venues as the Bing Crosby Pebble Beach Pro-AM,
and the Bob Hope Desert Classic.
Both Presidents Bush as well as President Clinton also supported respectable golfing handicaps in the teens. |
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