Donald Trump visited the golf course for the 309th time as President
Donald Trump Golf

Donald Trump visited the golf course for the 309th time as President



Donald Trump paid a visit to Trump National Doral Resort near Miami, Fla. on Jan. 28, representing the 307th time the 45th and 47th President has visited one of his 18 golf clubs (and, for most of them, presumably played some golf) since becoming President on Jan. 20, 2017, and then again on Jan. 20, 2025. He has now paid 309 visits to any golf course as President.

In his first term, Trump played golf some 240 times and visited his golf clubs a total of 308 times. This is his first round of golf his second term. The discrepancy comes from times Trump visited his golf clubs for vacation or time away from Washington, as well as times he visited his clubs for a meal or a reason other than to play golf.

Trump was on site for an annual retreat of Republican lawmakers and party officials, preparing their agenda for the start of his second term. This is a multi-day event.

Trump prefers to play golf in the mornings, while the Secret Service follows around Trump in golf carts that cost American taxpayers nearly $765,000 to use in his first term.

Trump has a USGA handicap index in the single digits, though he doesn't enter every round to keep complete track. It's not that big of a deal, as most golfers don't enter rounds religiously.

In Trump's first term, the Secret Service spent over $950,000 to stay overnight at Trump-owned properties, including his New Jersey country club.

LISTEN TO GOLF NEWS NET RADIO 24/7
FOLLOW GOLF NEWS NET RADIO: iHEART | TUNEIN

Trump ended 2017 with 91 golf course visits and was just shy of 100 visits in Year 1 as President. In his second year as President, Trump played golf 76 times. In his third year, he played golf 91 times. All but two rounds of golf has been at his clubs, playing once in Japan in Nov. 2017 with Japanese prime minister Shinzo Abe and Japanese star pro Hideki Matsuyama, then playing with Abe again in May 2019.

In his first term, the White House didn't typically acknowledge Trump was even playing golf. That is commonplace policy, particularly when Trump isn't playing with celebrities or pro golfers or doesn't have something to flaunt. Typically, the White House press pool indicates when Trump arrives at his golf clubs, then they are held in a holding location until Trump is done and moves to his next location. Photos of Trump playing emerged from friendly accounts on social media.

In Trump's first term, Oregon Sen. Ron Wyden has asked the White House to provide the names of Trump's golf partners, as well for his clubs to provide visitor logs to get a sense of when Trump has played golf and with whom.

The President is certainly entitled to some leisure time, and golf has been an outlet for most Commanders-in-Chief dating back to the early 20th century.

About the author

Alan Stephenson