Donald Trump made a Monday visit to his Trump National Golf Club, Washington, D.C., in Ashburn, Va., on Oct. 9 to play golf, including with South Carolina Senator Lindsey Graham. The visit marked the 71st time the 45th President has visited one of his 17 golf clubs (and, for most of them, presumably played some golf) since becoming President on Jan. 20, 2017.
According to pool reports, Trump arrived to the club around noon and was there for almost 3 hours, 15 minutes. The club was scheduled to be closed for the Monday holiday (many clubs close on Mondays anyhow), but Trump's visit likely required most staff to come in for the day.
Per pool, Trump's motorcade left Trump Nat'l Golf Club at 3:10PM.
He spent about 3 hours and 15 minutes there today. https://t.co/5jzhVSJbZ8
— Kyle Griffin (@kylegriffin1) October 9, 2017
Sen. Graham said Trump shot 73 in lousy weather conditions. He didn't say if they played all 18 holes, since that would be a mighty fast round of golf.
Really enjoyed a round of golf with President @realDonaldTrump today.
President Trump shot a 73 in windy and wet conditions!
— Lindsey Graham (@LindseyGrahamSC) October 9, 2017
How bad did he beat me? I did better in the presidential race than today on the golf course!
Great fun. Great host.
— Lindsey Graham (@LindseyGrahamSC) October 9, 2017
Trump carries a 2.8 USGA handicap index, but he hasn't entered a score since June 2016.
The Trump Administration, per policy, does not acknowledge that Trump is playing even a hole of golf, much less an 18-hole round. However, if he's going to the golf club for about 4-5 hours, you can be pretty sure he's playing golf. 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. However, the reluctance to even acknowledge that this President plays golf conflicts with his almost relentless criticism of his predecessor, Barack Obama, who played an estimated 333 rounds of golf as President.
