Fat Loser Takes Swipe at President Biden, Twitter Swipes Back

I can’t think of any in my lifetime unless you count Eisenhower – I was only a few years old when he left office. He still played at Augusta National during his Presidency. The club’s old guard was famously resistant to change, as folks might remember from the flap over their accepting female members. They did, but actually self-funded the telecasts of The Masters (one of the four majors) for a couple of years to make it look like they weren’t giving in to pressure. Modern leadership is still reluctant to make changes under pressure or grant special privileges although they have clearly done so in more recent times – something that until 30-40 years ago would never have happened. For example one year Tiger Woods took an illegal drop, and even admitted in an on camera interview after he’d signed his scorecard he knew he was dropping his ball in an incorrect spot. That meant he’d signed for an incorrect score which for ANYONE else would have meant disqualification. The powers-that-be hemmed and hawed and spun like tops but unlike their predecessors didn’t have the guts to DQ Woods.

I mention this because while President Eisenhower personally got an audience at a Board meeting in 1956 to ask them to cut down an already quite old loblolly pine on the 17th hole. An old knee injury cause Eisenhower to have an incurable, significant slice in his golf shots and the placement of that already fifty or sixty year old pine which had a wider than normal base ate up a lot of his tee shots since he had to aim to the far left of fairways to compensate for his slice. The tree was as I said old and already, with the Masters being part of the new era of televised golf pretty well known. At that time it was more of a problem for even pro golfers than it would become with modern equipment. Anyway, Augusta wasn’t the kind of place to give in to demands from its members which included many of the most powerful and rich men in the country. Including a sitting President.

The Board no doubt shared those glance and collectively agreed “no fucking way is he telling US what to do” and Chairman Cliff Roberts, rather than embarrass a PRESIDENT by the Board telling him “Nope – that tree stays” and he adjourned the meeting. The matter was “tabled” and never brought up at the Board level again although Eisenhower continued to complain around the club about it. But word somehow leaked out (no doubt from Eisenhower and/or some of his people) that Ike had tried to get the tree cut down. And that pine tree became known to golf fans everywhere in the worlds as “The Eisenhower Pine. The tree suffered major damage from an epic ice storm in 2014, and even a club as rich as Augusta couldn’t change the fact of what the best arborists in the world told them – that the tree could not be saved. It was with palatable grief to golf fans that the tree was cut down. Cuttings were taken to try and grow replacements in the hopes that one day a “descendant” might be planted in that spot, even though as I said in the last twenty years for pros it wasn’t much of a problem for them unless they hit a bad shot off the tee. Tiger Woods did so one year and in playing his second shot from under it (from an awkward stance) injured his knee!

In any case, as President I assume the Air Force flew Ike down there a few times – too long of a drive from DC. But back then it would have been a LOT less expensive, and personally covering part of the cost would have meant covering much more of the total cost than it does today as Presidents are supposed to do when on personal business like purely campaign events (which is why they try to blur the lines) or when on “vacation” (not that Presidents ever get to truly be on vacation) so someday a full acounting of all those trips to FL, and even Bedminster for the weekend to kick back and play golf and hobknob with guests in the dining room will be both interesting and surely outrageous.

Trump does own golf courses in the DC area, but interestingly enough unlike prior Presidents who played on military base courses in the DC area and sometimes at exclusive private clubs Trump avoided doing so. For those who don’t know, there are a few private clubs that are world class and have hosted major tournaments and international team events. The thing is, at a club like Burning Tree or Congressional (which has hosted a couple of the most memorable U.S. Opens in the history of the event) the members aren’t the type who would put up with scorecard fudging, even from a President. And frankly, while they loved how he made them richer they didn’t really want to associate with him any more than “official” NYC high society did! Even out at Robert Trent Jones GC west of DC (about 45 min.) along lake Manassas where there might be ten or fifteen minutes between groups of players (talk about exclusive) and is pretty much a golf place and nothing else Trump never played it. For one thing it’s a damned tough course. And maybe he couldn’t get an invite even if he wanted one! But it’s a helluva course and not for the faint of heart. The legendary Oakmont in PA is virtually ready to host a major championship year round – they can make it ready for one in as little as two or three weeks and once it almost came to that. They had more time, but if a major had to be rescheduled last minute Oakmont could and would do it. RTG could easily be readied almost as quickly. Even with gaps between groups and playing with people who would let him cheat Trump wouldn’t have the balls (literally and figuratively) to play it!

But the main thing is I believe Presidents, at least those who unlike Trump actually work at the job deserve breaks. Including a few hours or so of recreation whether it’s a gathering of pals down in the bowling alley in the WH basement, out for a run or bike ride, taking in a movie including going out for dinner and a movie (or a pley/concert at the Kennedy Center), or yes a round of golf.