On the backswing of his full shots, he takes the club inside and, impressively, gets his left shoulder well behind the ball. Recent footage that showed him navigating his cart across a green at his club in Bedminster, N.J., generated horror in the golf press, but this is old news at Trump’s clubs, where he has been known to drive onto tee boxes too.Īs for his game, Trump is surprisingly limber for a portly man of 6’ 2″, and his good eye-hand coordination shows through in all aspects of his play, but especially in his ability to hole putts, which he does with a wristy, old-fashioned stroke that is nothing like the method preferred by the best players today. Trump always takes a cart and a caddie, whom he pays well. He kept on the two of us, making sure we had a proper introduction, making conversation, just being a good host.” “He was more focused on making sure me and the Japanese prime minister had a good time. “We didn’t talk any business because there wasn’t time,” says Ernie Els, who last February played golf alongside Trump and Japanese prime minister Shinzo Abe. He put down his phone just long enough to play his shots, at one point saying, “Wait one second here while I blast this 250-yard 3-wood.” Trump also lavishes attention on his playing partners. At the turn he’ll ask, “Have you ever had a better burger?” Years ago Trump was mid-round when he took a long call from Mark Burnett, the producer of The Apprentice. “Is this not the most beautiful asphalt you’ve ever seen in your life?” he’ll say of an ordinary cart path. SI spoke with numerous people who have teed it up with Trump over the years and all report that he doesn’t play a round of golf so much as narrate it, his commentary peppered with hyperbole. Yet he somehow knows when his putt is meaningful, and he attempts those putts with a certain amount of fanfare. Some earnest person in the group will typically keep score, though the terms of the match are usually unstated and Trump’s interest in the ebb and flow of the match is modest at best. Donald Trump’s private clubs are where he feels most comfortable, and holding court with members and guests and employees is an important part of the ritual-in the pro shop, at the driving range and especially on the 1st tee, where Trump traditionally announces the teams for a friendly wager and will typically take the best player available for his partner. Playing golf with the 45th President of the United States offers a revealing character study of the man. With special reporting by Michael Bamberger, Ben Baskin and Pete Madden.
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