Presidential Golf Memes - Who REALLY played more golf? Obama? Clinton? Trump? Wilson!

Updated 2/9/20
Last Update 2/15/20

There are many pressing issues facing our nation, but none is more divisive than golf. That's right, of all the concerns facing Americans - golf tops the trolls list. One president even ran on the promise that he wouldn't have time to play golf as president because he would be to busy... erm... presidenting.

Trump and Gulliani with Bill Clinton 2008

So, let's go beyond the memes and find out the truth about presidential golf. According to Presidential Golf Tracker the two most prolific presidential golfers were two of our older presidents. There is no known accounting for these presidents so estimates had to be used, and adjusted for inflation. 

Woodrow Wilson 1,200 (No golf $ totals available/today's cost est. = $120 million)

Dwight Eisenhower 800 rounds (No golf $ totals available/today's cost est. = $80 million)

Moving on to our modern presidents, we do have figures going back to Clinton. President George W. Bush was a standout with only 24 days of golf total during the 8 years of his presidency. He stopped playing during the Iraq war because he felt it was a bad message to golf while soldiers were dying. This is certainly a unique position. 

Gave up golf to honor troops...

We don't have figures for what his golf trips alone were because prior to Obama, nobody seemed to care enough to split the costs up. All we have are his 8 year totals for all vacations, which at $140 million is higher than any modern president except one. 

Clinton clocked in at a whopping 400 rounds of golf over 8 years as president, or about one round a week for the term of his presidency. Again we don't have a breakdown of golf coasts, but we do have the total spent on all vacations, which came to about $128 million. 

Obama came in at 306 rounds of golf, at a total of $85k per trip. Obama was known to cut costs by golfing at or near military bases cutting room rental and security costs which explains his lower cash totals while still clocking nearly a full year of golf days over 8 years. 

Spolier: Even at that time, it wasn't even close!

As for Trump, we only have 3 years of figures to go on. He has already spent 246 of those days golfing. Trump has so far averaged about 82 games of golf per year, and spent about $35 million per year. If he continues into a second term and continues at the current rate he will have spent 656 days golfing and about $280 million dollars. 

Trump has also committed to donating his $400,000 a year presidential salary to various causes. Which comes to 3.2 million in donations over 8 years, which would bring his total adjusted expenditures to 206 million after his salary donations. 

So, to rank our most recent presidential golf trips and spending... 

George W. Bush 24 (No golf $ totals available) ALL VACATIONS = $140 million

Obama 306 or +/- $23 million ($85k per trip.) ALL VACATIONS = $110 million

Bill Clinton 400 (No golf $ totals available) ALL VACATIONS = $128 million

Trump 246 or +/- $105 million ($426 k per trip.) INCOMPLETE FIRST 3 YRS ONLY 

     (Trump 8 year estimate 492 +/- $206 million)

One thing that makes Trump unique is that none of the other presidents actually own many of the golf courses they were spending time at. Every time any POTUS golfs, secret service must rent blocks of rooms at the resort in question, meals must be supplied, and golf carts are used to get around among other expenses. 

So, though the trolls often cry "But Obama!" when it comes to golfing and spending, he wasn't even close to some of his predecessors. Trump looks to be on track to both outgolf and outspend any other modern president by almost double. Money spent at his own resorts with the profits going directly to his businesses. 

On a side note, Jimmy Carter not only divested from his business, but he didn't play golf. He took a total of 79 days in his one term, or about 20 days per year. 

After all of that, maybe it's time we limited golfing days and expenses for ALL future presidents? 

Sources:

Judicial Watch: Obama Travel Totals Nearly $100 Million
https://www.judicialwatch.org/press-releases/judicial-watch-obama-travel-totals-nearly-100-million/

Government Office of Accountability: Trumps 4 Trips to Mar-a-Lago cost $13.6 Million
https://www.gao.gov/products/gao-19-178 

Golf Digest: Obama Played A Lot of Golf!
https://www.golfdigest.com/story/weve-crunched-the-numbers-and-its-official-president-obama-played-a-lot-of-golf-while-in-office

Trump Golf Count.com
https://trumpgolfcount.com/

Presidential Golf Tracker: 100 Years of Golfing Presidents
https://presidentialgolftracker.com/100-years-of-golfing-presidents/