President Trump angered golf fans this week when a video emerged of him doing what they consider the unthinkable — he drove his golf cart all over a green at the golf club where the women’s U.S. Open will be held next month.
This video appears to show President Trump breaking a cardinal rule of golf: driving a cart on the green https://t.co/3XNKQsbMV7 pic.twitter.com/BLEw7xK1fO
— CNN (@CNN) June 23, 2017
It must be noted the name of the course in Bedminster, N.J., is Trump National Golf Club, so it’s not like Trump was committing golf’s biggest sin on just anybody’s course, but for some fans, that he owned the place doesn’t matter.
What the hell, Trump? You don't drive the cart on the green, even if they are yours! https://t.co/gAWc7V3lUF pic.twitter.com/gBuruCzjIs
— Ryan Ballengee (@RyanBallengee) June 22, 2017
What’s the opposite of a golf clap? These tweets.
Trump driving on million dollar golf course greens that he designed… if you know golf you know DONT TAKE THE CART ON THE GREEN! IDIOT
— Jacob Laughlin (@Chett_33) June 22, 2017
Driving on the green is the most unsettling thing Trump has done.
— Vince Rodemer (@V_Rod35) June 22, 2017
Trump strongly held the straight white middle America vote until he drove the golf cart on the green
— Jack Wickham (@jawickham) June 22, 2017
The only thing worse than Trump driving a cart on the green would be if he was wearing jeans on the course. #StandWithSauce cc: @MeatSauce1
— Tom Freeman (@Tom_Freeman) June 22, 2017
It’s unclear whether Trump knew he was violating one of the unwritten (and actually, most of the time it is written down) rules of the game when he took to the course the weekend of June 9. But if he did realize his faux pas, he didn’t acknowledge it to the golf club patrons who caught him on tape.
Trump rolled his golf cart off the green and right up to them, where he ended up complaining he was playing “well until this hole.” It’s unclear what hole Trump had just played, as well as how many he had already completed.
This is not the first time Trump has been caught on camera driving on one of his golf course’s greens. According to Ken Bass, who said he’s a former member of Trump National Golf Club in Sterling, Va., Trump regularly drives on the greens there. In early June at this course, which is located in the suburbs of Washington, D.C., Trump reportedly drove on the green while playing with retired NFL quarterback Peyton Manning.
Trump, in his signature red “Make America Great Again” hat, talks with someone on the green. (Photo courtesy of Ken Bass)
Bass added that to his knowledge, “No member of the Club is allowed to drive a cart on the green, even if they are handicapped.”
Trump is on pace to play more golf per year than any previous president. Less than halfway into his first year as president, Trump has taken more than 23 trips to play golf. In comparison, Obama, whom Trump frequently criticized for playing golf too often, played golf an average of 41 times a year, according to the Hill.