Does Joe Biden Golf? How President-Elect's Handicap Compares to Trump's
From political allegiances to their personalities and from their backgrounds to their approaches to public life, President Donald Trump and President-elect Joe Biden are almost polar opposites of each other. Amid their several differences, however, the duo share a passion for golf.
The sport has played a prominent role throughout Trump's four-year tenure at the White House. The president was at his golf club in Sterling, Virginia, on Saturday when he found out that he had become the first incumbent since George H. W. Bush in 1992 to fail to win a second term as The Associated Press and most major networks declared Biden the winner of the presidential race.
According to the Presidential Golf Tracker website, Trump has golfed 285 times during his presidency, at an average of 87 outings per year. In other words, Trump has golfed approximately every 4.2 days since being elected President.
By comparison, Barack Obama, whom Trump repeatedly lambasted during his campaign in 2016 for golfing too often, was also a keen golfer and often shared the course with Biden, who served as vice president during his administration.
Obama was on the course almost once every nine days at an average of 42 rounds per year.
While it remains to be seen whether Biden will dedicate as much time to golf as Trump, the President-elect could have some catching up to do when it comes to matching his soon-to-be-predecessor on the course.
According to the U.S. Golf Association's Golf Handicap and Information Network, Trump has self-reported a 2.8 handicap, while in October 2015 Golf Digest reported Biden as having at 6.3 handicap.
While that placed the then-vice president in 29th place among Washington's 150-best golfers, it may have flattered Biden.
In 2011, then-Ohio Governor John Kasich played golf with Obama and Biden, along with former Speaker of the House John Boehner, and was far from impressed with what he saw.
"Joe Biden told me that he was a good golfer, and I've played golf with Joe Biden," Kasich said at the 2012 Republican National Convention. "I can tell you that's not true, as well as all of the other things that he says."
In 2016, Golf Digest estimated Biden's handicap was a more modest 10.
The gap between Trump and Biden isn't particularly surprising given the former has been a keen golfer since 1968, while the President-elect has picked up the sport in 2001.
Trump's boast of a 2.8 handicap, however, has also been questioned. Former Sports Illustrated columnist Rick Reilly, who has known the president for three decades, last year claimed Trump's handicap was more likely close to 10.
"Donald Trump is the worst cheat ever and he doesn't care who knows," he told The Guardian.
"I always say golf is like bicycle shorts. It reveals a lot about a man. And golf reveals a lot of ugliness in this president."
The author of a Commander in Cheat: How Golf Explains Trump, Reilly suggested the president's claim of having a 2.8 handicap was artificially doctored.
"He has recorded only 20 scores in eight years even though he plays more golf than any other president," he added.
"I put in my every score in the computer because that's what you do in golf. At my club guys will put in your score for you if you're avoiding it. Trump doesn't put in scores. That's so unethical."
