One cool, supposedly honest thing about golf is the handicap culture. Serious or casual players can post scores in the Golf Handicap and Information Network (GHIN), a universal handicapping service. All players' scores and handicap are public. Anyone can see them. You don't even need a login.
Well, Golf Digest caught one notable user posting a score for the first time in more than a year. Donald Trump, who hadn't made an entry since June 2016, recently put in a score from last month.
He claims he shot a 68.
If you are not a frequent golfer, you may ask, is that good? The answer is yes, that is very good. A 68 is under par at most courses. A 68 for a 71-year-old is incredible. It's something former PGA Tour players would be content with at age 71. It's especially good for someone who hasn't shot under 75 in four years and who currently spends most of his time running the country (for as much golf as you may think Trump plays, he likely played a lot more when he wasn't president).
For what it's worth, the course appears to be the easiest Trump has played in recent years (the 66.1 course rating and 118 slope are very low). So does that make it a false score? No. Is it still wildly surprising? Most certainly. Is it fishy that this is the one score he has put in since he became president? Let's just say, it's an outlier.
The course itself is unclear here. Trump listed an "A," which means he played an away course. His six home courses (yes, he has six) are Winged Foot Golf Club, Trump National Washington D.C., Trump National - Colts Neck, Trump International Golf Club, Trump National GC Westchester and Trump National GC, Jupiter. According to trumpgolfcount.com, Trump played Trump National Washington D.C. eight times in October.
He appears to have only played one "away" course during the month. On Oct. 1, before going to the Presidents Cup at Liberty National, Trump played Trump National Bedminster, not technically a home course on Trump's GHIN account. But again, nothing is definite. Trump could have played a course the media pool missed or he could have put in a score from a different month and accidentally claimed it was an October score. Or, of course, he could have made up the score. Perhaps he's just trolling his golf haters.
In 2014, Trump claimed to have shot a 72 at Trump International Golf Links, Scotland. David Letterman didn't buy it.
Maybe Trump's telling the truth, maybe he's not. Crazier things have happened. Kim Jong Il shot a 34. Allegedly.
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