Politics

Trump claims he hit hole-in-one at Florida golf club in front of pros

Former President Donald Trump claimed Monday that he scored a hole-in-one while golfing with a number of pros at his Florida golf club.

Trump, 75, issued a statement detailing the supposed ace on the 181 yard 7th hole of his Trump International Golf Club in West Palm Beach. The former president said he was playing with pro golfers Ernie Els, Gene Sauers, Ken Duke and Mike Goodes when he made the shot.

“Many people are asking, so I’ll give it to you now, it is 100% true,” Trump said of the hole-in-one, without specifying when it occured.

Trump’s spokesman Taylor Budowich tweeted a video that showed the shot’s aftermath, with the former president retrieving the ball from the cup.

“I hit a 5-iron, which sailed magnificently into a rather strong wind, with approximately 5 feet of cut, whereupon it bounced twice and then went clank, into the hole,” Trump explained.

Former President Trump bragged about his golf hit, but didn’t disclose who won the game. Davidoff Studios/Getty Images

“These great tour players noticed it before I did because their eyes are slightly better, but on that one hole only, their swings weren’t,” the former president continued.

“I won’t tell you who won because I am a very modest individual, and you will then say I was bragging—and I don’t like people who brag!”

The Trump International Golf Club in West Palm Beach, Florida. AFP via Getty Images
Trump was playing with pro golfers Ernie Els, Gene Sauers, Ken Duke and Mike Goodes when he made the shot. AP

Trump visited golf courses — almost all of them his own — an estimated 298 times during his four year term, according to the website TrumpGolfCount, which tracked his outings. During those visits he golfed at least 150 times, the website said.

He has also been accused of fudging his prowess on the course, according to sports writer Rick Reilly who detailed numerous cheating accusations against the real estate magnate from professional and amateur golfers in his 2019 book “Commander in Cheat: How Golf Explains Trump.”

“If Trump is a 2.8 [handicap],” wrote Reilly, “Queen Elizabeth is a pole vaulter.”