Which U.S. presidents were known avid golfers and how many rounds did they play while in office?
Executive summary
Several U.S. presidents were avid golfers: Dwight D. Eisenhower is reported to have played “more than 800 rounds” during his two terms [1], Woodrow Wilson “over 1,000 rounds” in eight years [2], Barack Obama played 333 rounds across two terms [3], and Donald Trump’s first term is estimated at about 261 rounds with additional play early in his second term (about 72 rounds through October 2025) [3]. Sources agree that many other presidents — including John F. Kennedy, George H.W. Bush, Bill Clinton and George W. Bush — were regular players, though exact in-office round counts vary or are not provided in current reporting [4] [5] [6].
1. Presidential pastime or institutional habit? The big numbers
Historical tallies single out a handful of presidents as unusually frequent golfers: Woodrow Wilson reportedly logged over 1,000 rounds while president [2], Dwight D. Eisenhower more than 800 across two terms [1], and Barack Obama 333 rounds during his two terms [3]. These figures come from retrospective accounts and compilations rather than contemporaneous, centralized scorecards; they establish a pattern of some chiefs of state using golf not just as recreation but as a sustained habit during their presidencies [2] [1] [3].
2. Modern-era counts: Trump and Obama compared
Contemporary tracking efforts and encyclopedia entries place Barack Obama at 333 rounds for his two-term presidency [3] and estimate Donald Trump’s first term at about 261 rounds, with roughly 72 additional rounds recorded during the early months of his second term through October 2025 [3]. Independent trackers, fan sites and outlets also kept running tallies of Trump’s outings and taxpayer costs, which corroborate that his golf frequency exceeded many modern predecessors [7] [8] [9].
3. Skill, handicap and reputation: Who was the best golfer?
Sources emphasize different metrics: handicap reports and contemporaneous anecdotes place John F. Kennedy and George H.W. Bush among the more skilled presidents [4] [5]. Some lists rank Donald Trump and Joe Biden with notably low reported handicaps — Trump’s often-cited low handicap (reported as low as 2.8 in one compilation) and Biden’s peak around 6.7 — but those numbers come from secondary rankings and feature pieces rather than official competitive records [2] [6]. These portrayals serve both to praise presidential athleticism and to create media-friendly comparisons.
4. Diplomacy and networking on the fairway
Reporting repeatedly notes that presidents used golf for more than exercise: it functioned as a venue for diplomacy, networking and informal meetings. Trump, as a lifelong golf owner-operator, frequently hosted political and business figures at his courses; similarly, other presidents used rounds to build relationships away from the White House [10] [11]. Journalistic accounts underline that playing together established informal rapport — a nonpartisan explanation for why presidents play at all [11] [4].
5. Limits of the record: why round counts diverge
Counts differ because there is no single official log of “rounds played” by a president and because press access, transparency and presidential schedules vary by administration. Some estimates rely on calendars, press reports and hobbyist tracking websites; others are drawn from biographies and later recollections [10] [8] [3]. The result: large round totals attributed to Wilson and Eisenhower stem from historical biographies and retrospective lists, while modern tallies for Obama and Trump depend on contemporaneous tracking that can capture repeats and short outings more reliably [2] [1] [3].
6. Conflicting emphases and possible agendas in coverage
Different outlets emphasize different angles: nostalgia and admiration for “presidential golfers” appear in club- or golf-focused sites, while watchdog trackers and fact‑checkers stress frequency and taxpayer cost [11] [8] [9]. Some pieces implicitly promote golf’s social cachet or a particular president’s prowess [6] [5]. Readers should treat enthusiastic handicap rankings and promotionally framed lists as having potential promotional or partisan tilt; hard numbers about rounds are more credible when sourced to contemporaneous schedules or dedicated trackers [10] [8].
7. Bottom line and what’s not in the reporting
Available sources name several presidents as “avid” golfers (Wilson, Eisenhower, Obama, Trump) and provide the largest specific round totals for Wilson (over 1,000), Eisenhower (more than 800), Obama , and estimated Trump totals (about 261 in first term plus ~72 in early second term) [2] [1] [3]. Exact round counts for many presidents — and a single authoritative database of presidential golf rounds — are not provided in the current reporting; those details are not found in current sources (not found in current reporting).