George H.W. Bush and a legacy of golfing American Presidents
By Bill Felber
Ike at Augusta: A Presidential golf legacy unlike any other
Because of his long and very public association with the Augusta National Golf Club, Dwight Eisenhower (1953-1961) probably remains today the president we think of first when we think of golfers. It has been reported that as president, Eisenhower took nearly 30 trips to Augusta. At the course, he was perhaps best known for his persistent efforts to remove a large tree crowding the left side of the 17th fairway, Ike seeing the tree as a constant problem for him. The tree long outlived Ike.
But he was also an active player around Washington, including having what appeared to be a regular Wednesday time at the ultra-private Burning Tree Club. To keep his game sharp, Ike had a putting green installed on the White House lawn.
His presidency came at the dawn of the TV age, a fortuitous circumstance for the game. Ike’s commitment to golf got recurring attention, as did his developing friendship with golf’s rising star, Arnold Palmer. The two were frequently seen together. Palmer, in concert with golf’s increasing presence on television, gets a lot of credit for the near doubling of people playing golf during that era. But Eisenhower’s devotion to it should not be overlooked as a factor in that growth.
He was a 2009 inductee into the World Golf Hall of Fame.