West Palm Beach, Florida — president Donald Trump He spent most of his two-week vacation in Florida playing golf. But when he returns to the White House, there is a military golf course he has never played before to look forward to Big construction project.
Long a favorite retreat for presidents looking for a few hours from the pressures of running the free world, within the secure confines of Joint Base Andrews in Maryland, about 15 miles (24 kilometers) from the White House, Andrews’ golf course is known as the “President’s Golf Course.” Gerald Ford, Ronald Reagan, George H.W. Bush, Bill Clinton, George W. Bush, and Joe Biden have all spent time there, and Barack. Obama has played it repeatedly More than any president, nearly 110 times in eight years.
He has always favored Trump Golf courses owned by his family He spends about one out of every four days of his second term in one of them. But now he has recruited a champion golfer Jack Nicklaus As architect for the repair of courses at Andrews.
“It’s amazing that one has the time to step away from world crises for a few hours,” said Michael Thomas, the course’s former general manager, who has played golf with many of the presidents who have visited Andrews over the years. “And they’re people like everyone else.”
Andrews, known as House Air Force OneIt contains two 18-hole courses and one 9-hole course. Its facilities have undergone renovations in the past, including in 2018, when Congress approved funding to replace aging presidential aircraft and build a new hangar and support facilities. This project was close enough to the courses that it had to be changed at that time as well.
Trump He toured the base by helicopter Before Thanksgiving with Nicklaus, who has designed the best courses around the world. President Andrews described it as “a great place, which has been destroyed over the years, due to lack of maintenance.”
However, other golfers describe Andrews’ courses as being in good condition, despite some dry spots. Online reviews praise the course’s mature trees, challenging terrain, and ponds and streams that pose water hazards. The courses are mostly flat, but offer views of the surrounding base.
The first head of golf at Andrews was Ford in 1974. Thomas started working there two years later and was general manager from 1981 until his retirement in 2019.
Over the years, he said, the Secret Service has used as many as 28 golf carts — in addition to the president’s usual motorcade of 30 cars — to keep the perimeter secure.
“It’s a Cecil B. DeMille production every time,” said Thomas, who has had the opportunity to play rounds with four different presidents, and with Biden when he was vice president.
He said the senior leaders generally enjoyed their time on the course in their own unique ways, but they all loved driving the buggy because they never got the chance to drive.
“It’s like getting your driver’s license again,” Thomas laughed.
Trump Play golf most weekendsAs of Jan. 1, he had spent an estimated 92 days of his second term doing so, according to an Associated Press analysis of his schedules.
This number includes days when Trump played on courts owned by his family in Virginia, about 30 miles (48 kilometers) from the White House, and near his home in Florida. Mar-a-LagoWhere he spends his winter vacation. It also includes 10 days Trump spent at his golf club Bedminster, New JerseyHis schedule allows time for rounds of golf.
Trump has visited Andrews in the past, but the White House and Al Qaeda have no record of him participating in the sessions.
Andrews’ military history dates back to the Civil War, when Union troops used a church near Camp Springs, Maryland, as sleeping quarters. Its golf course was opened in 1960.
The White House said the renovation would be the most significant in Andrews’ history. She added that the courses and clubhouse needed improvements due to age and wear, and there were discussions about including a multi-functional events center as part of the project.
“President Trump is a champion-level golfer with an exceptional eye for detail and design,” White House spokesman Davis Engel said in a statement. “His vision to renovate and beautify the golf courses at Joint Base Andrews will bring much-needed improvements that military service members and their families will be able to enjoy for generations to come.”
The White House said the plans are still in the very early stages, and the cost and financing of the project have not been determined. Trump has only said that it will take “very little money.”
The Andrews improvements join a host of construction projects undertaken by Trump, including… Demolishing the East Wing of the White House to A sprawling hall It is now expected to cost 400 million dollarsre Bathroom attached to Lincoln’s bedroom and replacing the Rose Garden with a Mar-a-Lago-like patio area.
Outside the White House, Trump has led construction projects on the Kennedy Center and wants to build it Paris style arch near the Lincoln Memorial, and he said he wanted to Reconstruction of Dulles International Airport In northern Virginia.
Meanwhile, on Wednesday, the Trump administration He terminated the lease With a nonprofit foundation for three public golf courses in Washington, which could allow the president to shape the sport of golf in the nation’s capital. However, the White House said the move was not related to Andrews’ plans.
When the president plays golf, Andrews officials close nine holes at a time so no one plays in front of him, allowing for greater safety while also ensuring a consistent speed of play, Thomas said.
This is done relatively easily since the courses are not open to the public. It is usually reserved for active or retired members of the military and their families, as well as certain federal employees associated with the Department of Defense.
Thomas recalls playing a round with the older President Bush, a member of the World Golf Hall of Fame known for his fast game, while First Lady Barbara Bush walked with Millie, the first couple’s English Springer Spaniel. George W. Bush also played fast, Thomas said, and would get extra exercise by riding his mountain bike frequently before playing golf.
When he wasn’t playing golf at Andrews, Obama tried to recreate at least part of the experience back home. He installed a golf simulator in the White House after then-First Lady Michelle Obama asked Thomas how they could get a model that the president had seen advertised on the Golf Channel. Thomas had given her a contact on the network.
Famously, Obama cut short a tour of Andrews after nine holes in 2011 to rush back to the White House for what turned out to be a top-secret review of final preparations for a Navy raid on the apartment complex. Osama bin Laden.
But while Thomas played golf with the Chiefs, he said he never witnessed play being interrupted by an important call or any major emergency that forced them off the course in the middle of the hole. There was no rain at all.
“If there’s rain coming, they’ll get the weather forecast before we do,” Thomas said. “They’ll cancel it quickly.”