Imago
Credits: Imago
Imago
Credits: Imago
Donald Trump has now won 40 club championships across his golf properties. Every single one of them has come on a course he owns, run by staff he employs, with no outside verification of the scorecard. At 80 years old, with the number still climbing, the tally says less about his golf game than it does about who gets to keep score.
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“Firing a score of 70, U.S. President Donald Trump has won another Club Championship,” NUCLR Golf wrote on X. “The Sr division title at Bedminster this weekend reportedly marks Trump’s 40th Club Championship victory across his golf properties.”
This was originally reported by Golf Digest senior writer Alex Myers. He reshared a clip on X from the golf course, which showed Trump apparently being presented with a trophy after the victory.
“President Trump adds 2 more club championships to bring his total to “40 throughout the properties.” Only shot 70, though. Might be losing a step,” tweeted Myers.
It’s worth noting that President Trump has never won a tournament outside of his own golf properties, and he owns plenty of them.
According to a report by Bunkered, Trump owns 16 golf courses: 11 in the United States, two in Scotland, one in Ireland, one in the UAE, and one in Asia. Several more are also under construction. There has also been considerable skepticism surrounding the number of club championships Trump has actually won.
A club championship carries weight because of how it’s run: under USGA rules, its scores count as “competition” scores, subject to peer review by the club’s Handicap Committee rather than self-reported. Winning one legitimately isn’t as simple as turning in a good scorecard.
The club’s Handicap Committee has to sign off on the result before it counts as an official score. Play stretches across multiple rounds with any member eligible to enter, and the winner’s name gets posted somewhere the whole club walks past. None of Trump’s events go through that process.
Trump himself has muddied the numbers further.
During a Thanksgiving 2025 video call with U.S. military members, he put his total at 38 club championships, a figure that doesn’t quite square with how the term is normally used. A club championship is supposed to be an annual scratch event to find the best golfer at a club, but NUCLR Golf’s count lumps in senior division wins too.
Despite the skepticism surrounding Trump’s golfing resume, golf legend Jack Nicklaus offered a favorable assessment of his game.
When the 18-time Major Champion appeared on David Rubenstein’s show in 2019, the host asked him about how many presidents he has played golf with and who is the best.
“Well, the ones I’ve played with, actually Trump is probably the best player. Trump plays pretty well. He plays a little bit like I do,” said Nicklaus on ‘The David Rubenstein Show‘. “He doesn’t really ever finish many holes. But he can hit the ball, and he goes out and plays and just enjoys it. But he’s won several club championships. He can play.”
But where there’s praise, there’s also criticism. And one of Trump’s most vocal critics has been Rick Reilly.
“Ha! Trump adds about 10 every time he brings this up. Problem is, he hasn’t actually won any. None. You beat Trump, he throws you out of the club. It’s like when you let your toddler beat you in a foot race. He thinks it’s real. #CommanderInCheat,” tweeted Reilly.
This came in response to a video of the President speaking about his own golf when asked if he would play a match against Joe Biden last November.
“I know a lot about golf. I’ve won 38 Club Championships, and I don’t get to practice much. I won a club championship at a big club, beating a 27-year-old kid…I’ve been a good golfer over the years,” said Trump in the video.
Club championships are our majors. Most people can’t play in them; we’re talking about no strokes. I’m a very low handicap, and I’ve won 38 of them legitimately.”
Trump’s own history has also fueled the criticism.
According to Golf Monthly, Trump had not signed up for 2018’s championship at Trump International Golf Club West Palm Beach at all. After its conclusion, he challenged the winner to a nine-hole playoff and won, under what the outlet called “allegedly controversial circumstances,” then declared himself co-champion.
Two weeks after Phil Mickelson shot a 75 at Bedminster during a LIV Golf event, Trump posted that he’d shot a 67 there himself to win the club’s Senior Championship, a claim many found hard to believe given it beat a six-time major champion by eight strokes on the same course.
There are several other instances that critics point to as well. In any case, following NUCLR Golf’s post, golf fans quickly took to social media to share their opinions.
Opinion remains divided about President Trump’s golf wins
One user asked, “Honest question: Has he ever won a game on a course that he doesn’t own?” And the answer remains no.
Another mocked Trump’s win. “You have to play all 18 holes not 9 to win the tournament,” the user commented. There’s no actual evidence that he did otherwise.
A third had the same idea. “70 gross not bad for 9 holes. I shot 73 gross today, but it was 18 holes,” they posted.
But Trump also had supporters.
“I used to think this was BS. Just more Trump hyperbole. But I’ve seen him play. He’s legit. Could he foot wedge every now and then? Sure. But he can play.”
Someone else branded all the critics “haters,” writing: “All these haters. There’s a video of him playing 18 holes with Bryson DeChambeau within the last year. He can easily have shot a 70. Goofy swing, he makes it work.”
One fan went as far as to name Trump as the best.
“He’s best golfing POTUS, haters are sorry pathetic people, some things never change,” they wrote.
That’s the gap fueling the divide. Forty titles sound impressive until you notice they all came somewhere Trump controls the tee sheet and the trophy. Until he wins on a course that isn’t his, the number stays a talking point, not a résumé, and at 80, with time running out to prove otherwise, that’s likely to stay the story.
