When Derek Jeter and his former New York Yankee teammates gathered for an unforgettable reunion, people expected to see some swinging bats. But instead, they got to see swinging clubs. On September 20 and 21, the Derek Jeter Invitational Golf Tournament took place at the stunning Royal Blue Golf Course, designed by the legendary Jack Nicklaus. This wasn’t just any golf outing; It was to raise funds for Jeter’s Turn 2 Foundation, which supports youth initiatives.

Launched in 1996, the Turn 2 Foundation has been inspiring youth to embrace healthy lifestyles and steer clear of substance use. Over the past 28 years, the foundation has contributed an impressive $45 million to programs that support its mission. During the Derek Jeter Invitational weekend, it awarded The Baha Mar Resort Foundation $50,000 to help the community, culture, and conversation in the beautiful Bahamas.

So in an interview with Yahoo, Jeter and his sister, Sharlee Jeter—who serves as the president of the Turn 2 Foundation—shared insights from the weekend and their lives beyond baseball. When asked how often they usually play, Jeter replied, “I don’t play much. I didn’t play during my career. When I first retired, I became addicted to it.”

Well, Jeter’s former New York Yankee teammates Jorge Posada, Nick Swisher, CC Sabathia, and several others were a part of the event. Interestingly, their skills impressed Jeter.

“Good. It was fun. I get a kick out of everyone saying how good they are at golf. And then when they show up, everyone’s saying they haven’t played in forever. There are interesting golf swings, so it’s fun to see. It brings a lot of people down to earth. I’ll tell you that,” he told Yahoo, but do you know who impressed him the most? It was Fred McGriff, Tino Martinez, and Tanyon Sturtze. After all, they play a lot of golf. But who were the winners of the Invitational?

Derek Jeter wrote on his social media pages, “Throughout the week, we made amazing memories, including Andruw Jones landing first place in the golf tournament at @royalbluegolf on day one, and Derek Jeter and Paige Spiranac winning the title of tournament champion.”

All in all, it was a successful event, but did you know that Derek Jeter once played golf with Barack Obama?

When Barack Obama invited Derek Jeter for some golf: “I was nervous”

The MLB star retired from the sport in 2014 and quickly picked golf and the same year, he was invited by Obama to play golf. “It was in Vegas, at Shadow Creek. He found out I was there and invited me to play. I’m on the range and was shankin’ every ball ’cause I didn’t know how to play, and I didn’t know how to fix it. [Laughs.]”

“I was nervous. I mean, you ever go out on a golf course and there’s nobody there? The Secret Service lined every fairway. [Obama] never hit a ball out of bounds ’cause they’d just kick it back for him. But, yeah, it was a great experience,” he explained in 2023.

That being said, he maintained that he wasn’t great at golf because he wouldn’t practice a lot. This also reminds us how, in 2016, he shared his golf-related frustrations: He could hit the ball. But it wouldn’t go where he wanted it to go. “So yeah, I guess I’m addicted to improve. That’s the best way to put it,” he added back then. Apart from Obama, he has also played with Tiger Woods.

The former baseball player has known Woods for more than two decades but delayed playing golf with him. Why? He simply didn’t want to embarrass himself!

What’s interesting is that Jeter never played golf during his 20 years with the Yankees, but once he retired, couldn’t stop himself from pursuing golf. But he is a big name in the sports world and no doubt Augusta sent him invites over the years, but Jeter said no six times, as of 2023.

Do you think he should take golf more seriously? Let us know in the comments below.