Feb 22
Presidents Day used to be more fun
Add Presidents Day to the list of things that change drastically after having children.
In college and earlier “adult” life, President’s day was a vacation day. It was an extension of the weekend. It truly was time off from labor to celebrate and honor the brave individuals who have occupied the Oval Office.
Now, it’s just another holiday when daycare is closed. The toddler can’t quite swing a club or carry a bag yet. I say one or two more Presidents Days before Coop and I are playing nine in honor of James K Polk et co.
Until then, I’ll continue to dive down rabbit holes in search of mindless trivia about Presidents and golf.
For example. I learned these three gems today:
Layers of Bushes in Golf
I knew Bush 43 was a big golf guy. He was the honorary chairman for the inaugural Presidents Cup and inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame in 2011. But I was today years old when I stumbled upon the little nugget of trivia about the Walker Cup. Turns out, 43’s grandpa and namesake, George Herbert Walker, was the USGA President in 1920 and played such a large role in starting the biennial, international, amateur series of matches that they ended up naming them after him.
From pardons to three-putts
Speaking of the World Golf Hall of Fame, Gerald Ford was present and kinda like an emcee for its opening on September 11, 1974. Ford played a round with Jack, Arnie, and Gary Player before giving remarks that included zingers like the following:
“My problem is, I have a very wild swing…back at my home course, they don’t yell ‘FORE’, they yell ‘FORD’”
Or
“You know all those secret service men you’ve seen around me? When I play golf, they get combat pay”
But the most mind-boggling detail that I just simply couldn’t see flying in today’s world is that three days prior, he had just pardoned Richard Nixon.
How’s this for a remote office?
Nixon was a golfer himself, but he served as Vice President under the President with possibly the greatest golf stories of them all. Sure he had the putting green installed at the White House and he was a member at Augusta National. But did you know he had an office above the pro shop at Augusta and would spend weeks at a time there while President?
The connection between golf and 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue runs deep. Thankfully, the toddler will be old enough for use to enjoy this day on the course together soon. For now, I’ll go back to my Wiki-hole searching for more trivia about Presidents who golfed.
