We’ve seen a couple of Presidential golf swings already including current President Barack Obama and also the golf swing of President JFK. In the video above, the USGA takes a closer look at the role golf had in the life of President Dwight D. Eisenhower. He was an avid golfer and ingrained his love of the game into his presidency. This passion for the game, in addition to his friendship with Arnold Palmer, really helped grow the sport of golf during this period of time in the USA.
President Eisenhower was even a member at Augusta National Golf Club, where he spent most of his holidays. He even had a tree named after him on the 17th fairway – the famous Eisenhower Tree that gave professionals so much trouble. You may remember Tiger Woods injuring his achilles heel trying to play a shot from under that tree, an injury that saw him miss two majors that year! The tree was named after President Eisenhower because of the frequency his shots ended up in it! He even petitioned to have it cut down at one point, but not even a President has the influence on operations at Augusta National Golf Club!
Unfortunately, due to the sever winter weather this year, the tree sustained too much damage from the elements and could not be saved. It was recently cut down, but you can be assured that Augusta National Golf Club will has a plan! We’ll just have to wait and see what that plan is. You can even read about The Black Knight, Mr. Gary Player’s thoughts on the Eisenhower Tree here! We still have a little over a month until the 2014 Masters Tournament and we can’t wait until the season’s first major!
Source: USGA
