President Ford was a life-long lover of the game of golf. According to An Ordinary Man, by Richard Norton Smith, “[h]e discovered golf before his tenth birthday.”

He played frequently, finding ways to schedule rounds of golf into his presidential schedule. He even advocated personally for a putting green and sand trap to be installed at the White House!

For those that might need help – this note reads “Dick Cheney – I’m not sure we should do this at this time. I would prefer the establishment of the putting green and sand trap where Ike [President Eisenhower] had it.”

Unfortunately, the space that President Eisenhower had for this setup was no longer available,  so President Ford abandoned the idea. That said, President Ford took advantage of the vast South Lawn to practice his putting, as well as the Marine One Hangar at Andrews Air Force Base and Camp David.

1. _{^{Golfing on a Labor Day weekend trip to Camp David on September 2, 1974.
   A0457-07A / NAID: 6829606}} ↩︎
2. _{^{President Ford practices golf on the South Lawn of the White House under the watchful eye of the Secret Service on May 9, 1975. 
   A4474-25}} ↩︎
3. _{^{President Ford keeps in golf shape during a practice session in the Marine One Hangar at Andrews Air Force Base on January 13, 1977.
   B2791-28 / NAID: 6829605}} ↩︎

His love of golf did not stop when he left the White House. Stay tuned for future posts about his pre- and post-presidential putting.

Author: Brooke Clement