Kai Trump Consistently Outshines Grandfather Donald On The Golf Course
While Donald Trump brags incessantly about his golf skills another, much younger family member is killing it on the greens. Meet Kai Madison Trump, grandchild of the former president. She turns 17 on May 12, 2024, and has already secured an impressive sponsorship deal with Callaway Golf. Kai is Don Jr. and his ex-wife, Vanessa Trump's, eldest child and has been golfing since she was just two! The talented teenager won her first major trophy at the age of 14, in 2022, beating tons of other experienced golfers for the Trump Club's Women's Championship. In 2024, she won again, proving that her first victory had nothing to do with luck (or her famous surname).
Notably, though it may pain him to hear it, Kai's ratings rank her as a better player than Grandpa Donald. According to pro golfer Lexi Thompson, who spoke to Yahoo! Sports, the former president can drive the ball past 250 yards, while Kai's Instagram bio currently shows her longest drive to be 275 yards. She also has a significantly lower handicap index (0.5) than any other Trump, including Donald, whose index stands at 2.5. For context, the best golfers have lower handicap scores. But it's not just the stats that point to Kai outshining her grandfather. The teen's trophy shelf is entirely free of controversy — a massive contrast to Donald's golfing history.
Donald Trump's golf achievements have been controversial
Donald Trump has a questionable reputation on the golf course, with rumors swirling that the former president is not nearly as good as he claims to be. Trump has also been accused of cheating by multiple celebrities, including "Black-ish" star Anthony Anderson, musician Alice Cooper, actor Samuel L. Jackson, and former boxer Oscar De La Hoya. One of the controversial politician's most vocal accusers (in the golfing world, at least) is Rick Riley, a longtime sports writer.
In 2019, Riley published his bestseller, "Commander in Cheat: How Golf Explains Trump," which detailed a series of damning accusations concerning his golfing behavior. The author even informed The Guardian in 2019 that the former president was a shameless cheat nicknamed "Pelé" (like the famous footballer, himself an infamous cheater) by the caddies for frequently kicking his golf ball. It's worth noting that, naturally, kicking the ball isn't allowed in golf.
Riley further claimed that the Republican favorite secured 18 championships because Trump only plays solo games and awards himself the victor of every new course he launches. Similarly, political commentator Chris Cillizza claimed in 2023 that Luke Kerr Dineen (PLAY Editor at Golf Digest) told him that Trump's main tactic involves hitting the ball really hard. This might be why his hard swing was the only quality Tiger Woods complimented in this January 2017 blog post.
The former president doesn't want golf to be accessible
Honest player or cheat, one thing is clear: Donald Trump is passionate about golf. At the time of writing, he owns 18 golf courses worldwide, including the famous West Palm Beach course, which charges a whopping $100,000 minimum "initiation" fee and then $15,000 a year in regular fees. Donald even found time to travel to Scotland to open a new golf course amid his legal troubles in 2023. The question is whether the former president loves the sport because he enjoys it or because he can exclude those he deems lesser than him from playing.
In a 2015 interview with Fortune, Donald was candid about his take on the sport, proclaiming, "Golf should be an aspirational game, something people aspire to. [...] Golf is the sport of business." When the interviewer asked whether the controversial politician considered his views elitist, the avid golfer argued that aspiration was a good thing. In Donald's opinion, it was better for people with an interest in golf to strive to be wealthy enough to participate.
The former president was also crystal clear on his thoughts about whether younger golfers should be allowed to take part. "Let it be aspirational instead of bringing it down by trying to get players to do it when they're 15 years old and they're also learning other sports," he asserted. "I think it's very damaging to the game." It's unclear if Grandpa Donald is against all 15-year-olds in golf or just the underprivileged ones, since he couldn't be prouder of Kai (via Instagram).