The past year of President Obama’s career was punctuated with a mass number of golf outings in between scandals and crises. Even when issues and events across the nation and globe called for urgent attention, Obama never neglected his putter.
So, in the spirit of the president’s undying affection for the sport of golf, I put together a list of the most hit-the-ball-out-of-the-driving-range Obama golf moments of 2014:
1) When Obama played his 200th round of golf since taking over the White House. This sacred day occurred in October, which means he’s already surpassed the milestone. Maybe he’ll set a record with his golf play during his final two years in office.
2) When, despite the president’s obvious stringent golf schedule, Michael Jordan called Obama a “s—-y golfer” and a “hack.”
3) When Obama dropped nearly $3 million in taxpayer dollars on flight expenses alone for two golf trips — one in Palm Springs, Calif., and another in Key Largo, Fla.
4) When Obama went straight from a speech on the murder of American journalist James Foley at the hands of ISIS militants to a golf course jaunt on Martha’s Vineyard this summer, leading the New York Daily News to run this cover (ouch):
5) When, during the same Martha’s Vineyard vacation, Obama was seen golfing and attending parties as the violent confrontation between police and citizens in Ferguson, Mo., escalated following the killing of unarmed Michael Brown at the hands of officer Darren Wilson.
6) When the Republican National Committee released its awesome “Par for the Course” advertisement spotlighting the fact that Obama embarked on a two-week vacation full o’ golf amid three world crises and disorder at the U.S. border.
7) When multiple elite golf courses in the greater New York City area rejected President Obama’s requests to play there on Labor Day weekend. Perhaps they were retaliating against the inconvenience that Obama’s fundraising flight plans caused traveling New Yorkers on that particular weekend.
8) When Aziz Ansari explained how Obama “dissed” him to go play golf. (See about 39:30 in)
9) When Obama’s golf plans forced two Army captains to relocate their wedding from a Hawaii golf course just one day before the ceremony.
10) When the president had to call the happy couple and apologize, but still declined their invitation to attend the reception.
