A recent journey into the men’s locker room at Trump International Golf Club in West Palm Beach, Florida revealed an interesting discovery for Golf.com’s Michael Bamberger.
Under President Donald Trump’s nameplate on his locker are listed his accomplishments with regard to club competitions at his club. Aside from titles that span from 1999 to 2013 when the now-Commander-In-Chief was a private citizen, an interesting and new plaque adorns the locker: one that reads “2018 Men’s Club Champion.”
The story of how Trump, who spent the entire calendar year of 2018 as the leader of the free world, was told to Bamberger by “multiple sources who recounted the story.” According to the folks Bamberger spoke to, a member named Ted Virtue won the Club Championship when it was contested.
Trump International’s club champion in 2018? President Donald J. Trump.
President Trump won his latest club championship…without even playing in it. https://t.co/RvZGjv0sOW pic.twitter.com/fWyMcmhYuK
— GOLF.com (@GOLF_com) March 11, 2019
Virtue, the 58-year-old CEO of a New York investment firm called MidOcean Partners and a member at Winged Foot and Westchester Country Club in New York and Lost Tree and Trump International in the Palm Beach area, won a series of matches to claim the official title.
However, when Trump returned to his club, he ribbed Virtue telling him that the only reason he won was because Trump was too busy to compete. As a means of reckoning, Trump challenged Virtue to a 9-hole match to decide the true champion.
Trump, who carries a 2.8 handicap index and holds 19 men’s, senior and super senior club championships to his name, emerged victorious, Bamberger reported, but Trump didn’t completely usurp the crown.
“In victory, a magnanimous Trump said to Virtue something like, ‘This isn’t fair — we’ll be co-champions.'” Bamberger wrote.
Both Virtue and Trump are now listed as co-champions on large club championship plaque on the clubhouse wall.
