Add another trophy to the wall — at least according to President Donald Trump, who declared himself the champion of yet another golf tournament held at one of his own clubs. On Saturday, August 2, Trump announced on his Truth Social platform that he had won the Bedminster Club Championship in New Jersey with a score of 70, sweeping both the Senior and Super Senior divisions. And in classic form, he didn’t just celebrate — he took a swing at everyone else in the field.
Trump claimed victory with a 70, saying he was honored by the achievement given that he has minimal practice time due to his focus on other priorities. He added that his success came down to talent, insisting he has it and his competitors do not.
The 80-year-old commander in chief, currently serving his second term, has long been a devoted golfer. His Bedminster course plays to a par of 72, meaning his claimed round of 70 would put him 2 under par. Footage he shared showed what he described as the winning shot — a ball delicately chipped onto the green, rolling to a stop near the hole.
A Familiar Cloud of Skepticism
Almost as reliably as Trump wins at his own clubs, the doubts came rolling in. A commentator at the event could be heard congratulating him on winning both divisions with a score of 70, and the person filming praised the moment as amazing. Online, though, plenty of viewers weren’t buying it.
Skeptics scrutinized the video frame by frame, questioning whether the ball’s bounces looked natural and floating theories about everything from a remote-controlled golf ball to a helpful foot tap. Others noted the ball never actually dropped into the cup — a nod to Trump’s well-known habit of conceding putts when the ball sits close enough. One social media user flatly argued that his swing simply couldn’t produce a 70 without some creative help from the shorter tees.
This marks what was described as Trump’s 43rd club championship. He has boasted about racking up more than 20 club titles over the years, and in a 2013 jab at businessman Mark Cuban, he claimed to have won 18 of them. Critics have a favorite refrain for all of it. “So weird that he only wins at his own courses,” the account MeidasTouch posted on X. Former GOP Rep. Adam Kinzinger of Illinois offered a shorter review, simply calling Trump “what a baby.”
Decades of Colorful Allegations
Trump’s reputation on the links is nothing new. Sportswriter Rick Reilly devoted an entire book to documenting Trump’s questionable golf practices in “Commander in Cheat: How Golf Explains Trump,” a New York Times bestseller that detailed numerous controversial incidents on the course. According to Reilly, Trump has been known to manipulate his ball’s position through various methods, including one instance where a ball hit into a Los Angeles pond mysteriously ended up back in the fairway, which Trump attributed to tidal forces.
Reilly wrote that caddies at Winged Foot, where Trump holds membership, gave him the nickname “Pele” because they frequently observed him using his foot to improve his ball’s position. Bryan Marsal said Trump told him directly that he cheats and expects others to do the same. Reilly also recounted an incident, previously reported on Golf.com, where Trump’s caddie claimed a ball on the green belonged to Trump rather than to the son of businessman Ted Virtue, despite witnesses saying otherwise.
Even Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), who was a longtime ally and frequent playing partner before his death, seemed to acknowledge the pattern in testimony under oath. Graham suggested that while others might hit longer drives than Trump, his golf cart seemed to travel unusually fast between shots.
The One Tournament He Couldn’t Win
The most cited piece of counterevidence comes from the American Century celebrity tournament in Tahoe in 2006, one of the rare events where Trump played on a neutral stage. He shot 52 over par across three rounds and finished 62nd out of 80 celebrities. Social media users have gleefully circulated that stat as the true measure of his game.
His self-declared victories have also raised eyebrows before. In January 2025, members of Trump International West Palm Beach arrived for the final round of their Senior Club Championship to find his name atop the leaderboard, even though he skipped the first round. He had used a score from a round played earlier that week to fill in for the round he missed, then called the win a great honor on social media.
Trump’s ties to professional golf have had their share of turbulence too. The PGA Tour relocated a marquee event from Trump National Doral to Mexico City in 2016 after losing sponsor Cadillac, and the PGA of America moved the 2022 PGA Championship away from Bedminster to Southern Hills in Tulsa four days after the Capitol riot. Trump owns 18 courses worldwide, including 12 in the United States and three in Florida. Wins on those courses, it seems, keep coming — and so does the chorus of people who can’t quite believe them.