President Trump’s account on the U.S. Golf Association system has been hacked in an apparent attempt to make him look like a bad golfer with four fake scores.
The awful scores of 101, 100, 108 and 102 were posted to Trump’s USGA-administered Golf Handicap and Information Network [GHIN] handicap system on Friday, according to Golfweek. A handicap is a measure of a golfer’s ability – a lower handicap indicates a better golf game.
“We have become aware of reports in the media questioning recent scores posted on President Trump’s GHIN account,” Craig Annis, the managing director of communications for the USGA, told Golfweek. “As we dug into the data it appears someone has erroneously posted a number of scores on behalf of the GHIN user.”
USGA is removing the scores and says it is investigating to determine how they appeared, Annis said.
Trump flew from New York to Washington, D.C., on Friday morning and delivered a speech to the National Association of REALTORs convention in the afternoon. He did play golf on Saturday afternoon at the Trump National Golf Club in Sterling, Va. According to a site that tracks Trump’s golf habits, the president has played more than 170 rounds since taking office.
The fabricated scores were from games at Trump National in New York, Trump International in West Palm Beach, Fla., and the Cochise Course at Desert Mountain in Scottsdale, Ariz., Golfweek reported. Another suspicious score of 68 was recorded on April 19.
Par in a round of golf is typically around 72 strokes. According to Trump’s account, his scores usually fall in the 70s and 80s, but many are skeptical that the president has always truthfully recorded his scores. Trump has vehemently denied accusations that he has bent the rules.
“I’ve played a lot, and I’ve played well,” Trump said, according to a Washington Post investigation in 2015. “There’s very few people that can beat me in golf.”
Golf insiders don’t dispute that Trump is a fine golfer – he might just not play as well as he says he does.
In 2012, Forbes reported that Trump is a 4 handicap, despite the fact that he has yet “to produce a real signed scorecard.”
Rick Reilly, the sportswriter who penned the 2004 book “Who’s Your Caddy?” told the Post that one afternoon Trump recorded scores that he didn’t actually earn. The Post investigation also revealed that caddies would allegedly help Trump cheat.
“When it comes to cheating, he’s an 11 on a scale of one to 10,” Reilly said.
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