WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. — President Donald Trump he spent most of his two-week vacation in Florida golfing. But when he returns to the White House, there’s a military golf course he’s never played on and he’s eyeing a major construction project.
Long a favorite escape for presidents seeking a few hours of solace from the stress of running the free world, the Courses at Andrews — inside the secure confines of Joint Base Andrews, Maryland, about 15 miles from the White House — is known as “the president’s golf course.” Gerald Ford, Ronald Reagan, George HW Bush, Bill Clinton, George W. Bush and Joe Biden and Barack have all spent time there Obama played it more often than any president, roughly 110 times in eight years.
Trump always preferred golf courses owned by his family — will spend about one out of every four days of his second term in one of them. But now he has become a golf champion Jack Nicklaus as an architect on the overhaul of the courses at Andrews.
“It’s amazing that an individual has the time to take a few hours away from the world crisis. And they’re people like everybody else,” said Michael Thomas, the course’s former general manager, who has golfed with many presidents visiting Andrews over the years.
Andrews, better known as home Air Force Oneit has two 18-hole courses and one 9-hole course. Its facility has undergone renovations in the past, including in 2018 when Congress approved funding to replace aging presidential aircraft and build a new hangar and support facilities. This project was so close to the courses that they had to be changed as well.
Trump circled the base by helicopter before Thanksgiving with Nicklaus, who designed top courses around the world. The president called Andrews “a great place that has been ruined over the years due to lack of maintenance.”
However, other golfers describe Andrews’ course as being in good condition, despite the dry spots. Online reviews praise the mature trees, tricky rock formations, and ponds and streams that serve as water hazards. The pitches are mostly flat but provide views of the surrounding base.
The Andrews improvements join a host of Trump construction projects, including demolition of the East Wing of the White House for a spacious ballroom it is now expected to stand 400 million dollarsremodeling bathroom connected to the Lincoln bedroom and replacing the Rose Garden lawn with a Mar-a-Lago-like patio.
Outside the White House, Trump has led construction projects at the Kennedy Center and wants to build a building Paris style arch near the Lincoln Memorial and said he wanted to redevelopment of Dulles International Airport in northern Virginia.
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