Golf is a sport in which the whole American family can participate fathers and mothers sons and daughters alike It offers healthy respite from daily toil refreshment of body and mind
President Dwight D Eisenhower

On January 24 1953 four days after his inauguration the New York Times reported that President Dwight D Eisenhower had been spotted on the White House lawn practicing his short irons in the direction of the Washington Monument This image of The Golfing General was one that the American public quickly became accustomed to as Eisenhower is said to have played nearly 800 rounds during the course of his two term presidency He befriended the game s most beloved players including Arnold Palmer Ben Hogan and Byron Nelson and was the subject of hundreds of golf jokes and cartoons

The public s awareness of Eisenhower s obsession with golf led directly to the sport s mid century surge in popularity In Don t Ask What I Shot noted historian Catherine M Lewis offers a unique alternate portrait of Ike and this watershed period in American history

Any time you have a person in the position of President Eisenhower who was so enthusiastic about golf and had the press paying attention to his many excursions on the golf course it was going to make people aware of the game and how much he enjoyed playing it
Arnold Palmer

Whatever remained to be done to remove the last traces of the average man s carefully nurtured prejudice against a game originally linked with the wealthy and aloof was done by President Eisenhower
Herbert Warren Wind renowned golf writer