Now, the strategy that the president has developed so hastily has become very clear. He plans to defeat the virus in a game of golf – no matter how high the membership fees are, how big the dangers are or how long the hours on the practice green last.
While the daily death toll has again exceeded the limit of 1,000 per day – the equivalent in the death of an attack on September 11 every three days – Trump has redoubled efforts to reduce his handicap. He has visited golf courses 17 times since late May, including 11 times in the past month, according to TrumpGolfCount.com, part of a cottage industry that follows the president’s favorite outdoor pursuit.
On Saturday he played golf with the Hall of Famer Football Brett Favre. Sunday morning he tweeted that Favre “hit LONG!” – and then went out to play another round on Sunday. He says he does “a lot of work” on the golf course (and a little “exercise”). Apparently his “job” also extends to Britain, where, according to the New York Times, Trump asked the American ambassador to convince the British government to lead the British Open tournament at the Trump Turnberry resort in Scotland. (Trump denies the report, so it doesn’t have to be true.)
An hour after returning from Sunday’s shift, Trump issued a tweet expressing exhaustion with his hectic routine. He said he would not be able to kick the Yankees game out on August 15 “because of my strong focus on the Chinese virus.” If the nascent baseball season was not canceled by the virus by that date, New Yorkers, who favor Joe Biden by 25 points over Trump, will no doubt be affected by the absence of the president.
But we all have to take into account his new “strong focus” on coronavirus, which Trump is fighting with every tool in his golf bag: not only irons and wedges, but putters, drivers and fairway woods. Several sources familiar with his strategy claim that he is also considering using the rarely unlined iron 2.
Some critics say the president should hang the toes. “Trump has time to play golf as states report more than 1,000 COVID-19 deaths for the fifth consecutive day,” was the rude assessment of the Kos Daily Kos website.
Al Jazeera’s Mehdi Hasan and Intercept noted that the death toll from the virus is “the equivalent of four air accidents per day in the United States, which kill everyone on board” while “the president is playing golf this weekend. Yet.”
It’s not just about distracting Trump while the pros fight the virus. Much of what you need to know about fighting a pandemic can be learned on the golf course.
Consider some basic etiquette rules in golf:
- Keep up with the quartet in front of you.
- Don’t throw your flowers.
- Replace your divots, repair the ball marks and rake the bunkers.
- Do not step on another player’s line or another player’s line of sight.
- Listen to your caddy’s advice.
- If your wrong shot puts others in danger, shout “FORE!”
The rules of the presidential etiquette during a pandemic are similar:
- Keep up with the rest of the world on tests and personal protective equipment.
- Don’t blame the World Health Organization and the Democrats for everything.
- Clean up your political mistakes and don’t tell governors to compete for fans.
- Wear a mask and keep your social distances.
- Listen to advice from public health experts.
- If a deadly virus is spreading, don’t tell people it will “disappear”.
Above all, however, golf is a game of honor. If you hook your shot in the woods, look for the ball for five minutes, then evaluate yourself a penalty stroke if you can’t find it. This may be Trump’s most difficult lesson of all. According to those who played with him, Trump does not suffer a penalty shot; he simply gives himself a “mulligan” – a free makeover. It lowers its score, but it is cheating.
Maybe that’s why he has such a problem with the pandemic. He can get away with cheating on the golf course. But covid-19, as we have seen, does not admit mulligans.
