For a short piece, it’s striking how much is wrong, in fact and in spirit, in the excerpt from the new Tiger Woods biography, about Bill Clinton’s role in the opening of the Tiger Woods Learning Center in February 2006 in Southern California.

I played golf with Tiger and President Clinton that day. As Counsellor to President Clinton at the time, I oversaw everything having to do with the visit, and there is hardly an accurate or true word in the excerpt.

The whole notion that Tiger was disrespectful toward the President is completely false. The way the authors describe the round of golf (and the events surrounding it) is not only inaccurate, it’s mean-spirited. It was a casual, intimate round with a group of people who relished the chance to hear each other’s off-the-record stories and enjoy the day together away from the rest of the world. As best I could ascertain, they came to the game with respect for each other and left it with more.

The authors claim there was “much wrangling” to get President Clinton to accept an invitation to attend the opening of the Tiger Woods Learning Center, and that President Clinton’s acceptance came with “conditions.” I suggested to Tiger and his representative that Tiger call President Clinton directly, just to make the invitation more personal. I suggested that President Clinton would love to play golf with Tiger before the event, if it could be arranged. There’s a world of difference between a suggestion and a condition.

President Clinton was delighted to be asked to come to the opening of the Tiger Woods Learning Center. For one thing, the education of under served young people is one of the core values of his life. For another, the President is consumed with golf and was mesmerized by Tiger’s ability. Tiger, as you would expect from a Stanford-educated young man who was the son of an Army officer, spoke to the former leader of the free world only with appropriate deference and respect. 

The authors then claim Tiger spent the day “mostly riding alone in a golf cart.” Tiger and President Clinton shared a cart and were connected at the hip for most of the day. They also claim that Tiger was on his phone. Indeed, neither of which are true. I have dozens of pictures from that day and there is not one with Tiger on his phone or alone in his cart.

The authors claim that Tiger told a “series of off-color jokes.” How would Tiger have time to tell a series of off-color jokes if he was always on his phone and always running to the next tee, as the authors write? He did tell jokes. They were the kind of golf jokes that have been told on golf courses for a hundred years. His jokes, and the ones we all told, were part of the appealing camaraderie of the day.

The authors claim that when “the president hit a wayward drive, Woods snickered.” Woods didn’t snicker. He mocked him, as friends do on the golf course. Clinton often drops several balls for each shot, takes significant liberties in his scoring and is a very slow player, three well known aspects of his game. Tiger offered swing tips to everyone throughout the day which we all appreciated.

The authors include a remark from Tiger to the President, about his prodigous memory. (“How do you remember all that shit?”) They suggest he said this in a disrespectful way. It was said with a kind of awe and respect. Again, the authors completely missed the tone of the day.  

On the flight home, Clinton said to a few of us, “Let me tell you something about Tiger Woods. Most people wait until they are much older to make such significant philanthropic gifts and tackle a complicated issue like education. Tiger’s done more for education as a 30-year-old golfer than most people do in a life time.”

I spent thousands of days, often long ones, with President Clinton, all over the world. Not all of them were easy, to say the least. I can think of few days that were more of a pure pleasure for President Clinton than that day on the course.

The authors refer to an old story about Tiger refusing to attend a 1997 Jackie Robinson event. I was involved in the planning and execution of that event as a White House aide. It is simply not true. The quote the authors attribute to me on the initial call I had with Casey Wasserman regarding attending the Tiger event, “Did they tell you the story?”, a great anecdote for the narrative but it is entirely made up and never happened. Likewise, the Ryder Cup locker room story, never happened. The authors don’t say which Ryder Cup this so called snub occurred at because it never did. I was with President Clinton at the 2006 Ryder Cup at the K Club in Ireland. We never tried to go into the locker room nor ever did.

There are other parts of the excerpt I could cite for being wrong in either fact or tone. I spoke to one of the authors before the book was published but wasn’t asked about any of the specifics of that round or about any of the absurd allegations they made about Tiger’s behavior that day. I was only asked by the authors about Tiger’s comment about President Clinton’s memory. I confirmed that Tiger had made that remark, including the expletive.

The authors are accurate when they write that it took months for Tiger to finally send a photo from the round to President Clinton, and that Tiger had “scribbled” his name on the photo. To be fair, though, Tiger’s penmanship, like President Clinton’s, isn’t exactly at the same level of Arnold Palmer. Nonetheless, President Clinton has that photo on display in his office, a happy memory for him of a wonderful day.

In the end, President Clinton and Tiger Woods—two of the most famous and accomplished people in modern life—came together those two days in 2006 to do something good and to have a good time doing it. It was a positive experience in every possible way. The authors found an unnamed source to turn the day into something 180 degrees away from what it actually was. Maybe that sells. Maybe that take fits the narrative they wanted to tell. But it’s not truthful.

President Clinton spoke for eight minutes at the opening of the Tiger Woods Learning Center in Anaheim, Calif. He didn’t use any notes, of course, and he was very effusive. Tiger is sitting to his right, Maria Shriver sitting to his left and President Clinton is speaking to the students, donors, and dignitaries about the “connection between effort and result.” He praises Tiger for “giving back,” and doing it at such a young age. He repeats something Tiger had told him during our round of golf: “You want to play better, work harder!’” Everybody laughs. It wasn’t a stump speech. It was President Clinton expressing exactly what he was feeling about Tiger Woods as an iconic athlete, as a person, and philanthropist and—for one day, anyway—his golf partner.

The authors respond: “In reality, it’s Band’s letter that is inaccurate. Our sources for this account were three people with direct involvement in the events that transpired. Let us be clear: We stand by the accuracy of our reporting.”—Armen Keteyian and Jeff Benedict

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By Ryan Herrington
Members of private golf clubs that are part of the Trump Golf network pay initiation fees that can exceed $100,000 and annual dues in the thousands. It’s no surprise, then, that they are among the country’s elite.

But, according to a USA Today report, dozens of them work as lobbyists or for companies that hold federal contracts, raising potential ethical questions.

In an investigation by the newspaper, reporters identified at least 50 executives whose companies hold federal contracts and 21 lobbyists and trade group officials who are members at the Trump clubs that the president has visited most often during his first seven-plus months in office: Trump International G.C./Mar-A-Lago in Florida, Trump National Bedminster in New Jersey and Trump National Washington in Virginia.

There’s nothing illegal about these memberships, but they raise potential questions about the nature of their relationships with the president given that these individuals with interest before the government are making payments that benefit Trump’s personal business interests. These same members often have access to the president when he’s at the clubs and are free to talk to Trump about any and all subjects, according to the report.

While membership lists aren’t public at Trump courses, the newspaper used social-media websites and the GHIN website to identify 4,500 club members. The paper said it then contacted hundreds of these members to determine if their businesses had ties to the government and ask whether they have had contact with the president while they frequented the clubs.

RELATED: The plaque on a Trump golf course commemorating a Civil War battle that never happened

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It looks like President Trump will attend this week’s U.S. Women’s Open. A report in the Palm Beach Post highlights a new notice to pilots posted by the Federal Aviation Administration that lists travel plans to Bedminster-Morristown, N.J. for Friday, July 14 to Sunday, July 16.

The U.S. Women’s Open is being held at Trump National Golf Club (Bedminster) for the first time. It’s not surprising that Trump would want to be on hand for one of his prized course’s first crack at hosting a major championship. The course is also slated to be the site of the 2022 PGA Championship.

Although the FAA notice doesn’t mention the President specifically, the Palm Beach Post notes it’s similar to previous notices regarding his travel. These types of alerts are sent out to notify pilots that air flight may be restricted in those areas, and can be altered or cancelled.

Trump Bedminster has also been in the news a couple times recently for things other than the U.S. Women’s Open. The President has used it as a site for weekend meetings, and there was a video of the President driving a golf cart on one of its greens that went viral.

In May, Trump was expected to attend the final round of the Senior PGA Championship at his Trump National D.C. course, but changed his plans at the last minute.

“We were notified of the TFR (temporary flight restrictions) this morning but unfortunately we have no knowledge of the president’s schedule,” USGA spokesperson Janeen Driscoll told the Palm Beach Post.

“We have a security plan in place, as we do for all of our championships,” Driscoll added. “Our focus remains on conducting the ultimate test of golf for the best female players in the world.”

Last week, Brittany Lincicome told the Chicago Tribune she wished the President wouldn’t make an appearance during the tournament.

“Hopefully maybe he doesn’t show up and it won’t be a big debacle and it will be about us and not him,” Lincicome said. “I don’t know him. I have met him probably once. I think it will be fine. We’re going to play an amazing golf course and let our clubs do the talking.”

The USGA also hopes the focus is on golf and not politics during the tournament. President Trump being on hand, though, might make that a little trickier.

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Trump’s son’s are listed as guests of honour in an invitation sent to guests by developer DAMAC Properties for what is expected to be a lavish opening ceremony at Trump International Golf Club Dubai in Dubailand.

Donald Jnr, 39, and Eric, 33, have been handed control of their father’s global business empire while he is in the White House.

They attended the re-opening of Open Championship venue Trump Turnberry alongside their father, then the Presumptive Republican nominee for the Oval Office, in Ayr last June.

DAMAC pay a licensing fee to the Trump Organisation to use the Trump brand as part of its $6-billion, 28-million-square-foot ‘Akoya by DAMAC’ development.

The Trump Organisation is also involved in the Tiger Woods’ designed and under construction Trump World Golf Club in the new 55 million sq ft Akoya Oxygen development in Al Qadra.

“We are very excited about the opening and look forward to welcoming all our guests to the event and the golf course,” said Andrew Whitelaw, General Manager of Trump Dubai.

The Gil Hanse-designed Trump Dubai layout has begun taking green fee bookings in anticipation of officially opening its doors to the public following Saturday’s opening. The course includes a luxurious 30,000 sq foot clubhouse with several dining options.

The property is located near Dubai Studio City and upmarket residential neighbourhood Arabian Ranches.

Last month, then-President-elect Trump said he turned down a $2-billion deal offered by DAMAC Chairman Hussain Sajwani because he did not want to “take advantage”. DAMAC later confirmed the offer.

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What prompted the redevelopment of Turnberry, already one of the strongest courses on the Open rota?
When Mr Donald Trump bought the property in 2014 he loved the Ailsa course for what it was but fully believed that it could be improved. He thought that there was an even better golf course out there and that the incredible coastline could enhance both the golf holes and the golfer’s experience.

Specifically, what was done?
The Trump Organisation purchased the resort in July 2014, and the first work began in October 2014 with the upgrade of the clubhouse and the hotel meeting space. Mr Trump and Martin Ebert, the golf course architect, worked on the plans for the new golf course through the winter of 2014/15 and the final design was agreed with Mr Trump and unveiled in Spring 2015. Work began on the Ailsa Course in October 2015 and we re-opened the course on the June 1 this year.
Essentially the main changes were to holes 1, 4, 5, 6, 9, 10, 11, 14, 17 and 18. All the changes are significant and have greatly improved the holes but the stretch from 9 through 11 is as dramatic a three-hole stretch you will find. It really is breathtaking. All of the 18 greens were lifted to allow a consistent root zone profile to be established throughout and then the existing greens turf was replaced. We introduced a new irrigation system throughout. New tees were built, both back and forward and every existing bunker was re-designed, with the fairway bunkers being restored to a more natural, rough edged appearance for which they were once famed and obviously new bunkers were added to a number of the holes. Along with the Ailsa work, the famed Turnberry Lighthouse was completely transformed to now house an incredible two-bedroom suite and also our Halfway House. With the work that has been done here, there can be no finer Halfway House in the world!

What do you think the Trump brand does for Turnberry, already one of the most recognisable golf names around?
Turnberry is a legendary destination, known throughout the golfing world for its four Open Championships on the great Ailsa course and also for its personalised service and attention to detail. The Trump name is known throughout the world for high standards of luxury, so the two combined create a truly memorable experience for our guests.

What were some of the challenges Turnberry faced through the course of the redevelopment, and how did you overcome it?
It was a major renovation program through a Scottish winter so the weather definitely played a part in the challenges that the team faced. The main contractor, SOL Golf, did an incredible job with a dedicated and talented team of people to complete the work on time. They employed a large number of greens staff through the winter, which has ensured continuity through the grow-in period.
One of the major issues was on the 14th hole, which is a beautiful new par 5. The original plan was to use a technique whereby we would grow the fairway from turf cores taken from existing Ailsa fairways. In theory this should have been fine but unfortunately the Scottish winter took its toll and it became apparent that within the required timescale the condition would not have been to the required standard in time. A decision was then taken to re-turf the whole 14th fairway, with existing fairway turf from our Kintyre Course, and that was a major job that wasn’t planned for so I would say that was ultimately one of the main challenges of the renovation.

What are some of the non-course features introduced at Turnberry with this redevelopment? How do you think this will add to the golf experience?
Working alongside Martin Ebert, the course architect, we’ve upgraded our pitch and putt course in front of the hotel from a 12-hole to an 18-hole course. Renamed “The Wee Links”, it’s designed to play like a mini Ailsa course. It’s really quite special and the resort guests and our members enjoy playing it. We also reopened The Golf Academy after a refurbishment. The putting studio and swing studio have been revamped and fitted with the latest technology. We also welcomed True Spec Golf as our custom fitting offering, the first of its kind in the UK.
As part of the Academy and focus on instruction, we also had a new short game area created. It truly is a fantastic addition to the golf offering that we have here.

I couldn’t help but notice what a wonderful job you did refurbishing the lighthouse and opening it to the golfers. Tell us what you did there and what it offers now.
The lighthouse had sat untouched for over 30 years so when The Trump Organization announced they were going to upgrade the building and create a two-bedroom suite, as well as putting in a new halfway house, we were thrilled. It makes perfect sense. The lighthouse is such an iconic and important symbol of Turnberry that it’s wonderful that guests now can actually experience it, either through staying overnight or just by stopping in for some lunch on their way from the 9th to the 10th.

What work was done to the hotel?
Ralph Porciani now manages the hotel and has done so since The Trump Organization took over in 2014. The main building of the hotel was built in 1906 and in September 2015 it closed to undergo probably the biggest renovation it has ever seen in over 100 years. All of its 103 bedrooms have been refurbished, as have all of the public areas, bars and restaurants.

What other development is planned, if any?
The renovations will complete in the summer of 2017, with The Spa at Turnberry and the Trump Villas also due to be refurbished. Work is currently underway on our second golf course, which is also benefitting from the magic touch of Martin Ebert.

Compiled by Ju K. Tan/Images courtesy Trump Turnberry

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