Waste of the Day: Military Owns 100+ Golf Courses

Topline: President Donald Trump is often in the headlines for the millions of dollars taxpayers spend to fund his golf trips, but he’s far from the only one enjoying the expensive hobby.

The military and its golf courses

The Department of Defense owns scores of golf courses all over the world and recently spent $200 million to renovate five of them, according to reporting from The Intercept. Two courses in Germany and one each in Korea, Japan, and Massachusetts will receive upgrades.

Key facts: The Intercept was able to identify 144 military-owned golf courses. Ten are owned by the Marines, 29 by the Navy, 51 by the Air Force, and 54 by the Army. At least 24 are in foreign countries, and two are in Guam.

That may be an underestimate. The golf courses have been in watchdogs’ crosshairs for decades, with Sen. William Proxmire (D-WI) calling out the Pentagon in 1975 for spending $14 million per year maintaining 300 golf courses. The number of courses has seemingly fallen since, but the Pentagon has also removed some from its lists or listed separate courses as one facility.

Maintenance costs vary. One Army golf course in Virginia costs around $1 million per year to operate and spent $406,000 replacing golf carts in 2021. MIC.com reported in 2012 that a “very conservative estimate” of annual costs for all the golf courses is $140 million.  

The golf courses are banned from receiving money from Congress and are supposed to fund themselves with membership fees, private donations and other sources of revenue. Still, it’s fair to wonder why private donations to the military help pay for golf instead of actual warfighting capabilities.

There are ways

There are also ways around the rules. The Government Accountability Office found in 1996 that 40% of military golf courses were losing money and using taxpayer funds to cover their losses.

The U.S. Armed Forces Retirement Home in Washington D.C. is technically not part of the DOD, and for years its golf course operated using taxpayer money and 50-cent deductions from military paychecks.

Golf courses in foreign countries are allowed to receive appropriations from Congress, and the Pentagon goes golfing in Italy, Turkey and more. 

Background: While the Pentagon splurges on its golf courses, it is ignoring important buildings that need funding. The military accounts for almost three quarters of the $370 billion of backlogged repairs on federal buildings.

There are no golf courses currently listed for sale by the General Services Administration, and a list of 443 federal properties that are “not core to government operations” was withdrawn one day after it was released, The Intercept reported.

Summary: Our soldiers would be better off practicing how to hit a moving target or dress a wound, not how to keep their golf score under par.

The #WasteOfTheDay is brought to you by the forensic auditors at OpenTheBooks.com

This article was originally published by RealClearInvestigations and made available via RealClearWire.