Some golf days just don’t go your way. For Vice President JD Vance, that day came at Donald Trump’s famous Turnberry course in Scotland. A shaky four-putt on one green turned into viral fodder and left the Ohio politician looking more frustrated than relaxed on his holiday.
Clips showed Vance struggling through the round, flailing in a bunker, and then laboring on the green. At one point, he needed four strokes just to finish the hole. Generally most players expect two putts, with three already seen as poor. Four is a disaster. Vance knew it. He tossed his arms in the air after missing, a picture of pure annoyance.
Vance arrived in Scotland with his wife and children on Thursday, landing at Prestwick Airport on Air Force Two before heading to Carnell Estates, a 14th-century property in Ayrshire. His motorcade swept through town and straight into a protest. Activists waved Palestinian flags and carried signs outside the estate gates, according to the BBC.
This came after protestors vandalized Donald Trump’s golf course earlier this year, giving their reasons for doing it.
Although the golf outing itself didn’t help the mood.
Vance misses multiple putts while golfing at Trump’s course on his luxury Scotland vacation. pic.twitter.com/cTJoLsF2qP
— FactPost (@factpostnews) August 15, 2025
One fan on X summed up the viral clip with blunt honesty, “lol, you clowns are so desperate.”
lol, you clowns are so desperate
— Amechi Nwandu (@amechi_nwandu) August 16, 2025
Another quipped, “I’ve never related to a politician more than this.”
I’ve never related to a politician more than this.
— Kevin (@GFY_Trucking) August 16, 2025
This wasn’t Vance’s first rough patch in the UK. Earlier in the week, he stayed in the Cotswolds, where his entourage clogged narrow village roads and even parked in disabled spaces, sparking irritation among locals. A pub in Charlbury reportedly refused his reservation, with staff threatening a walkout if forced to serve him. Residents also planted protest signs on their lawns.
Turnberry has long been a magnet for politics. Trump bought the course in 2014, and every visit since has attracted opposition. Protesters scrawled “Gaza is not for sale” on the gates of Trump’s course earlier this year, and demonstrations followed him there again in July.
For Vance, the holiday now sits somewhere between a headache and a punchline. He calls himself a “Scots-Irish hillbilly at heart.” But in Scotland this week, the only thing that stood out was a tough round of golf and a crowd that didn’t seem all that welcoming.
