Mamaroneck Club Ignites Controversy With Plans To Honor Trump

MAMARONECK, NY — One of the most storied golf clubs in the U.S. and the host of the 2020 PGA U.S. Open has created an unintentional firestorm in the community with plans to honor the former President and longtime member Donald Trump next month.

The Winged Foot Golf Club has deactivated its Twitter account in response to online fervor after plans to recognize the 45th POTUS became public this week and calls to the country club's listed phone number went unanswered on Friday. Local activist groups and national figures, including former Republican strategist Rick Wilson, have vowed to keep pressure on the private, members-only club.

Members of Winged Foot have plans to honor Trump with a gala at the club on Aug. 4, NBC News first reported on Wednesday. The planned event has reportedly caused a rift among club members, but news of the planned banquet has also caused outrage beyond the wrought iron gates of the elite Westchester County institution.

"The rich Republican Trumper members think it's great to feast the insurrectionist," one unidentified club member told NBC News. "Pathetic."

The ceremony is being hosted by fellow Winged Foot member and Trump supporter Ted Virtue, according to the NBC News report. Virtue is expected to play a round with Trump and investor Paul Queally before the dinner at the club.

In 2014, Winged Foot, along with Willow Ridge and the Trump National Golf Club in Westchester County, all rejected then President Obama's request to play golf over a holiday weekend, because they did not want to displace their members, NBC News reported at the time. Of course, unlike Trump, Obama was not a dues-paying member of the club.

Trump has been a member of the private golf club in Mamaroneck for more than five decades.