Dwight D Eisenhower
William McKinley was supposedly the first president to play a round of golf. Taft played golf but not often when he was president but he likely was the first sitting president to play golf. Wilson certainly played golf while he was president, but not very well.
Gerald ford
Eisenhower
Nixon liked to bowl in the White House basement play the Golf and Poker. He played the piano.
Nixon liked to bowl in the White House basement play the Golf and Poker. He played the piano.
Nixon liked to bowl in the White House basement play the Golf and Poker. He played the piano.
Nixon liked to bowl in the white house basement play the golf and poker. He played the piano.
There's no evidence President Andrew Johnson played golf. There is a golf club named after him in his hometown of Greenville, Tennessee, though.
William Howard Taft
According to a Time magazine article about the popularity of golf with presidents (Dwight D. Eisenhower played the most golf during his time in the White House), President Obama took up the hobby when he was in his 30s. A link to the article is enclosed.
Several presidents, notably Wilson, Harding and Eisenhower played golf while in office. Kennedy was an excellent golfer. Obama plays on occasion. I do not know that any President actually made golf more popular.
I am not sure which president fits this description, but I do know that President Eisenhower's staff removed three squirrels that were digging up Ike's favorite putting green on the White House grounds. It wasn't that the president hating squirrels-- he hated what they were doing to his golf game. On the other hand, President Reagan became rather fond of the White House squirrels, and on one of his presidential Christmas cards, he had a picture of a squirrel running across the lawn.