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Episode 863: The 13th Hole

This picture was taken <em>after</em> Martin Greenberg got a hole-in-one at NBA star Alonzo Mourning's charity golf tournament. It was taken <em>before</em> Greenberg's million dollar prize was called into question.
Court Filing
This picture was taken after Martin Greenberg got a hole-in-one at NBA star Alonzo Mourning's charity golf tournament. It was taken before Greenberg's million dollar prize was called into question.

In 2010, Martin Greenberg walked up to the 13th hole at a golf course owned by Donald J. Trump. He was competing in a charity golf tournament, and this hole was a special one. It was the location of the million dollar hole-in-one contest, so a million dollars was on the line. A police officer was standing by, just to make sure no funny business happened.

Greenberg pulled back his golf club, hit the ball, and got the hole-in-one. That was the easy part.

What happened next was messy. There were insurance claims. There were denials. There were plenty of lawyers. And there was a payment from one charity to another. Today on the show, we discover the billions of dollars held in private foundations, and how little anyone knows about how that money is being used.

Music: "Groove Safari Archeology" and "Cool Customer."

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Copyright 2021 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.

Karen Duffin (she/her) is a co-host and reporter for Planet Money, NPR's award-winning podcast that finds creative, entertaining ways to make sense of the big, complicated forces that move our economy. She joined the team in March 2018.
Kenny Malone is a correspondent for NPR's Planet Money podcast. Before that, he was a reporter for WNYC's Only Human podcast. Before that, he was a reporter for Miami's WLRN. And before that, he was a reporter for his friend T.C.'s homemade newspaper, Neighborhood News.