Donor bought pricey golf simulator for DeSantis, documents show, raising ethics questions

FILE PHOTO: Florida Governor and Republican presidential candidate Ron DeSantis speaks at the North Carolina Republican Party convention in Greensboro, North Carolina, U.S. June 9, 2023. REUTERS/Jonathan Drake/File Photo

(Reuters) - After Ron DeSantis, an avid golfer, moved into the Florida governor’s mansion in 2019, workers installed a golf simulator worth tens of thousands of dollars in the private pool cabana so he could practice his game.

But DeSantis did not pay for the simulator. Neither did the state government. Instead, it was funded by a wealthy donor and prominent businessman, Morteza Hosseini, according to four sources familiar with the matter and state government records.