did, like a race against time, until the last years in office, when the son banned himself from the game because he didn’t want to send the “wrong signal” to the mothers of the Iraq-war dead. Bill Clintonestablished a reputation for fudging his score - cheating, some said - in rounds with campaign donors while chewing an unlit cigar on the tee. John Kennedy was known for low scores and a graceful swing. Ronald Reagan, whose scores were a state secret, putted down the aisle of Air Force One. Since Dwight Eisenhower evicted the South Lawn squirrels tearing up his putting green, every President but Jimmy Carter has been a golfer. “Calm under pressure,” Obama calls out, bequeathing to Biden his own most valued attribute.
Amid the caravan of golf carts, including those of the Secret Service detail, a doctor and the ever present nuclear-code-toting military aide, there is an eruption of applause. The ball miraculously splits the trunks and bounds onto the green, less than 20 feet from the pin. (See pictures of the worst golf fashion.)Īfter a time, Obama steps away, and Biden reaches for his wedge. They are facing down their aides, men a fraction of their age. But these leaders have more than money on the line. The stakes aren’t high: Barack Obama, who has golfed almost every weekend since it got hot in Washington, plays a dollar a hole. Take a drop or risk the trees? A few inches off either way, and the ball will ricochet into the forest. (See pictures of Presidents at the beach.) He stands amid the underbrush, talking with his match-play teammate, the President of the United States. Vice President Joe Biden, an 8 handicap, has leaked a 3-wood into the trees near the green. Which brings us to the par-5 12th hole at Woodlawn golf course in Fort Belvoir, Va., on Father’s Day. Follow like normal people, tend to seek in others what they admire about themselves.