Obama Takes Time Out From Busy Schedule To Broker Peace Accord Between Norman, Finchem

...and to scuff up the President's Oval Office desk with the Presidents Cup trophy. Helen Ross reports on the events of the day, including a meeting with Joe Biden beforehand. The happy gang:

 

"Can the one have fun?"

Writing that "some respite from the pressure is clearly a healthy thing," Maureen Dowd says that Barack Obama needs to be able to take his wife on the occasional date or tee it up now and then:

Mixing play with intense work is not only a good mental health strategy; it’s a good way to show the world that American confidence and cool — and Cary Grant romantic flair — still thrive.

Date on and tee it up, Mr. President. It’s O.K. if they’re teed off.

"He's hit the course five times since late April"

Teeing off not long after returning Sunday from Paris, Barack Obama's avid golfing is analyzed by the Washington Post's Richard Leiby.

The attraction would seem simple. It's a great escape; the game demands such attention that nothing else matters. It's time spent with friends, an unhurried afternoon in loose clothing (shorts seem to be Obama's preference). Yet nothing is without deeper meaning where the presidency is concerned. The golfer in chief's approach to the game is subject to analysis in psychological and political contexts.

To some, Obama's frequent outings reflect a cool self-confidence. "Given all the things that are going on in the world and with the economy," says sports psychologist Bob Rotella, "you'd think he wouldn't be caught anywhere near the golf course . . . To some degree it says: 'I'm not going to worry about what people say about me. I'm going to do my job, and I'm going to play, too.' "

Obama Accepts President's Cup Honorary Chairmanship

This is going to really make some of golf's hecklers squirm, as Ron Sirak notes. The question is, will he make an appearance?

Don't take this news lightly. The decision by the Obama Administration to have the President serve as honorary chair was not a cavalier conclusion. The consequences were considered, and the consensus clearly was that it is fine for Obama to be associated with golf.

"I wouldn't say there were lengthy discussions, but it took a little while because he has never done anything like this since he's been elected," PGA Tour Commissioner Tim Finchem told GolfDigest.com. "It had to go through a lot of reviews." What it means is that the myth of the elitist boondoggle label has been exposed as exactly that -- a myth.

"This is very positive for the game of golf, not just for the Presidents Cup," Finchem said. "What this says for him to give the Presidents Cup this kind of recognition is that he has a positive attitude about the game, is a supporter of golf and understands the charitable and other contributions it makes. We could have seven-and-a-half more years of a fan of golf in the White House."

The full release:

President Barack Obama to be Honorary Chairman of The Presidents Cup 2009
President Obama is eighth world leader to serve as honorary chairman in event’s history

PONTE VEDRA BEACH, FL June 1, 2009

President Barack Obama, the 44th President of the United States of America, has accepted an invitation to be Honorary Chairman of The Presidents Cup when the competition is played for the first time on the West Coast, at Harding Park Golf Course in San Francisco, Calif., Oct. 6-11, 2009.

“We are honored that President Obama has accepted our invitation to be Honorary Chairman of The Presidents Cup in October,” said PGA TOUR Commissioner Tim Finchem. “As the eighth head of state to serve in this role, President Obama continues a long-tradition of support and leadership dating back to the first Presidents Cup in 1994. His involvement will not only further enhance the stature of The Presidents Cup, but also that of golf on a global basis.”

President Obama joins a distinguished group of seven world leaders who have held the position of Honorary Chairman at The Presidents Cup. He is preceded by Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper, who was Honorary Chairman of the 2007 event in Montreal, Quebec, Canada.

President Gerald Ford was the Honorary Chairman at the inaugural Presidents Cup in 1994 and was followed by President George H.W. Bush in 1996. Australian Prime Minister John Howard was Honorary Chairman in 1998 when the event was held in Melbourne, Australia, and was followed by President Bill Clinton in 2000. Thabo Mbeki, President of the Republic of South Africa, was Honorary Chairman in 2003 when The Presidents Cup was staged in Western Cape Province, South Africa. President George W. Bush was the most recent U.S. President to serve as Honorary Chairman, holding that position the last time the event was staged on U.S. soil, in 2005.

The Presidents Cup, a team match play competition featuring 24 of the world’s top golfers – 12 from the United States and 12 from around the world, excluding Europe – is held every two years, and since 1996 has alternated between United States and international venues. The Presidents Cup was developed to give the world’s best non-European players an opportunity to compete in international team match-play competition. The U.S. Team has won five of the seven previous Presidents Cups, and the only outright win by the International Team came at the 1998 event in Melbourne. The 2003 Presidents Cup ended in a tie.

More than $4.2 million was distributed to charitable causes from the 2007 Presidents Cup, a record for this prestigious competition and part of the nearly $18 million raised since the inception of the event. Players are not personally paid for their participation in the event; there is no purse or prize money. Each competitor, instead, designates charities or golf-related projects of his choice to receive a portion of the funds raised through the staging of each Presidents Cup.

Meanwhile, back down the 17th, the tortoise backed off a chip so often you felt your life flashing before you, before eventually knocking it close.

Obama And Biden Hit The Green

Nice spot by Robert Lohrer who caught Pete Souza's official White House image of the President and Vice President out breaking in the White House putting green. Thanks to Chip Gaskins for the Flicker version.

Can You Spot What's Peculiar Here?

A reader noticed something really strange about the website for The Golf Courses at Andrews Air Force Base, where President Obama played golf last Sunday.

Hint: if this is a facility restricted to American military, active and retired Federal Employees and their guests, why would this be embedded into the site?

Update on 2009-04-28 18:27 by Geoff

Reader P.O. got it...they offer a Korean translation version of the site. Go easy on the conspiracy theories people!

President Obama Tees It Up; Changes Shoes In The Parking Lot!**

Well, it wasn't a public outcry, but nearly one when sixty commenters chimed in on the all-vital question of appropriate shorts construction.

I must say it's a bit shocking that President Obama passed up the chance to watch day two of the NFL Draft coverage and its orgy of over analysis providing exhibit 1A that America is doomed when it's spending a spring weekend hanging on Mel Kiper Jr.'s analysis of a 7th round pick.

Anyway, the Prez answered one of the most pressing questions of his first 100 days, as posed by Leonard Shapiro: where would the first Obama round be played? Andrews Air Force Base GC. Wait, the high-paid branding experts have even managed to get their hands on a government golf course. Excuse me, The Courses at Andrews Air Force Base.

Note that in the photo gallery accompanying the AP story, the President is changing his shoes in the parking lot. Isn't that forbidden at courses titled The ___ at _____?  I smell a new controversy!

Update on 2009-04-28 02:46 by Geoff

**The pool report by Bartholomew Sullivan leaves out the mention of him changing his shoes in the lot. I smell a cover-up!

The presidential motorcade left the White House at 9:05 a.m. en route to The Courses at Andrews Air Force Base in Maryland on a hot, sunny morning. Along the uneventful, mostly highway route to the base, the president could have seen a road construction project displaying a sign reading, "Putting America to Work," and would have seen waving tourists on the grounds of the Washington Monument. The motorcade pulled up to the golf courses at 9:28. The president, in tan shirt and tan shorts and golf saddle shoes walked a short distance from his cart and greeted a group on a practice putting green that had been shooting him with their camera phones. Among the president's golfing guests were Commerce Secretary Gary Locke, trade representative Ron Kirk and White House staffer Marvin Nicholson. An entourage of 14 golf carts entered the South Course at about 9:45. The president's cart was driven by the general manager of the course, Mike Thomas, a civilian. Your pool held at the club house, receiving occasional updates from the Secret Service on progress. For example, at 2 p.m., the president was at the 14th tee. But there were no sightings and no readout details on how he performed. The presidential motorcade left the course on the return trip at 3:18 p.m., arriving at 3:52 p.m. The president posed for pictures with his guests near a stairway lined with flowering wisteria, then ducked into the White House at 3:55 p.m.

Golf Projects Sneak Into Economic Stimulus Package?

Nice catch by reader Joel to note that several golf projects slipped that might slip into the economic stimulus package, despite efforts by some Congressional type to keep our sport from benefitting.