"In the annals of presidential golf history, the Obama-Boehner round...is an oddity."

An unbylined AP story on how the White House sees some of the particulars playing out for Saturday's Obama-Boehner buddies trip golf outting.

Presidential spokesman Jay Carney says he anticipates that Obama and Boehner will find time to discuss important issues such as budget negotiations.

But the outing is mostly about giving them a chance to socialize. Carney says that gives it “great value beyond the game.”

Carney isn’t saying whether the White House will disclose what the golfers shot on their round. The Ohio lawmaker is known to be a much better golfer than Obama.
Carney says reporters and photographers will get a chance to see something of the action. The White House hasn’t said what course they’ll play.

In last Sunday's New York Times Opinion section, Don Van Natta filed this worthwhile analysis of the round, where it fits historically and why it's a risk for the President.

A president has never played a round of golf with the leader of the opposing party who was also considered a near-lock to win the match (the closest thing was a round L. B. J. played with Dwight D. Eisenhower in February 1968 at Seven Lakes Country Club in Palm Springs, Calif.; Ike won in a breeze). So, perhaps Mr. Obama deserves to be spotted a few free strokes for sporting courage.

More important, the timing of the “golf summit” is curious (and not just because it coincides with the United States Open at nearby Congressional Country Club in Bethesda, Md.). Two wars (three, if you count health care; four, if you count Libya), a stubborn economic downturn and partisan rancor combine to make the president’s decision to play with Mr. Boehner a surprise and one that appears to offer more downside than upside to the White House.