Finally, after titillating us for months about a possible tête-à-tête on the links, Washington’s two most powerful men announced Friday that they’ll stick their pegs in the ground together on June 18, according to published reports. One thing’s for sure, though, President Obama and House Speaker John A. Boehner (R-Ohio) will not play 18 at Congressional Country Club in nearby Bethesda, Md., since the U.S. Open will be into its third round that Saturday.
With little additional information available about the upcoming game, our money (if we were gamblers) would be on Boehner to cash in on those five-dollar Nassaus. After all, Golf Digest lists POTUS as a 17-handicap while Mr. Speaker sports a 7.9 index.
How many strokes? “I’m sure I’ll have to give him strokes,” Boehner joshed with Fox News Sunday host Chris Wallace back in January, according to the New York Daily News.
Yet to be determined are what the stakes will be, whether they’ll invite two marks to fill out a foursome, and where the duo will face off. As the Daily News noted at the start of the year, when speculation began about a possible on-course tilt between the two, Obama is unlikely to take his game to the all-male Burning Tree Club in Bethesda, an establishment that Boehner reportedly frequents.
Obama apparently favors The Courses at Andrews Air Force Base, but we’re betting the two golf-obsessed heads of their parties will opt for an independent venue. For sure, our nation’s capital boasts a number of worthy public and private courses, but what better place for the political foes to knock it around than Army Navy Country Club?
Golfing presidents. Active-duty and retired military personnel belong to the 87-year-old private, member-owned facility just across the Potomac River in Arlington, Va., as do several civilians who have worked in government. On its honor roll of esteemed former members, Army Navy boasts Presidents Dwight D. Eisenhower, John F. Kennedy, Lyndon B. Johnson, Richard M. Nixon, and William J. Clinton.
So, gentlemen -- stroke or match play?
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