Fourteen of the past 17 presidents of the US have golfed to some degree of frequency and ability while performing their presidential duties. The only non-golfers were Herbert Hoover, Harry Truman and Jimmy Carter. While the golfing presidents have often been chided for playing a silly game while the country needed their un-divided attention, the Golfers In Chief usually cited the need to ‘get away’ from the constant pressure of the job as the main reason they escaped to the golfing destination of their choice.
An interesting observation about the presidential golfers is that they often played the game much they way they led their personal lives. JFK had a silky smooth swing much like his public persona. Nixon had a pencil with an eraser at the ready. Eisenhower was as fastidious and dogged on the course and in practising as he was in his military career. Clinton played loosey-goosey with the rules…no further explanation is needed.
This got me to wondering if it is possible to really assess someones character by their actions on the course. It has been said countless times that if you really want to know someone just play golf with them.
Of course, I started with my own game and my personality. It is always a bit frightening to do a self-assessment, but, not only is it very revealing, it can be quite therapeutic. No, I won’t tell you what I came up with, but, I’m guessing if you query the folks I play with on a regular basis, they can give you a pretty accurate description. I will admit though that I really need to cut down on the ‘chatter’ that I generate on the course, but, since I have tried this before, I don’t know if this issue will ever be resolved.
Since it is never in good form to reveal one’s feelings about one’s friends in a public forum, I’ll keep my assessments to myself. But, in doing an exercise like this on even a quick, perfunctory basis, I think will make you way more tolerant or at least understanding of the various idiosyncrasies of your regular playing partners.
So, have a little fun and do your assessments, but, please, for the sake of your friendships, keep them to yourself and enjoy the satisfaction of knowing that we all are all who we are and that it is this uniqueness that makes the world a much more interesting place to live.
(The presidential information was taken from a USA Today article about golfing in the White House)
