Q: Which of the presidents since Dwight Eisenhower have had the best golf game?
—Richard Criswell, Monroe
A: John F. Kennedy is considered the best golfer among the presidents.
Kennedy, who averaged 80 and played on Harvard’s golf team, didn’t publicly play much, Don Van Natta Jr., author of “First Off the Tee: Presidential Hackers, Duffers and Cheaters from Taft to Bush,” told NPR in 2003.
“In fact, Americans didn’t really realize JFK loved golf until several months after he was in office,” Van Natta said.
Eisenhower played about 800 rounds of golf while he was president and was a member of Augusta National Golf Club, home of the Masters. He sometimes broke 80 and “made the game cool,” Van Natta said.
Gerald Ford was considered a capable golfer, Bill Clinton was known for his “do-over shots” (called “Billigans”) and Lyndon B. Johnson would take hundreds of swings during a round.
Johnson “wanted the feel of one perfect golf shot, and if it took 400 swings to do it, he was going to do it,” Van Natta said.
George W. Bush played 24 rounds in office, none after Aug. 19, 2003, telling the Washington Post in 2008, “I think playing golf during a war just sends the wrong signal.”
George H.W. Bush had a low handicap and is ranked behind Kennedy, Eisenhower, Ford and Franklin D. Roosevelt (before polio) on a list of top golfing presidents compiled by Golf Digest and Van Natta in 2009.
Barack Obama had played 240 rounds as president as of late July.
Andy Johnston wrote this column. Do you have a question about the news? We’ll try to get the answer. Call 404-222-2002 or email q&a@ajc.com (include name, phone and city).
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