August 18, 2013
JFK JUST A "REGULAR GUY" WHO HAPPENED TO BE THE "MOST POWERFUL MAN IN THE WORLD!"
Hyannisport, Massachusetts (JFK+50) Fifty years ago today, August 18, 1963, President John F. Kennedy invited Tom Niblet, 31 year old head pro at the Hyannisport Club*, to play a round of golf.
Tom, now 81 years old, said JFK...
"was just a regular guy...so affable that he made you feel at ease. You were energized just being around him."
Rob Duca writes that Jack Kennedy...
"certainly didn't act like the most powerful man in the world, not when he sat on a wooden stool in the bag room to lace up his shoes."
JFK kept his golf bags in the bag room at the country club and so did secret service agents, but while the President's contained irons and woods, theirs held machine guns.
Mr. Niblet accepted the President's offer and joined JFK, Pierre Salinger and Chuck Spaulding on the course.
After their round was completed, President Kennedy said...
"Tom, we will do this more often."
Unfortunately, the two golfers would not have another opportunity to play together.
Mr. Duca says Tom Niblet has not said much publicly about JFK since that tragic day in Dallas 50 years ago this November, but in a memoir Tom wrote...
"When (JFK) died, so did a little bit of me."
*The Hyannisport Club, located at 2 Irving Avenue on Cape Cod, was founded in 1897 and the golf course completed in 1903. The course has been called "the toughest 6200 yards in golf" because of the wind which blows directly from the Atlantic Ocean. Adjacent to the Kennedy Compound, the club is open to all residents of the Cape.
SOURCE
"Presidential Memories," by Rob Duca, Golf and Leisure Cape Cod, www.golfoncapecod.com/
JFK JUST A "REGULAR GUY" WHO HAPPENED TO BE THE "MOST POWERFUL MAN IN THE WORLD!"
Hyannisport, Massachusetts (JFK+50) Fifty years ago today, August 18, 1963, President John F. Kennedy invited Tom Niblet, 31 year old head pro at the Hyannisport Club*, to play a round of golf.
Tom, now 81 years old, said JFK...
"was just a regular guy...so affable that he made you feel at ease. You were energized just being around him."
Rob Duca writes that Jack Kennedy...
"certainly didn't act like the most powerful man in the world, not when he sat on a wooden stool in the bag room to lace up his shoes."
JFK on the 18th Hole
Hyannisport Club
JFK Library Photo (1963)
The Kennedy Compound is located within a short walking distance of the club, and whenever the President wanted to play he would always call ahead and make sure the 1st tee was open.
JFK kept his golf bags in the bag room at the country club and so did secret service agents, but while the President's contained irons and woods, theirs held machine guns.
Mr. Niblet accepted the President's offer and joined JFK, Pierre Salinger and Chuck Spaulding on the course.
After their round was completed, President Kennedy said...
"Tom, we will do this more often."
Unfortunately, the two golfers would not have another opportunity to play together.
Mr. Duca says Tom Niblet has not said much publicly about JFK since that tragic day in Dallas 50 years ago this November, but in a memoir Tom wrote...
"When (JFK) died, so did a little bit of me."
*The Hyannisport Club, located at 2 Irving Avenue on Cape Cod, was founded in 1897 and the golf course completed in 1903. The course has been called "the toughest 6200 yards in golf" because of the wind which blows directly from the Atlantic Ocean. Adjacent to the Kennedy Compound, the club is open to all residents of the Cape.
SOURCE
"Presidential Memories," by Rob Duca, Golf and Leisure Cape Cod, www.golfoncapecod.com/
JFK, WITH THE 'SWEETEST SWING," WAS THE BEST GOLFING PRESIDENT
Augusta, Georiga (JFK+50) In 2003, a book titled "First Off the Tee: Presidential Hackers, Duffers and Cheaters, From Taft to Bush," authored by Don Van Natta, rated John F. Kennedy as the #1 best golfer among the golfing presidents.
This may have come as a shock to those who associated golf with JFK's predecessor, Dwight D. Eisenhower, who reportedly played 210 rounds here at Augusta National during his tenure in the White House.
Ike actually came in #2 in Mr. Van Natta's book.
The top ten list looks like this:
1. JFK
2. IKE
3. FORD
4. FDR
5. GHW BUSH
6. GW BUSH
7. CLINTON
8. OBAMA
9. REAGAN
10.HARDING
Ryan Becker, who puts JFK at #2 behind Eisenhower, writes...
"JFK was the premier golfer to take up residence at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue...he played in the high 70s and low 80s (but) his back problems limited his rounds."
More recent articles also differ somewhat with Van Natta's rankings. While www.golf.com's Van Sickle offers his opinion that JFK
"is...underrated because...he kept it secret (as) playing golf wasn't a good look for a Democrat. It reeked too much of exclusive big money, country club Republicans,"
www.golf.com ranks JFK #4 behind Ike, George H.W. Bush and Bill Clinton.
Jeff Ritter, senior producer at www.golf.com, argues that, in his opinion, President Kennedy had...
"probably the sweetest swing out of all the presidents."
Some will be surprised that FDR ranked so high, but the ranking is based on his performance on the links before he was stricken by polio at the age of 39, and what he did for the game during his presidency.
Ironically, Gerald Ford, generally agreed to be the best athlete among the presidents, "hit many people with golf balls."
According to George Condon, there were four presidents who were non-golfers.
They were Theodore Roosevelt, Herbert Hoover, Harry Truman and Jimmy Carter.
Perhaps William Howard Taft should be added to the list, because although Condon says that he was the 1st president "to embrace the game," he was advised by TR not to play and "once took 12 strokes to free his ball from a sand trap" while Van Natta says that Taft was "one of the worst."
Mr. Van Natta rates Calvin Coolidge as "the absolute worst."
Mark Twain was not impressed by any politician who played the game of golf.
Twain said...
"Rail-splitting has produced an unparalleled president in Lincoln, but golf hasn't produced even a good A-1 congressman."
The honor for the most frequent golfer goes to the scholarly Woodrow Wilson who "played at least a few holes each day."
Barack Obama continues the tradition of golfing presidents. On his current vacation at Martha's Vineyard, the President has "played golf on 4 of 6 days since arriving...last Saturday."
SOURCES
"First Off the Tee: White House Golf Tales," May 1, 2003, www.npr.org
"First Off the Tee: Presidential Hackers, Duffers and Cheaters from Taft to Bush," by Don Van Natta, Jr. 2003
"Obama and golf: Par for the course for presidents," by Martin Davis, January 27, 2012, www.cnn.com/
"Obama is eager member of golfing presidents' club," by Darlene Superville, Associated Press, August 16, 2013.
"Top Five Golfing Presidents," by Ryan Becker, February 21, 2011, www.healthygolfobsession.com/
"When Presidents Play Golf," by George E. Condon, Jr., The Atlantic, June 18, 2011, www.theatlantic.com/
"Yep, Obama is a golfer too, Ranking the golfing Presidents," January 2009, www.golfdigest.com
