Breaking: Obama makes a birdie with a two-iron!

[Clio the Leo]

(I have no idea what that means but hopefully one of you will be able to appreciate it. :) )

Golfers talk shop with POTUS

The duffer-in-chief met Tuesday with a group of women who can understand why he spends so many Sundays out on the golf course.

In the Oval Office, the 12 U.S. Ladies Professional Golf Association team members met with Obama, took a photo with him and gave him a putter (left-handed). He practiced swinging it, they said, noting that he’ll be able to save five strokes.

One teammate, wearing four-inch heels, admitted that the president was shorter than she expected. Another lamented that she didn’t have a chance to text or call friends because security took her phone.

And Obama revealed to the golfers a historic moment in his presidency: He made his first birdie on his recent vacation in Hawaii.

Paula Creamer, one of the golfers, said the team was shocked that he made the birdie with a two-iron — a club that most golfers don’t even use because it’s difficult to hit with, instead favoring clubs that are half wood and half iron.

“We were all like, ‘Wow,’ ” said Creamer, who met with George W. Bush in 2005 and 2007. “We all were even shocked that he had a two-iron in his bag.”

http://www.politico.com/politico44/perm/0110/obamas_first_birdie_130d28fc-8639-4e08-b5cf-8950634f4c21.html

[msongs]

1. the war dead will celebrate with joyous abandon nt

[Cha]

3. And, the living are glad we have a President

who cares about what actually happens in this country and the Planet.

[Hawkowl]

59. At least he pretends to!

I don't believe he really cares. His actions belie his words.

[dionysus]

20. bitter, bitter, nothing to do with the OP, and more bitter.

[Name removed]

24. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[Phx_Dem]

29. +1

[BeyondGeography]

30. LOL (nt)

[Phx_Dem]

28. Yeah, no one is allowed to smile of laugh because of the "war dead."

You sound just like John Mccain did to Matt lauer on the Today Show yesterday. He was so insulted that Matt dared to ask him about Sarah Palin's vetting process when PEOPLE ARE DYING FOR GODSAKE!!!!!

[invictus]

45. +1

[Arkana]

47. Thanks, Eeyore.

No smiling or laughing on your watch, right? We have to make sure everyone's oppressively sad.

[moondust]

2. Hehe.

A 2 iron would typically only be used for a shot that is more than 200 yards from the pin. Making a golf shot from that distance is pretty close to being a miracle!

[Cha]

5. Wonder why

he used a two iron for that shot!?

[moondust]

9. ?

Some golfers will use a 2 iron sometimes instead of a fairway wood to cover the same distance. The 2 iron would tend to have a lower trajectory and thus may be useful in shooting under an obstacle like tree branches. But most amateur golfers don't even own a 2 iron.

[Cha]

15. Thanks for the golf lessson..I

don't golf anymore and forgot anything I ever learned but I find it interesting.

[timeforpeace]

39. If he put a 2-iron in, it would be an eagle, unless he putts with it. This claim stinks.

[tkmorris]

53. One flubbed shot and you are lying 2 with 200 in to a par 4

On the other hand I assume he meant he hit his approach with the 2 iron, landing it close enough to make the birdie from there. No small feat that, I can't a 2 iron to save my life.

[AngryAmish]

25. I joined hybrid nation three years ago

And never looked back.

[Solomon]

27. I have one but I don't even bother putting it in my bag.

[golfguru]

34. Not many professionals carry 2 iron anymore

It is much harder to hit than a hybrid.

[RoyGBiv]

10. For me it was psychological ...

I could never get the picture out of my head that a 3-wood was going to dig a trench in the ground.

So I used a 2-iron for most shots that required a 3-wood on the fairway.

Of course I never made a birdie with one. I was lucky if the ball didn't find a nice tree to crawl under.

I *really* suck at a golf.

[Cha]

14. Thanks..I like it that our

President's focus and ability to zero in on the challenge extends to the sports field.:)

[Clio the Leo]

6. Because it's harder to hit it accurately?

You can hit the ball FAR with a 2 iron but perhaps not as precisely? ...... Unless you are The Obama? :)

[moondust]

11. Right.

The longer the shot the harder to make it. A 2 iron is for long shots. People do sometimes make long shots but not frequently. A hole-in-one is often a 200-yard shot or so on a par 3 hole but even the pros don't make too many of them.

[dionysus]

21. he might have putted from just off the fringe with it.

:)

[moondust]

36. Possible but...

it would be pretty misleading to let people think you holed a 2 iron but not tell them it was from the fringe. Not that a golfer would ever tell a lie but...

:rofl:

[Brother Buzz]

52. That was my first thought

From just off the fringe, I get just a little loft with a 2 iron to clear the fringe, yet get the ball back down on the green quick like I was taught. Sometimes they do go in but, like Yogi Berra says, "Ninety percent of putts that are short don't go in."

[Dr.Phool]

32. I got a hole-in-one with an eight iron. 135 yards.

I don't have a 2 iron, but I can nail a 3 iron pretty good.

[zipplewrath]

12. Lucky

Nothing miraculous about it. Just pure luck. Both of my eagles came from over 100 yards off the green. It was probably a par 5 and really he was pretty far from the green to need a 200 yard shot for birdie. It means he took 3 shots just to get there. On a par 4 it means it took 2 shots to get where most folks, even hackers, would have been with their tee shot. If he was on a 200 yard par 3, with a 2 iron, he's a better golfer than they're letting on, which is unlikely if this was his first birdie.

[timeforpeace]

40. You last point is why I don't believe this. Someone that new to golf wouldn't be able to hit a 2

iron, well or at all. It has to have been an eagle or he putted with it. Or it's bogus.

[zipplewrath]

44. Oh, I dunno

When I first started, by 2 iron was my most favorite club. Very likely it was a poor shot with alot of roll that happened to hit the pin and drop. At a course I play alot they had one of those "Hole in one wins $5000" schticks. By the time it was over, 5 folks had won. Everyone of them couldn't break 120 on a good day. It's almost better to have low running shots for such chances. High arching shots tend to drop and stop. Running shots spend more time on the surface and as such have a better chance of hitting the pin and dropping.

It was lucky, even he'd say so. A blind squirrel finds an acorn once and a while.

[sofa king]

57. Speaking of miracles...

An old saying goes that if you ever get caught in a lightning storm on the golf course, you can save yourself by holding up your 1-iron.

Not even God can hit one of those.

[CBR]

4. Cool. Paula Creamer is great. nt

[golfguru]

35. No kidding!

[chollybocker]

7. More transparent Obama bashing from Politico.

Implying, "Why is he out golfing, when (insert pet cause here) is at stake?!!"

And the usual DU thread Unrec-ers become thread Rec-ers.

Too obvious. Better luck next time!

[zbdent]

8. was Politico so concerned about Bush's

full term of vacation?

[karynnj]

23. But he was doing the important job of clearing brush on those vacations

- I never got why anyone was impressed that he was doing that on vacation. It was as if the media turned it into what every man would do, if he was good and noble, on vacation.

[Dr.Phool]

33. He had to clear the brush to build the golf course.

Do you think he did that shit for a photo op or something?

[timeforpeace]

43. Bush stopped playing golf after 9/11. Everyone missed the sacrifice so why did he bother?

[Tutankhamun]

54. Exactly. There was no reason whatsoever for him to clear that brush.

The M$M would fawningly show the K-Mart (or maybe Saks 5th Ave.) "cowboy" Bush out on the "ranch," a-clearin' that thar brush, yet never once asked what the hell for?

The real answer is, of course, to try and remind us of Reagan (as if that were a good thing).

[goclark]

26. Bush was on a 8 year vacation and not a peep

was mentioned.

[ChairmanAgnostic]

13. I hit a birdie too. First it hit the cart path, then a tree, then it banged off

of this rock, and finally, it careened up and hit this birdie. It was mostly black, with red markings on it. Don't know what kind it was, though.
The birdie survived.

[RoyGBiv]

16. +1

I learned early in my golf game to aim for the cart path. That way I at least had a chance of making the fairway from a friendly bounce.

[ChairmanAgnostic]

17. Excuse me. AIM?

how does one do that?

[RoyGBiv]

18. Here's my routine ...

Close eyes.

Point butt perpendicular to general direction you hope ball will go.

Think positive thoughts.

Swing.

Open eyes.

Cuss.

Grab beer.

Wander around until a ball is found. Doesn't have to be my ball as long as no one else is around the claim the one I did find.

[whistler162]

19. And in other news PETA plans to protest the.....

President for hitting a birdie with a 2 iron!

[cleveramerican]

22. quick.. count the clubs in his bag!

a 2 iron means he's not carrying a 5 wood, if he's playing by the rules.

[cherokeeprogressive]

46. Playing by the rules simply means carrying 14 clubs or less.

He could carry 14 drivers if he so chose and still be honoring the rules.

There is no rule about WHICH clubs a golfer must carry, simply how many. 14. No more than that.

The penalty for carrying more than 14 is 2 strokes for each hole the extra club was in the bag.

[alsame]

31. I found a picture of the ladies....

they look like a feisty bunch :)



Members of the Solheim Cup-winning U.S. Ladies Professional Association Team Natalie Gulbis, Brittany Lincicome, Christina Kim, Michelle Wie and Paula Creamer (L-R) talk to the media after meeting with U.S. President Barack Obama in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington January 12, 2010.

[BeyondGeography]

37. Looks like they are laughing in the face of the war dead to me

:sarcasm:

[timeforpeace]

38. Creamer is suggesting that the birdie-with-2-iron claim is bogus. Unless he putts with a 2-iron, it

is indeed bogus.

[freddie mertz]

41. Why do so many presidents play frakking golf?

It is such a Repuke sport in my eyes.

Country clubs.

Blecch.

[Arkana]

48. The guy also plays basketball--pretty well, too. Golf's just a traditionally

patrician sport--doesn't make it a bad one.

[freddie mertz]

49. No, but I'm sick of presidents on the golf course. Can't we get a bowler? nt.

[Arkana]

50. We did.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_Nixon

[Juche]

42. Breaking: Kim Jong Il shoots 38 below par

http://www.worldtribune.com/worldtribune/WTARC/2004/ea_nkorea_06_16.html

Pyongyang media say Kim enjoys golf, having shot multiple holes-in-one during his first try at the game. He reportedly aced five holes and finished 38 under par on the golf course. The "Dear Leader" routinely shoots three or four holes-in-one per round, the government-controlled media reported.







Yeah, its exaggerated hyperbole. But meh.

[Arkana]

51. According to Pyongyang media, Kim Jong-il's shit smells like warm cinnamon rolls

and if you disagree you'll be thrown in prison and eventually executed.

[Juche]

55. Where'd you get warm cinnamon rolls

I've heard jasmine perfume.

[Awsi Dooger]

56. He should have used my Hogan 1 iron

15 years and many handicap strokes ago, I could really blast that thing:

http://thesandtrap.com/forum/threads/30457-Have-you-ever-hit-a-1-Iron?p=386444&viewfull=1#post386444

Sigh. I concede I've given way to a hybrid. And also a 7 wood.

Carrying a 2 iron is indeed shocking. I don't think the non-golfers grasp how unusual that would be. Most amateurs don't carry stronger than a 5 iron these pays, perhaps a 4.

I've read that Obama uses older equipment. But I'm confident I'm more dated, playing 1966 Haig Ultra blades, and loving it. :)

BTW, a picture of Paul Creamer is worthless unless it focuses on her strengths:

>

[dionysus]

58. when i was overhauling my swing to get rid of my slice, i went through a 2 year period where i

couldn't hit a wood or driver. man did i use the hell out of a borrowed 1 iron! to tell you the truth, it wasn't all that hard to hit. then again, i really like to use a 3 iron...

despite rupturing a disc this summer, i upgraded to an r7 limited driver and r9 3 & 5 wood, for my returnt to the course this spring... damn i can't wait... i got out 4 times in november with just a driver and pocketful of balls, just to hit tee shots.

it's amazing... after 6 months of not touching a club, forced to be careful and pay attention to my swing, i was driving the ball better then before i got hurt...