Bill's Bad Lie
York, Byron
"Bill's Bad Lie" "You learn more about a guy after one round of golf than you'd learn doing business with him for a month. I didn't vote for him, but now I'm a big fan." -O.J. Simpson on Bill Clinton, after...
...I was hot...
...he shall be disqualified...
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...Rule 7-2 of the United States Golf Association's Official Rules of Golf says "a player shall not play a practice stroke...
...Also going along was Shelia Lawrence, the woman who arranged the outing...
...This has to be reported...
...For them, the charming zeal with which Clinton pursues golf is just another facet of this complex man...
...Clinton shook hands and worked the crowd as he played the last few holes...
...And then there was Number 18...
...A clearly elated C;lintuti said lie shot 78 on the par-72 layout...
...You idiot...
...the general manager told the San Francisco Chronicle that it is still "primarily a white club...
...But they learned that with Bill Clinton, that honor carries a price...
...Wire service reports mentioned the incident, saying without explanation that the president shot either a 78 or a 79, depending on one's interpretation of the Rules of Golf.'I'he issue was confused a couple of days later when USA Today reported that even though Clinton declined the gimme on i8, lie was still guaranteed a birdie because his partner conceded the putt...
...Did Clinton take any mulligans...
...In March, Jeff Sluman was playing in the second round of the Bay Hill Invitational Tournament in Florida...
...where he rubbed elbows with the Hollywood set, collecting $i million in campaign contributions from stars like Barbra Streisand,'lom Cruise, and Johnny Carson...
...A golf course is pretty crowded on Memorial Day weekend," says a second member...
...The closest witnesses were Clinton', three partners: San Diego attorney Robert Caplan, wine industry official Ira Gouryitz, and Michael Cavanaugh, a southern California property developer...
...He showed up there unannounced with a whole bunch of guests in tow," says an RTJ member...
...Simpson on Bill Clinton, after a round in March r994 y any measure, June io was a good day for the Clinton campaign .11 ic president started off with a visit to police headquarters in San Diego, California, where before a friendl, crowd he portrayed himself as tough on crin K' and just as tough on illegal immigration...
...I was smoking em...
...bumped everybody...
...Mulligans are an accepted practice among mediocre golfers under which, if you hit a really loathsome shot, you get to do it over with no penalty," Nichols wrote...
...He has a handicap of seven, which is unusually good for a working person...
...They all piled into the limo and-accompanied by the usual enormous motorcade-headed to Robert Trent Jones...
...Few rules were bent...
...If the 78 was really a 79, maybe there was more to the story...
...Asked about Clinton's game, Nicklaus told reporters, "I would say, well, he has a lot of potential...
...According to Yarbrough, Clinton reached the 18th green with a big drive and a long second shot...
...Look at these,' he groaned...
...Clinton confessed immediately...
...It seems that a hostile press might persuasively portray the president as out of touch, insulated from the nation's troubles by the beautiful fairways of the luxury clubs he favors...
...The problem with that is Rule 2-4 applies only to match play, in which two golfers compete on a hole-by-hole basis...
...RTJ (as it is known to members) was designed to be a championship quality course...
...He took a mul ligan, too, but never anoth er the rest of the day...
...0 afYes...
...T21 7 Retsi $26.00...
...he missed...
...End of that hole: Clinton took a seven without ever holing out...
...So, it seems, Clinton is stuck with a 6-over-par 78 and the 'gimme' birdie putt on No...
...But what really happened in Coronado7 Curiously, given the size of the entourage that accompanies the president, there are fe« .vi t1icsses willing to discuss the day'- 'l he piil.lic ~ti as kept away from the course, and the press was holed up in the clubhouse for ii iost of the round...
...The prez, Reilly concluded, was a really great guy.2 PUTTING PEOPLE FIRST...
...One can understand him lying about Whitewater, they might say...
...Are you familiar with the term `mulligan...
...the Washington Post noted only that "the golfing party had so much fun that they got back to the White House just two hours before the ceremony began...
...The message was unmistakable...
...And brag he did...
...But it does n't happen...
...You can't insult him...
...But Clinton, apparently deciding to retroactively grant himself that last conceded putt, claimed a birdie four on the hole, for a total score of 78...
...Half o f these people weren't cleared...
...But it turned out worse than even the skeptics expected...
...Rule i-i, the very holy writ of golf, says the game consists of "playing a ball from the teeing ground into the hole by a stroke or successive strokes in accordance with the Rules...
...Jones set a standard of honor that still exists in the world of profes sional golf...
...The rush didn't scan to hurt him on the first tee...
...Fiiially, the presidential 'I'itleist was seen soaring in the air, to plop safely our the green...
...After a while, those waiting to play gave up hope...
...Rule 2-4 in the Rules of Golf states: `concession of a stroke...
...44 September 1996 • The American Spectator Of course Bush got off easy compared to Dan Quayle, who had the unenviable distinction of being the best golfer ever to hold a top office...
...And this was big news to the Brit Humes of the world who said, `You mean these scores aren't right...
...It was such a sensitive issue that the only public round of golf played by Clinton during the campaign was a game of miniature golf with Gore during the bus tour of July 1992...
...And if he took any, how could his score be counted...
...Everybody wants me to say he lied and he cheated, but I can't help you with that," Cavanaugh says...
...What kind of man would do that...
...Hit the cart path...
...And, judging by his recollections, along with those of other witnesses, it appears that Clin ton's landmark round was one of loose rules and looser scoring...
...The pros miss two-footers," says Keating...
...Ibday, neither SheIia Lawrence nor two of lie president's partners will say much about the round...
...Here, a sorry scene unfolded...
...I was having a good time," the president told the press, before adding a self-effacing grace note: "Even a blind pig finds an acorn sometimes...
...It has been widely reported that the president plays with more clubs than are allowed under the rules...
...Par Excellence: The President Breaks 80" was the Washington Post headline...
...The incident never made it into the papers...
...Then there was Clinton's well-known practice of carrying too many clubs in his bag...
...The clarification should have raised the eyebrows of anyone with the slightest knowledge of golf-or Clinton's conduct on the course...
...Jordan serves as the president's entree to the club...
...In match play, the total score doesn't count...
...The issue deserves a closer look, because Clinton's golf game gives us another way to understand the president himself...
...But many golfers-even weekend golfers-take the game seriously enough to make sure they play by the rules and record an honest score...
...Because to speak out, says Michael Keating of the Washington Golf Monthly, "you've got to call the guy a liar, in effect...
...and "Nooooo...
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...are well-known features of his game...
...191:1 b:: 191)5, Thompson & Co., Inc...
...But those who prefer to trust an FBI agent selected during the Bush years to run one of our nation's most sensitive security operations - at a time when a spotless record like his was still a condition of employment in the White House - should judge Unlimited Access for themselves...
...The Democrabc National Committee aired ads contrasting Bush at play on the golf course with long lines of unemployed Americans...
...That's like in baseball, if, after your first strike, you take a little batting practice before your next one," says Michael Keating, a 4-handicap golfer and publisher of the Washington Golf Monthly magazine...
...One answer can be found at the Robert Trent Jones Golf Club near Manassas, Virginia, about a 45-minute drive from Washington...
...Clinton played at RTJ several times during his first year in office...
...Vernon was told that [Clinton] was going to have to play by the rules that any other member would play by," the first member says...
...Reporters found out that in March 199z the candidate played a round at the Country Club of Little Rock, an all-white club whose members included Webb Hubbell, Vince Foster, Mack McLarty, and William Kennedy...
...His score, on this day, was legit...
...There was nothing unusual on the 359-yard par 416th, but Yarbrough says he saw the president hit a second ball from the fairway on Number 17, a 411-yard par 4. Yarbrough says Clinton played his Original ball - but Rule 7-2 still applies...
...NO FREEBIES, NO SECOND DRIVES, NO NOTHIN...
...Like the Country Club of Little Rock, Orinda had no black members until recent years...
...It happened at the Coronado Golf Course, a public course beautifully situated along the shores of San Diego Bay...
...And after the president addressed the NAACP in July, he headed straight for the Tournament Players Club near Charlotte-another top-dollar course...
...Cynical reporters, myself included, have suspected that the president takes more than his share of these re-hits...
...Pro-arcs are always about bad golf," says Geoff Russell, who covered the round for Golf World magazine, "but this was kind of corn [cal...
...40 September r 9 9 6 ' The American Spectator Impact your family . 61 1I 11 h Christian American magazine gives you vital news and information on public policy and social issues integrated with Biblical perspectivˆ In addition to six information-packet issues, you'll receive scorecards and legislative alerts to keep you up to date and informed about what your representatives are doing in Washington...
...the president waved disgustedly at his ball and went off to contemplate his failure, alone, in his golf cart, as nearby aides and Secret Service agents concentrated intensely on the ground and sky...
...She is the widow of M. Larry I .awrence, a wealthy real estate developer who owned the nearby Hotel Del Coronado and contributed more than $150,000 to Democ ratic campaigns in 1992-and was repaid by Cl inton with an appointment as ambassador to Switzerland (he died in 1995...
...to: Christian Coalition, P.O...
...it charges $725 for one round of golf, Meanwhile, the kind of bad news that would have plagued George Bush on the golf course seems to have little effect on Clinton's standing...
...His putt for an eagle stopped about a foot and a half from the cup, leaving hire that remaining short putt for a birdie...
...Witnesses say Clinton played his standard game-hitting a shot and then dropping another ball and then perhaps another for practice shots...
...Caplan, when asked what went on during the round, said ,iinply, "I'll pass...
...He checked it out, got in touch with tournament officials, and disqualified himself...
...But Cavanaugh also says that "we never really thought all that much about the score...
...Americans arc forced to ask, what is it about Unlimited Access that so frightens the Clintons...
...On the next-to-last hole, Clinton hit a putt so hard it not only ran past the cup but appeared to be headed well off the green when defending champion Scott Hoch used a club to stop it...
...B st it seems more likely that Nicklaus, in the great tradition of golf pros playing with presidents, was being overly diplomatic and generous...
...Clinton routinely carries as many as 19...
...I YESI Please rush me copies of Unlimited Access...
...By Byron York The American Spectator - September 19 9 6 39 What's wrong with that...
...According to the accounts of eyewitnesses, Clinton stretched and broke the rules of golf throughout the day, making his claim of 79 no more reliable than the earlier boast of 78...
...But, Yarbrough says, "[Clinton] went up and putted it and missed it...
...Both Michael Cavanaugh and another witness say the president flubbed a chip shot near the first green and then dropped another ball to practice the stroke...
...Afterward, Clinton reported with great delight that he had on two holes out-driven Nicklaus, who in his prime was one of the game's longest hitters and can still drive the ball a long way...
...Handmade m Honduras of select Cuban-seed tobaccos, non-Cuban ExcaUburs are preferred by those uncompromising leaders of men .00 ' who strive for woe...
...Last year, he accepted an invitation to join former presidents George Bush and Gerald Ford at the annual Bob Hope Classic golf tournament in Indian Wells, California.'I' he event, known as a "pro-am" on the golf circuit, was not supposed to be a serious game...
...There was a question about the last hole...
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...It appears that the question on the '8th became public only because there were more witnesses near the final green, which is located by the clubhouse...
...What's more, the i8th was likely not the only gimme putt in the round that Clinton claimed involved "no freebies...
...I was driving in Los Angeles with a friend and his 8-year-old daughter, and when we passed a golf course she said 'Look daddy, that's where President Bush works.' I got the message...
...He reports that on the nth tee the President's valet, a man known as Lito, "appeared with five colorful and mysterious looking pills that looked a lot like George Jetson's dinner...
...40 0 2 yrs...
...RTJ is a golf club, not a country club...
...Unlike George Bush, however, he's not been offered an honorary membership...
...They observe the rules and enjoy the game...
...Certainly Republicans have paid a high political price for their devotion to the game...
...BYRON YORK is an investigative writer for The American Spectator...
...Reilly wrote that he had heard Clinton's 13 handicap was "phonier than Cheez Whiz and that he would probably go out and shoot himself a radio station-a Magic 102 or Zoo 105...
...Not only did the president's party bump all the other golfers...
...There is no official scorecard of Clinton's round at the Hope event, because the tournament involved teams, and not every player completed every hole...
...And not just by junior staffers How Clinton lawyers made thorough back ground checks all but impossible, and ensured that even the most damning findings were ignored Our nation's top secrets: handled by staffers without security clearances • What Craig Livingstone told Aldrich about Vince Foster's motive for suicide (Livingstone has = denied Aldrich's account) • Theft by personnel a "major problem" in the White House • New White House phone system so that Bill Clinton and his aides could make private calls without going through the switchboard...
...Sure enough, the "mulligan question" came up on the first tee...
...Clinton appeared to be shaving the score a bit even when it didn't count...
...Those who implicitly trust Bill and Hillary Clinton and their aides may wish to take their word that Unlimited Access should be suppressed and that Gary Aldrich be silenced...
...And if the president tells you to pick up a 5-footer for par, what's a guy to do...
...He promised not to return until the club had a black member-which hadn't stopped him from playing there dozens of times before running for president...
...One might think that their stories would produce an accurate picture of Clinton on the links-but both accounts seem instead to fudge the issues...
...He hit a ball into the water on the 17th hole...
...Bellowing is the way I would describe it," says a fourth member...
...As the round progressed, Clinton's game improved slightly, but the event seemed to dissolve into chaos...
...That's a fact...
...Not true...
...A player is also expected to observe the etiquette of the game...
...Every body just left," says the second member...
...Lying seven...
...Why would a healthy 48-year old man have to take five big vitamin pills in the middle of the day under doctor's orders...
...1 Check r.r money order payable to Regnery publishing enclosed car 1 Charge my: U VISA U MasterCard U American Express 1 1 I I I 1 I REGNERY I 1 State Zip AS-AID PUBLISHING, INC...
...There is a gut part of that book which clearly is correct, and that is that for months and months people that were hired to go to the White House declined to go to FBI interviews in order to get permanent passes...
...It's fair to say that in the eyes of a number of members [the wedding round] was the end of his welcome," the member continues...
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...Many newspapers reported Clinton's statement, but few looked into the story behind the round...
...The regular guys who play touch football and miniature golf have been failed by Bush and Quayle," Gore said...
...Things got so bad that Richard Nixon-a former vice president and a golfer, too-reportedly told Quayle to stay off the fairways...
...The day did not endear the president to his fellow golfers...
...they then proceeded to play an extra ordinarily slow round that caused a major backup among those in line to get on the course...
...Next, the issue of extra shots...
...Open in a playoff...
...And the putts could be rather lengthy...
...Thanks, but not on your life," Clinton reportedly replied...
...As favorable as it is, Nichols's account pales in comparison with that of the other reporter allowed to play with Clinton, Rick Reilly of Sports Illustrated magazine...
...Clinton told reporters he had achieved a life-long goal: he broke 8o for a round of golf...
...Fifty-five percent of those who responded to a recent NBC-Wall Street Journal poll said they believe Clinton is lying about Whitewater and his finances...
...Members pay $6o,ooo to join-if they're lucky enough to be invited...
...For a better picture, read the account of Boston Globe writer John Aloysius Farrell...
...Only one magazine gives you all this and a connection to Christian Coalition's nationwide grassroots campaign to give people of faith a voice in government...
...The president's brother-inlaw Tony Rodham was set to marry fiancee Nicole (daughter of Barbara) Boxer in the Rose Garden at 6:oo p.m...
...Courvitz declined to discuss any details of the game, except to say, "He did shoot 78...
...George Stephanopoulos N «<r before has a presidential Administration gone to such extremes to suppress a book - and to silence its author...
...Gaddyshack should have had a Bill Clinton character in it...
...One can understand him lying about welfare reform, for that matter...
...Whv the massive effort to bury this book...
...Without Favor-Or Mulligans," said the Memphis Commercial Appeal...
...is this phone tapped...
...far $15.00...
...Date Signature Phone 0 Name Address Now in bookstores...
...The membership includes IBM chairman Louis Gerstner, Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O'Connor, and former White House officials John Sununu, Samuel Skinner, and Richard Allen...
...As on Saturday, when skying his drive at a photo-op, the president hit under his ball, yanking it left...
...My handicap would he two strokes lower if I could get concessions...
...Make informed choices...
...Michael Cavanaugh also says the president "did hit a couple of balls at a couple of times," but says Clinton always played his original shot...
...PLAYING POLITICS So Bill Clinton cheats on the golf course and the press doesn't call him on it...
...None of this was lost on Bill Clinton...
...That morning the president and the other male members of the wedding group-Tony Rodham, brother Hugh Rodham, Stewart Boxer, husband of the California senator, Doug Boxer, her brother, and Dick Kelley, widower of the president's mother-decided to spend the pre-wedding hours on the golf course...
...Maybe he hadn't shot 78, Clinton said...
...But things got worse...
...2Reilly's piece contains a description of one odd incident that might deserve further attention...
...h Clinton character in it...
...Reil ly wrote that the president never invoked the "Executive Privilege Redo or even the Presidential Override...
...Clinton made what was fur him an arresting claim: he didn't cheat...
...Unlike the rest of the round, other witnesses saw the president play the 47o-yard par 5 final hole, and he finished in questionable fashion...
...When the OK finally came, Reilly was too excited to sleep...
...In short, the president did not break 8o...
...So it is all the more perplexing that-knowing how widely his words are reported-he claims to break 8o when he didn't...
...But the president said I could have a 1st-tee mulligan, which, as we all know, is provided for under the Constitution," Reilly wrote...
...At that point," Russell says, "the whole thing became an absolute comedy...
...A few answers can be found in the accounts of two reporters who played relaxed rounds with the president, away from the distracting galleries of the Hope tournament and the severe restrictions imposed on the White House press corps...
...Caplan's comments, plus the descriptions of other eyewitnesses, make it impossible to conclude that Clinton shot 78, or even 79...
...CPCal) Please send me: 0 3 yes...
...MORTON KONDRACKE "The McLaughlin Group" (61291961 Even staunch Clinton apologist Eleanor Clift of Newsweek conceded Aldrich's central charge by admitting on "Larry King Live" [July 1) that "there were hundreds of aides who didn't get their security clearances...
...But that night, he took another Iook at the rules and concluded he might have dropped his ball in the wrong place...
...The White House dismissed the Chronicle story, saying Clinton's stand on affirmative action proves he is on the right side of the issue...
...Clinton then began playing at the newer-and integratedChenal Country Club outside Little Rock...
...I think he had a legitimate round of golf...
...Consider an episode from Clinton's August rqg 3 vacation...
...He does grant other players rather long putts," Nichols wrote...
...There's no pool for the kids or tennis courts for non-golfers...
...if true, that would have been the best round of Clinton's life...
...514.95' -Suggested donation J My check or money order for S is enclosed (payable to Christian Coalition...
...What happened to the Aldrich menace...
...He then tapped in for a par five...
...Box 2723, Chesapeake VA 23327...
...Bush] is always making comments from a golf cart," pollster Stanley Greenberg said, "or up in Maine, riding around in his powerboat doing country club things while average folks are getting pretty damn scared about the economy...
...Just watch him on the golf course...
...r HACKER UNDER WRAPS The Coronado round illustrates a vexing problem facing anyone who tries to leans about Bill Clinton's golf game: the source of most information is Bill Clinton himself...
...Members-even those who don't like Clinton's politics-called it an honor to have the president play at their club...
...And it caused him some trouble when he stumbled into the age-old trap of playing at an all-white country club...
...A guy like [Sports Illustrated managing editor Mark Mulvoy, who also played in the foursome] does not normally give downhill, sidehill six-footers to an opponent," Reilly added, "but I'm sure he wasn't eager to get audited for the next zo years, either...
...In other words, Clinton takes the putts...
...One of those involved in the pressure campaign, reveals Barnes, was chief White House press spokesman Mike McCurry, who "made clear there would be consequences if ABC didn't go along...
...No freebies," he said, "No second drives...
...Those partners often include the president's White House underlings, who understandably praise his skills on the course, or big-money Democratic contributors who have no inclination to talk, or others who simply have no desire to embarrass the president, regardless of what claims he makes for his golf game...
...he said...
...Go back to the summer of x990...
...Similarly, the press worked itself into a frenzy over a number of fires at black churches, a phenomenon purportedly representative of a growing racial gulf in the United States...
...He would not have been in the playoff had lie not penalized himself one stroke for accidentally moving his ball a fraction of an inch in an incident no one else saw...
...Barring some unforeseen and near-miraculous improvement in the president's game elsewhere on the course, it is extreme ly difficult to believe Clinton shot an 8o...
...No nothin...
...And again...
...A question remains: why aren't they being tougher on Clinton for playing golf at all...
...Does Bill Clinton play by the rules or not...
...This was a new generation, some of them did have a drug history, and they were lax about getting that thoroughly reported...
...Three years ago, a Little Rock source told Golf Magazine, "He just takes one 'practice shot' after another, and with all these balls flying around, Clinton has a habit of forgetting a shot or two...
...And so forth...
...Few people noticed much about Clinton's game on the first hole because Bush beaned a woman in the crowd, opening a cut that required ten stitches to close...
...If you want to learn about Bill Clinton's character problem, you don't have to subpoena Whitewater documents...
...during the play of a hole...
...San Francisco Chronicle columnist Herb Caen told the story of a California man who met candidate Bill Clinton in December 1991...
...By that time, however, according to Russell, "it was no longer a round of golf for the president...
...We played it out," Caplan said...
...I don't have any comment on what he shot...
...As it does with the rules, the USGA prescribes a series of practices intended to ensure safety, consideration of other players, a reasonable pace of play, and care of the course...
...A critic might say the way the president plays golf mirrors the way he plays politics: a shaded truth here, a misunderstanding there, the occasional whopper somewhere else...
...It was a big slice," Russell says...
...He looks to be a bit over the 14club limit," Nichols wrote, "But who counts...
...I think there were a few conceded putts and so forth, but basically we played it through...
...And even though he would not discuss the game with TAS, Robert Caplan did briefly describe it to the San Diego Union-Tribune, which reported that "few rules were bent" during the round...
...Putting aside his trust The American Spectator • S e p t e rn b e r r g 9 6 43 worthiness in reporting his score, one might ask how well Clinton observes the manners of the game...
...The press is rarely 'There was likely one other piles violation in Clinton's round...
...On the next hole Clinton's drive went far to the right, sailing over a fence that ran alongside the fairway and landing in a parking lot...
...But Cavanaugh did agree to a brief interview, and, like Courvitz, he says the president's score was accurate...
...Clinton couldn't get away with claiming a birdie...
...And afterwards, writes Barnes, Aldrich became persona non grata in the mainstream media...
...Box 39 s Federalsburg, MD 21632-0039...
...The extra shots Clinton hits are for practice," Nichols wrote without mentioning Rule 7-x...
...Perhaps Ron Yarbrough said it the best...
...Nichols seemed well aware of Clinton's reputation as a cheater, because he devoted a portion of his story to "the mulligan question...
...I mean jack Ruby, for god sakes, could walk into the White House, get a job, and shoot the president under these circumstances...
...There was...
...Nichols does not say whether Clinton himself accepts the gimmes, but it would be surprising if the presidential generosity was not returned by his partners...
...Scoring- honest or otherwise-isn't everything in golf...
...A look at the president's golf habits reveals that he has little regard for the rules of the game or telling the truth about his score...
...The president headed to Colorado, where he played two rounds with former president Gerald Ford and golf legend lack Nicklaus...
...the Liil.tilungton Post reported the president was "nearly bouncing off the bulkhead of Air Force One as he bragged to reporters about his game...
...The penalty for breaking Rule 7-2 is two strokes...
...It was the only place we had time to play...
...The highlight of Clinton's game was something that didn't happen: he managed to avoid hitting any spectators (Bush hit two and Ford hit one...
...Later, when questions were raised about the events on the '8th green, he changed his score to a five, for a total of 79...
...Of course, a casual round of golf between friends is not the U.S...
...It was kind of a sky-pull," says Yarbrough, meaning it flew high in the air and headed far to the left...
...The flip side of such high-minded behavior is the casual disregard for the rules that occurs at country clubs and public courses across the country: mulligans, improved lies, gimme putts, and a variety of other types of cheating...
...On some of the previous 17 holes, according to Michael Cavanaugh, "there were putts conceded to everybody...
...thus, beyond the security agents who always accompany the president, the only witnesses are usually his partners...
...TO TELL THE TRUTH In 1975, the great golfer Bobby Jones lost the U.S...
...Both CNN's `Larry King Live' and NBC's 'Dateline' canceled plans to interview Aldrich...
...Rather, most reporters seem to adopt an air of benevolent indulgence for their golfing president's passion for the links-a passion shared by many of their fellow baby boomers...
...But %tiasn't tale l)utI ,I ~ irtual tap in, a short oTie the prc-sIderit would most likely have made...
...Take the events of May z8, 1994...
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...Quayle's image, one Washington Post reporter wrote with considerable understatement, "is not improved by the fact that he seems perpetually to be playing golf...
...Still, Clinton's golf claims were difficult to believe after seeing him play...
...In response to inquiries from TAS, Lawrence issued a written statement that read, "Since this was understood by all to be a pria ate and purely social time, which presidents are allowed far too infrequently, further comments would be inappropriate...
...He hit a perfect drive," says Yarbrough...
...Start with the first hole, a 368-yard par 4. According to Ron Yarbrough, Coronado's pro who witnessed the start and finish of the round, Clinton arrived in a hurry and did not hit any practice balls on the driving range...
...Clinton's restraint did not extend to conceded putts...
...And Orinda still forces women to accept less desirable tee times than men...
...He dropped another ball in a designated area and proceeded to hit his next shot right into the hole for an amazing par...
...on the ride to California aboard Air Force One, he said he was a i3-handicap-and said the last time he played lie shot 8o...
...Use the envelope at the center of this magazine or call 900.455.9900 it you would rather charge by phone...
...Commended for the honesty of his actions, Jones demurred...
...A guy asked me to play nine holes of golf," he told the New York Times...
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...They...
...Beyond the discrimination, there is the sheer richness of Clinton's golf tastes...
...Instead of wrapping himself in pig rinds, now George Bush is on the golf course," Democratic congresswoman Pat Schroeder hooted...
...We killed it," boasts Stephanopoulos...
...THE PERFECT PARD It is important to point out that the issue here is not bad golf...
...Clinton then pulled out another ball and hit another drive-with identical results...
...Compared to that, Clinton's behavior on the golf course might seem insignificant...
...The president looked at them as if they would have to be inserted somewhere other than orally...
...Prez Finds I Iis Acorn: A 79 on the Golf Links," the Tacoma News-Tribune announced...
...Counting every stroke is the only way a golfer can legitimately claim to have shot a certain score-for exam ple, a 78...
...Still nervous, Reilly sliced his drive out of bounds...
...And, by the way, Reilly counted 18 clubs in the president's bag...
...Honestly, now, do you feel any security in knowing that the leader of your country has to take this many pills?' We all laughed, except the doctor, who hollered, 'just take them!' He did...
...Please activate my subscription to Christian American...
...He behaves badly on occasion and they don't call him on that, either...
...by all accounts he loves to talk about it, plays whenever he can, and is constantly trying to improve his skills...
...Indeed, Clinton stayed away for a while, returning only recently for another round of golf...
...The man invited Clinton to play a round of golf...
...Not that he was above taking a putt now and again when it didn't matter to the bet," Reilly wrote, "but only after everybody from me to the caddies to the press aide had practically sprained a larynx trying to be the first to give it to him...
...Clinton swung again, to no apparent improvement...
...In their world, I guess, the golf course is the place where a lot of business gets done...
...At that point," Russell recalls, "I thought to myself, 'He's probably not a r3...
...Newspapers all around the country reported the president's breakthrough round...
...The issue is honesty...
...And while he was holding up play, the president was also a pretty loud presence on the fairways...
...1 remember when he said he shot 93 a couple of golf writers said, 'No, he shot 95,"' Russell says...
...And the remarkable thing is the heavy-handed pressure may have paid off...
...The club is perhaps the most exclusive in the Washington area...
...Box 31274 • Tam rax . appropnare cp~nty [ax] ONE ORDER PER COSTOMEF...
...In the end, Reilly reports, Clinton had a good chance to break 8o for the round, but eventually carded an 82...
...There is oily one way to play the game," he said...
...Allowed to ride with the president to Congressional Country Club in suburban Maryland, Reilly confessed to more than a little skepticism about Clinton's game...
...No one would object if he played as an ordinary citizen, one hole at a time---and one ball at a time," says a third RI'J member...
...Cost to taxpayers: $27 million • Unreported melee at a White House Fourth of July party • How the Clintons "fixed" employee hours to deny low-level staffers health insurance - even as Hillary ran her nationalized health-care task force Whom do Kau trust...
...There's more to this story - much more A sampling of Agent Aldrich's other charges that the White House has declined to answer, or the media to report: Recent drug use by White House aides: not confined to minor drugs like marijuana...
...Alter the first tee, Ron Yarbrough did not see any more of the president's game until a few hours later, when he joined the group for the remainder of the round...
...Not since the Nixon Administration tried unsuccessfully to block publication of the Pentagon Papers twentyfive years ago has a White House leaned so aggressively on the media to alter a news decision...
...Pisces ce.plete the Imlsrmatios lo rai aed return thIs reply card, along with your donation...
...they are conceded-and accepted-because the golfer knows and fears that he might miss...
...Rule 4-4 states that a player may carry no more than 14 clubs...
...And it has stayed away, even though as president, Clinton plays at ultra-exclusive -and expensive - clubs...
...But Clinton continued to get in a game of real golf now and then -away from the eyes of the press...
...It might have been a 79, depending on how one interpreted the rules of golf...
...In stroke play you have to hole out...
...USA Today reporter Bill Nichols was summoned for nine holes with the president in August 1995 during Clinton's golf-intensive vacation in Jackson Hole, Wyoming...
...Then something odd happened...
...But to cheat on the golf course and then lie about it-now that's really low...
...I have enclosed I 524.95 per book and 54 per order for shipping and handling...
...The American Spectator • September 1996 45 not have done it...
...X Rnierira's (tides[.NNii Order Cigar Ct inn ruy...
...What about other second shots...
...It may be difficult for many golfers to admit, but the problem with gimmes is that they are conceded not because they are so easy that sinking them would be a mere formality...
...Editorialists had a field day criticizing him for playing through the crisis...
...Clinton carded a triple bogey...
...And Clinton is off playing at some exclusive golf course...
...Then the to back sident began k. There was a bout the lost hole o. Maybe he 8, he said...
...Clinton chose to play his original drive, but nonetheless it appears that he abandoned his "no second drives" claim on the very first tee...
...Clinton got a free drop off the cart path, then yanked a mid-iron into the portsidc sand trap...
...After the round, eager members of the White House press rs s time, f record was pea red to be shaving the score a bit even when it didn't count...
...But it didn't seem to matter...
...In stroke play-the type of competition seen in most tournaments-golfers count their total strokes and the lowest score wins...
...Bill Clinton appears to take the game seriously...
...In the evening it was off to Los Angeles...
...The tournament's first prize, which was well within Sluman's reach, was $216,ooo...
...And why doesn't he receive more criticism for it...
...I should 4 F tIt -:r George Bush is on the golf course," Democratic Rep...
...And, judging by the reports of others familiar with the president's game, the Coronado round was no different from any other time Clinton steps on a course...
...But the bigger reason is that most people already regard Clinton as a Iiar...
...Many people in a position to know-Clinton's golf partners, for example-don't want to do that...
...THE SWEET SMELL OF SUCCESS 8 HOMO DE MONTERREY EXCAUBUR #5 Created for ex Havana smokers, the 6'11" x 45 ring Excallbur, is still considered by knowledgeable smokers to be the epitome of cigar smoking pleasure...
...Clinton's cries of "Whoa mama...
...The witness, when asked about Clinton's claim that he shot an even-par 36 on the front nine, responded, "Hmmm...
...Then to conceded putts...
...There has been one occasion on which Clinton played a round of golf that was com pletely public...
...The president began to backtrack...
...As The Washington Post reported on July 1, the "campaign" to silence Agent Aldrich "seemed to be bearing fruit yesterday...
...42 September 1996 • The American Spectator corps wanted to know the president's score-even though he was part of a team and not playing individually...
...Rule 3-2 says that if a golfer "fails to hole out at any hole...
...Open, and the average duffer is not Bobby Jones...
...Nicklaus said Clinton shot well over roo on the first day of golf, but "the second day, he only had two mulligans all day and shot 8o...
...And the way the press reports Clinton's golf outings-not to mention its coverage of the very fact that he plays golf at all, given the crit B i 11's The way he plays golf tells than any special prosecutor 38 September 1996 • The Arerican Spectator Bad Li icism heaped on Republicans for their love of the game-mirrors the indulgence Clinton has enjoyed in so much coverage of his political life...
...When Bush went back to Maine the next summer, with the presidential campaign beginning, the scorn was relentless...
...Ending his account of nine holes with the president, Nichols concludes that Clinton is "a loyal partner, a great storyteller and an unflaggingly encouraging fellow student of a game about which he is more good-humored than most...
...In addition to breaking Rule 7-2, such behavior is a breach of golf etiquette that grates on golfers from swanky country clubs to dirt-brown municipal courses...
...Clinton visited the site of one of the fires, but only after getting in his much-reported round at Coronado the day before...
...04 0 ne can understand his lying about Whitewater, ,*relfare reform-but to cheat on the golf course...
...Or call 1-800-955-5493...
...The gallery groaned as a wave of sand exploded from the bunker: sans hall...
...in 1994 it hosted the first President's Cup competition, and in September it will host the second, featuring a team of American golfers including Corey Pavin, Fred Couples, and Phil Mickelson going up against a team of world golfers including Greg Norman, Nick Price, and Ernie Els...
...Would he only be cheating if he took "more than his share...
...When asked hem- the president's party settled on the score, he replied, `That's bet-icc]I tlICIII...
...may not he declined or withdrawn,"' the paper wrote...
...And, while he has abandoned playing at all-white clubs, he has enthusiastically taken to playing at nearly all-white clubs...
...Pat Schroeder hooted...
...28' J 1 yr...
...Still, by evening news time, the number of record was 93...
...The issue went away...
...It did indeed...
...According to Fred Barnes in The Weekly Standard []uly 22), when Unlimited Access hit bookstores three weeks ago, the Administration dispatched no fewer than seven top aides to pressure ABC News to cancel an interview with the book's author, former FBI agent Gary Aldrich...
...And even the public courses he plays are pretty pricey...
...In true incumbent style, he promised more federal money for public works projects in the city, as well as more firefighters to extinguish the brush fires plaguing the area around San Diego...
...Russell remembers seeing the aged Bob Hope, who has difficulty seeing very far down the fairway, lining up a shot that might have nailed the president, only to have security agents notice and stop Hope's swing...
...Take the Orinda Country Club near San Francisco...
...Clinton l played his ball where it lay, in flufFy sand nn an uphill lie, close to the lip...
...The game, Gore claimed, proved that the Democrats knew the country's mood...
...The doctor said they were vitamins...
...After ironing my shirt three times and my pants twice, laying my socks in my shoes two different ways, not sleeping, putting in the room at 3 a.m., ordering room service at 6:oi and then actually ironing my sweater, I finally arrived at the White House at quarter to eight," he wrote...
...it was a political appearance...
...Cartoonists, editorial writers, and comedians all had a field day working over the vice president for his rich boy's pursuit...
...Of course, there was that one mulligan and an undetermined number of gimme putts-some of which may have been quite difficult and easily missed had the president actually putted them...
...The poor are getting poorer while the rich are getting richer...
...He got more of the message from his own pollsters...
...But in between, something extraordin irv took place...
...a S U B S C R I B E TODAY...
...Clinton did comparatively well, getting off a decent drive before hitting a few had shots and scoring a triple bogey seven...
...That's just not golf...
...He reported that the president shot an 81-40 on the front nine and 41 on the back nine, which Nichols witnessed...
...Visit our Internet site at eww.cc.org Name Address City J Please charge $ to my: J visa J Mastercard Card a (spires ' Cardholders signature Daytime phone t I L if, State ZIP a l+rfrlnq allowed to see him between the first tee and last green, and when Clin ton plays at exclusive private clubs, as he often does, they're not allowed to see him play at all...
...Or you may order directly from the publisher by using the coupon below or by calling 1-800-955-5493...
...And in stroke play, putts cannot be conceded...
...And again...
...And one more thing...
...I miss two-footers...
...And besides, a hard-working president like Bill Clinton needs to get away sometime, doesn't he...
...The answer is as straightforward as the author himself: his expose of the Clintons' deliberate subversion of the White House security systemwhich even Aldrich's most vociferous critics admit cannot he denied...
...But Nichols stopped there, leaving the reader to wonder just what he meant...
...Taking leave from the press pack, which had been kept far away from the course, Farrell sneaked around to a fairway to get a better look at the game: The fourth hole at Vail Valley afforded the best opportunity on which to spy: a short, 35o-yard par 4 with a slight dogleg right and a small green protected by sand traps on either side...
...For example, the president played California's famed Pebble Beach golf course twice last September...
...For example, the New York Times reported in a front page article in June that income inequality is greater than it has ever been at any time in American history...
...If your bookstore is out, ask them to reserve a copy specifically for you...
...Media skeptics convinced...
...Iraq invaded Kuwait, and some of the first reactions fromn George Bush came as he spoke from a golf cart while on vacation in Maine...
...Then Clinton, Bush, and Ford all hit at the same time, sending a barrage of presidential golf balls screaming toward the green...
...Clinton said 93...
...In the June 12,1995 issue, Reilly wrote of a long-standing request to play golf with the president...
...As Clinton approached the short putt, according to Yarbrough, one of his fellow golfers said, "That's good," conceding the putt to the president...
...urged a friendly Ford, hoping the president might at ]cast profit from a healthy bounce...
...Ow ww-w...
...But for lovers of the game-and there are millions-the truth might be just the opposite...
...golf is the game of rich, country club Republicans who are out of touch with issues important to ordinary Americans...
...It never at any point was over the golf course...
...Although it was a tacit admission that he has indulged in such sins in the past, the statement was apparently intended to reassure listeners aboard Air Force One that this time he was telling the truth...
...SAM DONALDSON "This Week with David Brinkley" (6130196) "There's something really, really serious about this...
...You might as well praise a man for not robbing a bank...
...The average guy is not on the golf course, the tennis court or a speedboat because he doesn't have one," Nixon wrote in a private letter to Quayle before the 1992 election...
...The rules are for anybody who wants to play," says John Morrissett of the USGA...
...Even with more than 200,000 copies in print, many bookstores can't keep it in stock...
...46 September 1996 • The American Spectator The book the Clinton White House doesn't want you to read "'We killed it...
...But, unlike Bush, who plays fast and doesn't make many claims about his score, and Ford, who is beyond embarrassment on the course, Clinton told reporters he was a reasonably good golfer...
...Also belonging is Vernon Jordan, a close friend of Clinton's and one of his frequent golf partners...
...All the country clubs he frequents are out of reach for the vast majority of Americans...
...And members are expected to be serious about the game...
...Obviously not...
...r..,+,ra+sr,n+sg•.mpw?r P.O...
...you more about his character ever will...
...Yet despite the White House's attempt to ban the very mei'.tion of this book from the airwaves, the American public has made Unlimited Access a runaway nationwide bestseller...
...Sixty percent of respondents in a Newsweek poll said he's lying about Filegate...
...Most golfers would be happy with a long, straight tee shot that lands in the fairway, but Clinton immediately hit another ball...
...Millions of Americans regularly shoot scores in the 9o's and even loo's...
...Clinton played there during a campaign stop in March of this year...
...Fred Barnes comments: Though you'd hardly know it from the press cover age, this was an unprecedented effort by the White House - any White House - to exert pressure on a news organization to keep a critic of the president off television...
...A few conceded putts...
Vol. 29 • September 1996 • No. 9
