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President Obama's golf weekend: Lesson with the Harmons and plays golf with Tiger - Page 2

post #19 of 58
2/17/13 at 4:20pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by phan52 View Post

Anybody who thinks Harmon should miss a chance to teach and play with the POTUS are being ridiculous. Politics have nothing to do with it. He's the POTUS, for Christ's sake.

Tim Rosaforte just said that Tiger aced a 378 yard par 4 while playing with the Prez today.
Sorry. He said he hit his drive on the green. Still...
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post #20 of 58
2/17/13 at 11:14pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by David in FL View Post

 

I'm actually not sure about this one.

 

There's no doubt that Obama is extremely polarizing.  I'd expect that most wealthier golfers, the type that could afford the Harmons in the first place, will tend to lean more towards the conservative side.  Is it possible that this could drive more clients away than it attracts?  Not that the Harmons are concerned one way or another.....I think they do ok for themselves!

 

You have a point. Reasonable people have left the building.

 

And since a lot of us put up with Bush II for 8 years and showed respect or silence, the other side can put up with Obama for 8 years and show

respect or silence.

 

In the long run, the Harmons will be remembered for teaching the President ... and when he leaves office, the memories soften.

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post #21 of 58
2/17/13 at 11:40pm

Heh, all politics aside... Obama is a pretty awful player.  If I were Obama, I'd put Butch Harmon on staff full time at the WH.

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post #22 of 58
2/18/13 at 1:56am

http://www.geoffshackelford.com/homepage/2013/2/17/ny-times-white-house-reporter-according-to-accounts-from-mr.html

 

Quote:
Mr. Obama arrived for Sunday’s game well-practiced and primed for 36 holes, according to accounts from Mr. Rosaforte, who emerged as the best source of information. While the small pool of White House reporters and photographers remained out of sight, restricted to a bus just inside the resort’s iron gates and reliant on Mr. Earnest for sparse details, Mr. Rosaforte apparently was allowed access to the grounds and the elite group.

“The president loves his golf,” he reported on the Golf Channel after Saturday’s long outing.

Mr. Obama played 18 holes on Saturday, broke for lunch and then went straight to a driving range for practice with the Harmons, Mr. Rosaforte said. Nine more holes followed, with the team of Mr. Obama and Butch Harmon winning and “taking a couple bucks off” the others, Mr. Rosaforte added, and then Mr. Obama headed to the Harmons’ Learning Center “and beat balls for almost an hour.”

The coaches said they had instructed Mr. Obama on “pretty simple stuff,” Mr. Rosaforte said, like advising the left-handed president on how to better align his right shoulder when he swings.

“The president,” he added, “walked over to say that Butch had given him a couple things to work on — big smile on his face.”

 

 

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/02/18/us/politics/obamas-golfing-weekend-includes-tiger-woods.html?_r=1&

Quote:

On Saturday, the group was joined by top golfing coaches affiliated with the resort: Butch Harmon and his son Claude Harmon III, who according to ;offers to mere mortals a six-hour “total game evaluation” for $1,500 or two-hour group instruction for $225 a player. But the highlight for Mr. Obama had to be on Sunday, when he was joined for a foursome by a former student of Butch Harmon’s: Mr. Woods, once the top-ranked golfer in the world.

 

“Historic day in golf. Their first round,” Tim Rosaforte, a reporter for Golf Digest and Golf World, wrote on his Twitter account.

 

Perhaps Mr. Woods was hoping that by striding onto the course with the president he was taking further steps toward rehabilitation after the revelations in 2009 of infidelities that cost him his marriage, lucrative endorsement contracts and his standing in the game. He and the president had met at the White House during Mr. Obama’s first term, and both indicated that they would like to golf together.

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post #23 of 58
2/18/13 at 7:02am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Mr. Desmond View Post



And since a lot of us put up with Bush II for 8 years and showed respect or silence, the other side can put up with Obama for 8 years and show
respect or silence.

That may be the single funniest post I've ever read on this forum!
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post #24 of 58
2/18/13 at 8:19am
Quote:
Originally Posted by David in FL View Post


That may be the single funniest post I've ever read on this forum!

And your comment shows the sad state of political discourse in this country. 

 

It's all about mocking someone else.

 

(Applause)

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post #25 of 58
2/18/13 at 8:32am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Mr. Desmond View Post

And your comment shows the sad state of political discourse in this country. 

It's all about mocking someone else.

(Applause)

Some comments are so ridiculous, that they deserve to be mocked.

Sorry all. Back on topic.....
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post #26 of 58
2/18/13 at 8:53am

Well, I'm a Bush and Obama hater.........  

 

But if you think that Liberals sat and were quiet for the 8 years Bush was President, you show your prejudice.  They attacked old G.W. every chance they got, and twisted facts and numbers just like the Neo-Conservatives do to Obama now.  

 

It just didn't bother you back then because you were more inclined to agree, so you didn't pay as much attention.  The same way the Neo-Cons don't see how ridiculous half of the crap they say nowadays looks.

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post #27 of 58
2/18/13 at 9:33am
Thread Starter 

How does Rosaforte do it, get the biggest golf scoops? He must have something on someone. Or somethings on someones. e2_whistling.gif

 

I wonder if they video'd his swing. How cool is that, as an instructor, to have a couple of files on your drive titled POTUS-fo, POTUS-dtl?

 

Is it that big a deal that Harmon and Woods played in the same foursome? It's been ~10 years since they've parted and they're both grown adults.

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post #28 of 58
2/18/13 at 9:53am
Quote:
Originally Posted by nevets88 View Post

Is it that big a deal that Harmon and Woods played in the same foursome? It's been ~10 years since they've parted and they're both grown adults.

 

I don't think it's a big deal at all.  Both are professionals.

 

It was speculated that Tiger left Butch because he believed that Butch had taught him as much as Butch could, they weren't progressing any further.......  To some of us, that may seem odd since he was dominating the game during those years, but to a perfectionist, there's always room for improvement and Tiger was looking for that.

 

After the initial encounter and fallout, it's natural for both Butch and Tiger to realize how beneficial each was to the other's career and I'm sure there's no resentment left after all these years.  Haney could be a different story altogether.

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post #29 of 58
2/18/13 at 10:05am
Quote:
Originally Posted by saevel25 View Post

So my question is, is the tax payers flipping the bill for these lessons? 


No, they won't be paying for the lessons.

 

But just like when the POTUS travels anywhere, the taxpayers do pay for the fuel for Air Force One, it's companion aircraft, the transport of the Presidential Motorcade and of course Secret Service protection, but he gets that everywhere he travels.  The real expense for the taxpayer will be the Per-Diem expenses of his entourage.  Hotel Rooms, Food and Incidentals for everyone that must travel with the POTUS is and always has been a pretty large expense.  Even though it's the POTUS holiday/golf lesson/personal trip, it's the entourage's job to be with him, so their expenses must be picked up by We The People.

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post #30 of 58
2/18/13 at 11:00am

This little episode made me realize that Tiger hasn't won a Major while 44 has been in office.  And he's on his second term.  Man, that's a looong time.

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post #31 of 58
2/18/13 at 1:15pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Mr. Desmond View Post

And since a lot of us put up with Bush II for 8 years and showed respect or silence, the other side can put up with Obama for 8 years and show

respect or silence.

 

A lot of people are being quiet about Obama. As someone who doesn't really care, I think people were much harder on Bush (perhaps deservedly so). But this comment of mine ends the political talk in this thread, please. This is a golf thread and I don't want to have to move it to the off topic forum.

 

Quote:
Originally Posted by nevets88 View Post

Is it that big a deal that Harmon and Woods played in the same foursome? It's been ~10 years since they've parted and they're both grown adults.

 

No. They're both adults. They're friendly. I've seen them chatting on the range at events.

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post #32 of 58
2/18/13 at 1:38pm
OT Political Stuff (Click to show)

 

Quote:

And since a lot of us put up with Bush II for 8 years and showed respect or silence, the other side can put up with Obama for 8 years and show

respect or silence.

 

the issue is, that no one showed respect or silence. To say that Bush had it easy is BS. Every late night talk show, saturday night live, liberal news, they all ripped into how incompetent he was. 

 

honestly i think his first term was really good, his second term not so good. Katrina was a big mishap. Other than that, i have no problem with Bush's job. 

 

But the reason people think that one side gets it worse than the other, is because the other side never listens to the other side. I watch both liberal and conservative news, and believe me, both sides hit both sides just as hard. Though Republican's get it more on TV because there are more liberals on TV. While Liberals get hammered more on Radio, because conservatives own the talk radio. So, it depends on what you listen or watch. There is a big bias on all major news networks, depending on how far left or right they fall. 

 

Really if you want good news, Brian Williams is fair. Meet the press is fair as well, though they do bring on some big time idiots, but they bring in idiots from both parties. I'll watch some CNN news, depending on the show. 

 

 

 

 

 

Quote:
No. They're both adults. They're friendly. I've seen them chatting on the range at events.

 

I have no problem with it, i know some people want to make it a big deal, honestly i don't think there were hard feelings about it. Butch has his business, and he can't control Tiger to stay, and he has the right to his opinions on the progress of Tiger's swing through the years, but Tiger had to do what he think was best, and live with the results. 

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post #33 of 58
2/18/13 at 2:01pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by David in FL View Post

There's no doubt that Obama is extremely polarizing.  I'd expect that most wealthier golfers, the type that could afford the Harmons in the first place, will tend to lean more towards the conservative side.  Is it possible that this could drive more clients away than it attracts?  Not that the Harmons are concerned one way or another.....I think they do ok for themselves!

I totally agree!  Before I signed up for Evolvr I made Erik and Mike send me a list of all of their previous clients with their names and occupations.

 

Everybody thinks that your instructor should know something about golf, and perhaps something about communication, and while I agree to some extent, it's really the political leanings of their other clients that helps me decide how good I want to become at golf. a2_wink.gif

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post #34 of 58
2/18/13 at 2:17pm

Harmon "So Prez, what's your biggest problem on the golf course?"

 

Prez:"Well Butch, all my shots keep going TO THE LEFT".

 

Rimshot.

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post #35 of 58
2/18/13 at 2:57pm
Quote:
I'd expect that most wealthier golfers, the type that could afford the Harmons in the first place, will tend to lean more towards the conservative side.  Is it possible that this could drive more clients away than it attracts?  Not that the Harmons are concerned one way or another.....I think they do ok for themselves!

 

Seriously? Your have you ever looked at how much is spent in presidential campaigns, the notion that conservatives are richer that Liberals is total myth. But i doubt Harmon will alienate his customers, i am sure for every person he looses, he can easily get someone to take lessons from him. 

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post #36 of 58
2/18/13 at 3:37pm

Butch has been somewhat outspoken about Tiger and his play since he switch to Haney and now Foley.  If they hadn't cleared the air prior to being in the same foursome I'm guessing it was handled during it at some level. 

Quote:
Originally Posted by Bullitt5339 View Post

 

I don't think it's a big deal at all.  Both are professionals.

 

It was speculated that Tiger left Butch because he believed that Butch had taught him as much as Butch could, they weren't progressing any further.......  To some of us, that may seem odd since he was dominating the game during those years, but to a perfectionist, there's always room for improvement and Tiger was looking for that.

 

After the initial encounter and fallout, it's natural for both Butch and Tiger to realize how beneficial each was to the other's career and I'm sure there's no resentment left after all these years.  Haney could be a different story altogether.

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