ESPN Golf

John Lyberger, the head golf professional at Congressional Country Club in the Washington, D.C., suburbs, has fond memories of the first time the White House called to ask if President Bill Clinton could play a round of golf on a venue that has hosted three major championships and will be the site of the 2011 U.S. Open.

Lyberger played with Clinton that day in the late '90s and said "it was just a lot of fun, smiles all the way around. It was a beautiful day. We walked, we talked, we hit each other's drivers. He was enjoyable to be with. We didn't keep score, but it was one of the most memorable days I've ever had on the golf course."

One of these days, Lyberger can probably expect another call from 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue.

President-elect Barack Obama's best-known athletic skills might well be on the basketball court, but he demonstrated on his recent two-week vacation in Hawaii that he knows his way around a golf course, playing several rounds before he headed to Washington to take the oath of office Jan. 20 as the 44th president of the United States.

According to Golf Digest, Obama, who swings the club left-handed, took up the game 12 years ago and now regularly shoots in the mid- to low-90s.

"He wants to play the best courses -- St. Andrews, Pebble Beach, Bethpage Black," Marvin Nicholson, one of Obama's campaign aides, told the magazine. "When he becomes an ex-president, he'd like to be a single-digit handicapper."

Obama is the 15th of the past 18 presidents to call himself a golfer, and he will have plenty of choices whenever he wants to escape the Oval Office (where Dwight Eisenhower's spike marks still dent the hardwood floor) and slip away to work on his swing or play 18 holes on a Washington-area course.

The most convenient venue to the White House is nearly within walking distance. One of three public golf courses in the District of Columbia, East Potomac Park features an 18-hole course, a shorter executive course and another pitch and putt, along with an extensive driving range.

More than 100,000 rounds are played at the Hains Point complex every year, but unlike most players who call it their home course, Obama almost certainly would not have to wait very long to tee off on the big course, a par-72 measuring 6,600 yards from the tips. Once he gets away from the modest clubhouse, he'll also have a wonderful view of the nearby Potomac River, and occasionally get distracted in his back swing by the jets landing across the water at nearby Reagan National airport.

Over his tenure in Washington, Obama almost certainly will visit historic Langston Golf Course -- another public venue that opened in 1939 at a time when African Americans were not allowed to play golf on any of the other segregated D.C. public courses -- in northeast Washington, not far from RFK Stadium. Boxer Joe Louis was a regular at Langston whenever he came to town, and the course once was actually managed by Lee Elder, the first black player to integrate the Masters, in 1975.

"We want him to come here," said Jimmy Garvin, who manages all three D.C. public courses and has his main office at Langston. "It would be a great thing for the community and really have an impact on the kids we're trying to reach. We've already invited him and I'm sure he'll come out."

Past presidents also have played a number of other courses in the Washington area. At least six commanders in chief received swing instruction over the years from the late Max Elbin, the legendary and longtime golf professional at Burning Tree in Bethesda, an all-male club that might not exactly be politically correct for the leader of the free world these days until it allows women on its course.

"We'd love to have him," said Charles Briggs, the head pro and general manager at Burning Tree. "The policy is that anyone who plays here has to be invited by a member to play as his guest. President Clinton was invited, but he never came out with the member who invited him. I have no idea why."

Burning Tree has a national and local membership, including broadcasters Bryant Gumbel and Jim Nantz as well as members of Congress, past cabinet secretaries and K Street lobbyists. Clearly Obama will be asked to play the course; whether he accepts or not remains to be seen, and as one local professional said, "there better not be any females in his Secret Service detail. They won't let 'em in."

The Army-Navy Club in nearby Arlington, Va., has hosted several presidents, including Clinton and George Herbert Walker Bush, on its three nine-hole courses. And Andrews Air Force base, home to Air Force One and just across the Potomac from the White House, also has been a presidential venue of choice on its three 18-hole championship courses. It's very private, very secure and the commander in chief probably wouldn't even have to pay a greens fee.

Over his eight years in office, Clinton played a number of rounds at the Robert Trent Jones Golf Club in Manassas, Va., about 40 miles from the White House. RTJ hosted the PGA Tour's appropriately named Presidents Cup competition four times, with several past U.S. presidents also serving as honorary chairman of an event that will move to San Francisco in October 2009. One of Clinton's best pals, attorney and former Urban League director Vernon Jordan, is a past president of the club and was a frequent Clinton host.

And if Obama just wants to have a few laughs and talk a little sports, he can always go over to Columbia Country Club in Chevy Chase, Md., where ESPN's Tony Kornheiser is a member. Kornheiser's television co-host, Michael Wilbon, who lives nearby, almost certainly would be delighted to fill out any foursome and perhaps Obama would give them both five good minutes on "Pardon the Interruption" after the round.

When a president does put a round of golf on his schedule, an advance security team usually comes out beforehand to scout out possible trouble spots. While he's playing, a modest contingent of Secret Service agents also comes along, perhaps accompanied by a pool reporter and photographer from the press corps. Sometimes, however, the call from the White House comes on a moment's notice.

"You might not know until 30 minutes before he shows up," Lyberger said. "But you always try to accommodate the president. They were great to work with, but when I played with President Clinton, it was pre-9/11. I would imagine there would be a whole new level of security now."

Lyberger said he'd love to play with the new president, and took particular notice of his swing on the Internet when Obama was playing in Hawaii last month.

"He's got great athleticism, a nice motion to the ball," he said. "Does he need lessons? Hey, I need lessons, everybody needs lessons. But you can tell he really likes the game. And you know he's going to be competitive."

Leonard Shapiro is a contributor to ESPN.com's golf coverage. He can be reached at Badgerlen@aol.com.