This week marks the 50th anniversary of the assassination of President John F. Kennedy, who was not only a Massachusetts native, but also a talented golfer.
JFK was a pretty interesting guy, it seems, and he was a golf nut. By all accounts he was the best golfer to ever inhabit the Oval Office, but he always tried to hide his love for the game because he believed it would harm his political career. His predecessor, Dwight Eisenhower, was often criticized because people thought he spent more time on the links than he should have and Kennedy didn't want to seem like he "was as obsessed as Ike with a game seen as an out-of-reach privilege of the upper class." (time.com) I ran into this great article in Golf & Leisure Cape Cod about the time that Jack spent at the Hyannisport Club. Here is an excerpt:
[Tom] Niblet, who went on to build both The Ridge Club and Holly Ridge Golf Club in South Sandwich, has rarely talked publicly about JFK since Nov. 22, 1963. Even now, many decades later, his voice begins to choke up as he remembers those heady times. In a personal memoir, he wrote:
“When he died, so did a little bit of me.”
The 31-year-old pro met the dashing young president for the first time in 1961. He was preparing to lock up the pro shop when he spotted a couple walking across the empty parking lot. The man had a walking stick and was arm-in-arm with the woman. As they approached, Niblet recognized the president and Jacqueline Kennedy.
“Jack, I’d like you to meet Tom Niblet,” the First Lady said.
“My knees were a little weak but I was able to say it was an honor and a privilege,” Niblet recalls.
Being president has its privileges, yet JFK would always phone to check if the first tee was open before coming to the golf course. He once personally called to cancel a scheduled golf lesson, telling Niblet that “something came up.” “A few minutes later I saw Marine helicopters landing alongside the 14th fairway and an entourage of officials getting off. They were having some problems in Laos,” Niblet says.
Later that day Kennedy appeared in the pro shop and asked the young pro if he was busy. “Get your sticks,” he told Niblet, “and we’ll go play.”
A nervous Niblet scurried to the bag room to retrieve his clubs, only to learn that White House press secretary Pierre Salinger was on the course using them. With a borrowed set, he rushed to the tee, where the president and Chuck Spaulding, an investment banker, were waiting. “It’s your honor, Tom,” JFK said.
Despite his anxiousness, Niblet hit a solid drive. Spaulding then knocked it 10 yards further. At that point, Kennedy put his driver back into his bag, pulled out a 5-wood and hit his tee shot 175 yards down the middle. “I never wanted to be a big hitter,” he said. “I just like to be with big hitters.”
They played nine holes, a rarity for Kennedy, who usually only played Hyannisport’s inside loop comprised of No. 1, 2, 16, 17 and 18. “I played pretty good, made a couple of birdies,” Niblet recalled.
Afterward, Niblet thanked the president for inviting him to play. “Tom, we’ll do this more often,” JFK replied.
It was August 18, 1963. “We never had the chance,” Niblet said.
Read the full article here
No comments:
Post a Comment