Obama's golf-game: 'Out of the container'

by Mark Silva

President Barack Obama has gotten out to the golf course a lot -- seven times as president -- teeing up Sunday afternoon at Fort Belvoir most recently for a round of Father's Day golf.

What does it do for him?

"First of all, I'm terrible,'' Obama told CBS News' Harry Smith, in the last segment of Smith's interviews with the president aired this morning on The Early Show, a talk ranging from his rought golf game to his good dog Bo.

"It is the only time that for 6 hours... first of all, that I'm outside,'' Obama said. "And second of all, where you almost feel normal. In the sense that you're not in a bubble.'' The president, asked what he didn't know about being president, said, "I'm not sure you can ever anticipate what the pace of this is.''

So golf is a pace-breaker.

"There are a whole bunch of Secret Service guys,'' the president said of his golf outings, "but they're sort of in the woods.'' (And for that matter, the press poolers who hold in a distant press van never even see the president's game.)

"And when you're up there... and you're hacking way, and hitting some terrible shot and your friends are laughing at you.... you know... It feels as if,you know,-you're, you're out of the container....

"Yeah,'' said a knowing Smith.

"And that's actually... I realize now,'' Obama said in his White House interview with the morning newsman, "It's as... close as you're going to get to being outside of this place.''