Obama, Boehner Golf Game Joined By Joe Biden, John Kasich

WASHINGTON -- President Barack Obama's planned golf outing June 18 with House of Representatives Speaker John Boehner now has a complete foursome.

Vice President Joe Biden will join Obama for the round, while Republican Boehner will have Ohio's Republican governor, John Kasich, at his side.

With Democrats and Republicans at odds over debt and deficits, the White House and Boehner's office have faced questions over whether the players will have time for a discussion about the key issues.

But both sides say the golf outing is purely a social occasion, a good chance to get to know each other and reach across the partisan divide. Kasich, though, was chairman of the House Budget Committee during deficit negotiations with the Clinton White House.

The location for the event has not been disclosed as of yet, but it will not be at Washington's Congressional Country Club, where the world's top golfers will be competing in the U.S. Open that weekend.

It is unclear whether Obama and the others will be willing to disclose their scores. Obama has played dozens of times since he took power in early 2009 and typically keeps the news media far at bay when he plays.

Boehner, who may well be the best golfer of the group, tweeted out the news of Kasich's participation with the challenging hash tag: #nomulligans.

(Reporting by Steve Hollandl Editing by Jackie Frank)

Copyright 2011 Thomson Reuters. Click for Restrictions.