According to FEC filings, the House Minority Leader John Boehner has spent $82,998 on golf outings so far this year | REUTERS Boehner PAC splurges on golf

By all public estimations, House Minority Leader John Boehner (R-Ohio) is a pretty good golfer.

He should be, given the $82,998 his political action committee has spent on golf outings so far this year, according to Federal Election Commission filings.


The golf events this year sponsored by Boehner’s Freedom Project political action committee have stretched from April until October, from Florida to Ohio. And the minority leader doesn’t hold his events at worn-out municipal courses. The most recent outing was a $20,921.34 event at the plush Robert Trent Jones track in Gainesville, Va., an invitation-only private club that was once also home to the Professional Golfers Association's President’s Cup.

The highest expenditure was a September event at the Jack Nicklaus-designed Muirfield Village Golf Club in Dublin, Ohio. The Freedom Project spent $29,501.20 for an event on the course, which hosts the annual PGA Memorial Tournament.

Another favorite of Boehner’s PAC seems to be the Ritz-Carlton in Naples, Fla., where the committee spent more than $30,000 in April and May. The Tiburon Golf Course, a 36-hole course at the hotel, also hosts a professional tournament each year.

The FEC reports don’t list the attendees at these golf events, the cost per person or any other details. Don Seymour, a spokesman for the PAC, said the expenditures are “related to events that have raised hundreds of thousands of dollars to help the Freedom Project support Republican candidates for Congress.”

Whether it’s a golf outing fundraiser or a money event at a hotel ballroom, Boehner is a prolific fundraiser. Seymour said the GOP leader has headlined more than 100 events for Republicans this year, and the PAC has contributed more than $320,000 to GOP candidates this cycle.

The United States Golf Association lists Boehner as maintaining a 7.9 handicap.