He may be putting in a lot of practice, but it seems that golf is still very much a work in progress for US president Barack Obama.

A regular basketball player on the campaign trail, the president appears to have swapped hoops for golf clubs since being sworn into office on January 20th 2009.

Indeed, the Wall Street Journal reports that he has played basketball just seven times in the last year, compared to 25 known rounds of golf.

However, Gene Mulak, a golf pro at the Vineyard Golf Club in Martha's Vineyard, Massachusetts, suggested in an interview with the news provider that in Mr Obama's case, practice has not made perfect.

After encountering the president trying to get out of a sand trap, Mr Mulak said: "He would have had trouble getting out of any bunker in the country."

He added that "Barack generally hits his ball to the left".

Vineyard Golf Club is a private course opened as recently as May 22nd 2002.

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