States of Play: Sex and politics are par for the course in the Carolinas

        If you are considering South Carolina as your golf retirement destination but are concerned that the notoriously conservative state may be a little too boring, recent headlines might bring some comfort.  First, Governor Mark Sanford went for a hike on the Appalachian Trail, took a wrong turn and wound up in Argentina.  He was caught on his return by a reporter at the Atlanta airport and was forced to admit that he had misled both his wife and staff about his whereabouts.  Former wife Jenny filed for divorce and published a book, in that order.

        That kind of scandal should be enough for any one state, at least for a few years, but apparently it was just a

warm-up in South Carolina where, a few days ago, a blogger named Will Folks alleged he had a “physical relationship” with one of the candidates who is vying to succeed Sanford (as governor, not as headline maker).  Just plain Folks explained that he was forced to expose his affair to prevent dirty tricksters from dribbling out the details of his intimacy with the candidate, Nikki Haley, a state legislator.  Folks was ‘fessing up for the candidate’s sake, he wrote, as well as his own family's.  Mrs. Haley apparently had not signed off on the strategy and vigorously denied the affair, or whatever it was.

        The Palmetto State, which also contributed the Tourette-like Congressman Joe "You Lie" Wilson, does not have the market cornered in the Carolinas for those who kiss-up and tell. (Mr. Folks had been a key component in Mrs. Haley’s campaign and also a former aide to Governor Sanford.)  Despite his dedication to his boss, John Edwards, former aide Andrew Young felt a higher responsibility to spill the beans about the Presidential candidate’s peccadilloes.   Young had helped stash Edwards’ mistress at the upscale Governors Club in Chapel Hill, NC, to avoid the unrelenting snoops from the National Enquirer.  They found her anyway, and that was that.

        We can vouch for the high quality of golf in the Carolinas.  Their politicians are another story.