Missed Him By That Much

New York Times

Obama Back on the Links
By SHERYL GAY STOLBERG

KAILUA, Hawaii — President Obama is an avid golfer. But his friend Marty Nesbitt may have gotten the best of him on the links here Tuesday afternoon.

“Your putting’s on fire,” Mr. Obama told Mr. Nesbitt on the ninth hole at the Mid Pacific Country Club here, where a presidential fivesome — including Mr. Nesbitt, Eric Whitaker, Mike Ramos and Bobby Titcomb, friends of the president from Chicago and Hawaii — spent much of the afternoon. The private club, in the ritzy neighborhood of Lanikai, boasts what its Web site calls a “highly acclaimed golf course” that has “hosted some of the finest golfers in the world.”

The pool of reporters traveling with Mr. Obama was allowed to watch from a balcony overlooking the course, where about 30 camera-toting onlookers also stood. Mr. Obama approached the green driving his own cart, with his left leg dangling out of the vehicle.
He shot a 5 on the ninth hole. At one point, as Dr. Whitaker took his approach shot from behind a tree in the rough, the ball whizzed past the president, missing him by about two feet.

Once the president was on the green, his 12-foot putt went wide, to the left. His second putt, about two feet from the hole, went in. Mr. Obama, looking satisfied, walked away from the green, tossing the ball up and down in his hand.

“Thank you guys!’’ he called up to the balcony, where the club’s golf pro, Mark Sousa, was watching. Mr. Sousa said he had observed Mr. Obama earlier on the driving range, while the president was waiting to tee off.

“His swing looks a lot better this year,” Mr. Sousa said.

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