Backstory
We’ve been doing a Maine golf trip for roughly 15 years now. The group consists of a collection of family – my brothers and cousins, friends, my dad and his high school and college buddies. It started when my dad and his friends would go up to play in an alumni golf tourney for Saint Francis College (now the University of New England). As the years have passed, we no longer play in the tournament but loved the trip so much we would still go up on Thursday morning, golf that day, go out either in Old Orchard Beach (where we were staying due to the proximity of the courses) or Portland (this year and several past years), and then golf the next morning before heading home. It’s been a great trip – quick enough so the wife and kids don’t get mad, and enough time to see old friends and get some solid golf and drinks in.
For at least the past seven years, we’ve always started the trip playing one of our favorite tracks, Cape Arundel Golf Club in Kennebunkport. Now, if you’ve never played here, it is a throwback to older golf courses/clubs. This is a great article describing the course and the environment. The course itself plays alongside the Kennebunk River, is very short (only 5,880 from the tips), and the greens are fantastic and tricky. There is very little room from green to tee, so it makes for a great walking course and quick rounds. There is a pro shop, but not so much a “clubhouse”. There is no food or beverage offered, only light snacks and water/gatorades. It is a BYOB place. In addition to the course being very nice, it offers one very cool anecdote:
It is the home course of both President George HW Bush and his son President George W Bush.
There is no shortage of marketing of the Bushes at the course. Inside the pro shop is filled with pictures of the Bush clan playing one of their rounds there with other celebrities that have made the pilgrimage to southern Maine, such as Bill Clinton, Tom Brady, Jim Nantz and Fred Couples, to name a few. The course’s logo is ’41’, that of the elder Bush’s Presidential number. The clubhouse itself is named after him.
So our group, fully aware the Bushes play here frequently while in Kennebunkport, have always spoke openly how cool it’d be to see one of them with the secret service at the course. It was always more of a fantasy, for lack of a better word, and would take many factors at force to align one (or both) of them to be at the very course we play once a year. Therefore, you could only imagine our reactions and astonishment when that fantasy came to fruition…
Planning the Trip
My dad does the heavy lifting of planning the annual trip, sending out the emails, getting a headcount, setting up the accommodations and tee times at the two courses. This year, we were going to stay in the Old Port where there’s more life and action than the seaside hotel we’ve been staying in OOB for the last 15 years. With that in mind, we were looking to play a course close to Portland on that Thursday before heading over to the hotel after the round, then hit up Cape Arundel on Friday morning on the way home to Mass.
As it turned out, there was an outing at the course we were to play on Thursday, and we also wanted to play Arundel without the aid of a hangover since it’s one of the courses we enjoy the most in New England. So we decided to switch the days of playing Arundel from Friday to Thursday. Keep this in mind.
Thursday Golf
We had 12 guys playing, so three foursomes out that day. Myself, my college roommate Jared, my dad and my godfather Cav were in the first group. My brother, cousin, our friend and other friend were in the second group, while the tail group was 4 of my dad’s friends.
After completing the round (and playing like absolute dogshit), my buddy Jared and I were posted up at the club’s “19th hole”. Like I said, Arundel doesn’t really have a clubhouse, nor a real 19th hole, so their 19th hole is out by the parking lot, next to the pro shop and putting green, with some tables and adirondack chairs along the Kennebunk. It’s a great place to unwind after a round and recap how you played, catch up with everyone, and discuss the evening’s activities. Being a BYOB establishment, we typically bring a cooler full of beers for after the round. Jared and I were left alone, having some suds while my dad and Cav were at their car grabbing the coolers. While we were waiting, we noticed a man in a suit and tie with an earpiece in, seemingly coordinating some sort of activity. The dialogue between us went something like this:
Jared: “What do you think that guy in the suit is doing over there?”
Me: “I don’t know, could be a secret service guy (somewhat facetiously), or maybe there’s a wedding?”
Note: I’m sure they have weddings at Arundel, but 1) it was a Thursday, and 2) there isn’t much of an event space (at least at the part of the property where we were), so a wedding was essentially out of the question.
As we chatted and had some beers, we were keeping an eye on the guy in the suit that piqued our curiosity.
Within a few minutes, there were a few more staff members out in the parking lot, alongside the man in the suit, and the activity picked up a bit. Shortly thereafter, there were two beige Suburbans pull in, merely 30 feet or so from us. In the backseat, passenger side of the first vehicle, I noticed a very familiar looking face. As I saw him and realized who it was, my heart started to beat very fast, my levels of excitement spiked, and soon I couldn’t believe my eyes.
It was George W Bush.
The 43rd President of the United States of America.
The most powerful man in the world during one of the most tumultuous and catastrophic events that ever happened in US History.
I started freaking out. I took out my phone and started taking pictures of him. Not wanting to get in trouble with the secret service, or piss off the President, I motioned to one of the staffers if it was okay to take pictures of him. They motioned back yes, it was fine.
Within minutes, President Bush looked me and Jared right in the eye and simply said “How’s it going boys?”
To which, I think because I was completely star-struck and couldn’t believe I was this close to a US President, we said “Good”. (What a response!!)
He was clearly impressed with our charm. I could just feel it in my plums. At that point we both had our phones out taking pictures of this man as he was just casually chatting up the staff. He continued talking to us and said “Wanna get some pictures? Come on, lets get some pictures taken!”
I gave my phone to a staffer, and nestled up right next to the President. I put my arm around him, and his around me, almost like we were old college buddies. At this time, my dad and Cav had returned with the cooler and jumped in for some pictures with all of us. We made various small talk, the President asking us where we were from, talked baseball, asked him how his ailing father was doing. All the awhile, he smiled and took several dozen pictures with us, making us all feel very comfortable and welcome among his presence. In short, he seemed just like a regular, cool guy. I must have shaken his hand 3 times and told him what a pleasure it was to meet him.
Once the pictures were done, he went out with his playing partner and ripped driver on #1. No practice swings, no delays, just teed it up, took his stance and nutted it. He gave out a little “woooo” after his shot, and went on his way. Before he drove off, he watched my cousin make a nice shot over a bunker on the 18th (they were finishing up the 18th when they came off the course once they realized Bush had arrived) and land on the green and told him “that’s a hell of a shot!”.
For the rest of the night and the next day, we were buzzing with excitement about our encounter. After all these years coming up to Kennebunkport, we always talked about how cool it’d be to SEE one of the Bushes. Now, not only did we see one, we chatted with him and took pictures.
It was absolutely one of the coolest moments of my life.
And to think, if we didn’t change the tee time from Friday to Thursday, we would have missed it.
The New England Golfer 