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Obama golfs with his chef
(Agencies)
Updated: 2009-08-26 12:02

Obama golfs with his chef
U.S. President Barack Obama walks up to a green while golfing at Mink Meadows golf course in Tisbury, Massachusetts on the Island of Martha's Vineyard August 25, 2009. [Agencies]

Later, as he was finishing up his 9-hole round, he left a putt short. It was close enough for him; the president picked it up as a gimme -- a time-saving measure when the ball is close to the hole.

And it's not as if the president's foursome required just two carts. With Secret Service and support staff watching every move and preparing for every contingency, Obama's public course in Vineyard Haven was almost paralyzed.

Ronnie Lytle, a local retiree who had come for an 8:20 am tee time, didn't get to play because so many carts were being reserved for the president's party. She said she had a knee replacement and can't walk the course.

"I hope I didn't mess anyone's day up," Lytle said Obama told her.

"You did," she replied. "But I don't care."

Visitors to Martha's Vineyard aren't likely to see the Obama family while they are on the island. Still, they're everywhere.

From cardboard cutouts on the porches of bed and breakfast inns to posters of a beaming first family in shop windows, the enthusiasm for the Obamas is clear. Ice cream flavors are named for the Obamas, T-shirts promote First Pooch Bo and homes are decorated with handmade signs welcoming the first family to the island.

Obama, however, is unlikely to venture much into public -- partly because he wants his privacy and partly because of security concerns on an island that features tight streets and many visitors.