Golfing as only a President can!

Now I know what it feels like to be the president of the United States. I was playing golf today with the general manager and the wife of the Four Seasons Golf Club in Costa Rica and we had the course to ourselves. If I wanted to play this course without an invitation, it would have probably been a few hundred dollars, if I was allowed to play, and the only way you get a chance to play is if you own property on the Papagayo Peninsula or you are a guest of the resort. There was no one in front of us and on-one behind us, excluding the guy with the wet towels every three holes and the drink and sandwich person at our own disposal.

The course itself is breath-taking…literally. I was coming down a fairly major road for Costa Rica and all of a sudden you come upon Palm trees, an ocean view right of the movies and then a guard house. Luckily, they already knew my name and ushered me in. Unfortunately, there were no signs or directions to the golf course and you can believe I got lost. When I was miles away, an employee with a clipboard welcomed me to the resort by name and gave me directions to the clubhouse. Another wiser employee jumped into the car with me and took me. There were no signs and no directions, part of the appeal I would imagine.

I was welcomed at the course and unfortunately forgot my shoes. When I told my friends, they asked me what size my feet were and in moments I seemed to be wearing a brand new pair of golf shoes. When we finished, the golf course manager came up and greeted me by name. When the Four Seasons welcomes its guests they take the word welcome to brand new heights.
The course itself has about fourteen water holes I believe and the views were out of this world. I take golf quite seriously and if someone else were taking pictures every second I know I would be annoyed. You either want to play golf or take pictures I would probably say. My hosts probably felt that way but were too kind to say anything as the camera kept clicking away every time they swung a club. I know Michael that it is better to have people in the picture to get a better perspective of things. You see, I do listen to you!

Luckily I played well and at one point had a birdie and four pars in a row. Unfortunately I also got an eight on one hole (because monkeys were throwing things at me and I was rushing to just get out of there) and a seven on the other hole. ( I can’t think of a good excuse for that one!) It is really a great feeling to tee up the ball and look down a fairway with the ocean in front of you, animals of all sorts surrounding you and the sound of gorillas coming from the forest at the sides. The “gorillas” as Josh knows, are nothing more than howler monkeys, although I did see white faced monkeys in the trees on one hole. I was going to look for my ball on that hole, but did not want to get abused again by the monkeys or inadvertently meet a Boa Constrictor. Even I am not that crazy!

If anyone cares, I hit a 91 but did much better when I played the course again by myself for another 18!