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Former Presidents Find Common Bond
By Lorne Rubenstein
Globe & Mail
HOBE SOUND, FLA. -- 'What direction are they coming from?" a cameraman asked as former U.S. presidents George H. W. Bush and Bill Clinton were about to enter a room at the Medalist Golf Club in Hobe Sound, Fla., yesterday morning. They and their host, Greg Norman, the Medalist's co-designer and the guy who really runs this private club, were there for an event called Three Friends: One Goal, which raised more than $1.8-million (U.S.) for tsunami relief.
It was tempting to answer, "Bush will be coming in from the right and Clinton from the left," but I resisted the impulse. Anyway, there wasn't much political talk during the news conference that preceded golf. Security was intense and included background checks, the Secret Service, bomb-disposal and paramedic squads, and a dog that sniffed umbrellas.
During the news conference, somebody suggested that golf is an elitist sport and that it was one thing to raise money by charging participants $30,000 each to play, but that many people who can't afford the fee would like to meet the presidents. Each of the three friends took a crack at the comment.
"We would have loved to open this up and have 500 or 1,000 people out," Norman said.
"But there are only 18 holes and four people are on each hole and that's 72 people." He said the event raised so much money because the participants were willing to pay the fee.
Bush chimed in by saying that his grandfather, George Walker, the president of the United States Golf Association in 1920, founded, and provided the trophy for, the Walker Cup. The Walker Cup is a biennial competition between teams of 12 amateurs from the United States, and from Britain and Ireland. It started in 1922, when, Bush said, golf was an elitist sport. "Golf's so different now," he added.
Clinton noted that people can get to know one another during the four or five hours it takes to play a round. He described himself as a fanatic who will play in any conditions.
He wanted to play even in yesterday's rainy and gloomy weather. It would be his last round before he undergoes surgery today in New York for complications that have developed since his heart bypass operation six months ago. The two-hour surgery is considered low-risk.
Clinton seemed more concerned yesterday with the risk that some people might not want to play because of the dreary weather than with anything associated with the surgery. He said he was worried about "some people wussing out." As it turned out, participants got in only nine holes before the pouring rain sent them to the clubhouse.
Bush and Clinton were serious when they spoke of their mission. Clinton had learned that the recovery in some areas hit by the tsunami could take three to five years.
Asked what could be done about "donor fatigue," Bush said, "We'll just keep doing it," working to raise awareness and money.
Regarding their golf, Bush said he would insist on a "no-laughing" rule. He expressed anxiety about embarrassing himself in front of Norman and his friends and members who had paid to play one of the 18 holes with him. He said the golfers would laugh on his every swing if he didn't insist on that rule.
Clinton was looking forward to finally playing the Medalist. When he was in office in 1997, Clinton was set to play the course with Norman. But he slipped on a step at Norman's beach house on Jupiter Island, tore a quadriceps tendon in his right knee, and found himself in the hospital rather than on the first tee.
The three amigos were then on their way to prepare for their rain-shortened round. Media weren't allowed on the course, so who knew if the former presidents would hit so many errant shots that they'd be playing "military golf" -- left, right, right, left. One thing was certain: Two former presidents from opposite sides of the political spectrum had come together for a cause that transcends politics.
"They love golf," Norman said. "Golf is the common denominator here. Golf is what brought us together."
Three Friends: One Goal. Not a bad way for them to spend a day. As bleak as the weather was, the day still had a happy ending: all that money raised for a recovery effort that will continue for years and must not be forgotten.
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