Former President George H.W. Bush waved his driver at the crowd and issued a proclamation while approaching the first tee.
“If anybody laughs when I hit it, you’re dead. I have Secret Service,” he joked.
Several hundred spectators roared as Bush’s drive sailed 150 yards into the rough near a 60-foot U.S. flag. The AT&T National begins today as Bush’s ceremonial opening shot christened the inaugural event on Wednesday.
Sometimes, the best part of being president must be retirement. Bush began Independence Day with Tiger Woods and an adoring crowd. The 41st president bowed and waved his cap to the crowd while sporting a bright red Congressional Country Club polo shirt. After all, the Bethesda club opened in 1924 with presidents Calvin Coolidge and William Howard Taft as founders. Herbert Hoover, Woodrow Wilson and Warren G. Harding were also lifetime members. Dwight D. Eisenhower held cabinet meetings in the clubhouse while Bill Clinton was known to play a round (of golf).
Former First Lady Barbara Bush was a yankee doodle dandy with a red visor and blue vest while watching from atop the tee box. The president met with wounded military members and their families watching nearby. There was a helicopter flyover and the Navy band played “God Bless America.”
“It’s what they call a ‘gimme,’” said Bush of attending. “It’s just a great way to celebrate the Fourth.”
More than 30,000 military personnel are expected to attend the tournament through Sunday courtesy of Woods. His late father Earl Woods was career U.S. Army before retiring as a Lieutenant Colonel. Tiger Woods grew up on military bases, played on military courses and planned to join the service if golf hadn’t worked out in his first two years on the PGA Tour.
Woods joked of feeling “safe” with so many soldiers around him, even playing with two in the Pro-Am Tournament while shooting a par-70. The chance to repay military members through free admission “gives me chills already. All my life I’ve been part of the military.”
Certainly, Woods merits a smart salute in return.
Rick Snider has covered local sports since 1978. Contact him at [email protected].
