Obama 'Sorry' for Golf Game That Upset Army Couple's Wedding

January 1, 2015

Author: Eve Knaggs

President Barack Obama apologized to a newlywed military couple who had been forced to relocate their golf course wedding so that he could tee off.

The bride and groom, Army Capts. Natalie Heimel and Edward Mallue Jr., had planned to marry on the 16th hole of the Kaneohe Klipper Golf Course in Hawaii near Obama's rented vacation home in Kailua.

But they had to move the wedding at the last minute to another location nearby so that the president could play the hole, according to the Daily Mail.com.

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"Listen. Congratulations on your wedding. I feel terrible. Nobody told us," Obama can be heard telling the captains on an iPhone loudspeaker right after they had tied the knot.

"If they had just mentioned that they were going to have a wedding on the 16th hole, we would have skipped the 16th hole," he added. "I hope the wedding went OK anyway."

Obama joked that if he had missed the hole it would have improved his already impressive score of 84, the Mail reported.

The couple told the president that they moved their ceremony to a nearby spot where they could actually watch him play golf on the military course, which has stunning Pacific Ocean views.

The White House has said Obama was not aware that his game conflicted with the wedding when the couple was given just 24 hours notice to change the venue, according toMediaite.

The newlyweds said that the wedding change had been a "blessing in disguise" because they had more picturesque views from their new spot, according to the Mail.

They also told the president that they had met while posted in Germany in 2011, and then cheekily invited him to the reception. But Obama told them that his security detail would create too many problems for the party.

Obama ended the call by saying, "Sorry for the change of plans. But sounds like you guys are gonna have a great wedding and at least you will have a good story to tell. Congratulations and thank you both for your service."

The couple ended up marrying on the lawn of the Marine Corps base where the golf course is located, and many attendants posted pictures of the ceremony online with the hashtag #ThanksObama, the Mail said.

Obama and his family are vacationing in Hawaii during the Christmas break, and he’s already played golf six times in nine days, including one round with friends Mike Ramos, Greg Orme and Bobby Titcomb, the Mail reported.