WASHINGTON — President Barack Obama played golf on Saturday at the Olympia Fields Country Club with one of his earliest supporters and then, since he was in the neighborhood, dropped by the home of his daughters’ godmother.
Obama arrived in Chicago on Friday and remains until Sunday, a rare weekend back.
On Saturday morning, from his home at 5046 S. Greenwood Ave., Obama was monitoring Hurricane Matthew damage.
Principal Deputy Press Secretary Eric Schultz said Obama spoke with FEMA Administrator Craig Fugate and governors in impacted states.
“In order to hear directly from officials on the ground feeling the impact of Matthew, the President also spoke separately this morning with Gov. Nathan Deal of Georgia, Gov. Nikki Haley of South Carolina, Gov. Pat McCrory of North Carolina, and Gov. Rick Scott of Florida,” Schultz said.
Obama, who often plays golf on weekends, partnered on Saturday with Tom Kartsotis, the Shinola founder; Rod Goldstein a University of Chicago trustee and the former chair of the University of Chicago Medical Center Board, and Alan Solow, the attorney who was one of Obama’s earliest supporters.
Solow has been with Obama since he was an Illinois state senator.
A former chairman of the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations, Solow flew to Israel with Obama last week on Air Force One to attend the funeral of former Israeli President Shimon Peres, part of the official U.S. delegation.
Solow was supposed to play golf with Obama last Saturday at a Washington area course, but the game was rained out so they met instead on the south suburban course.
After the game, Obama headed over to the Olympia Fields home of Eleanor Kaye Wilson and her husband, Wellington Wilson.
Wilson, known as “Mama Kaye,” is the godmother to Malia and Sasha Obama, as well as a close friend of Marian Robinson, the mother of first lady Michelle Obama.
In 2009, the first year of the Obama presidency, Obama named Wilson to be a member of the President’s Commission on White House Fellows.
Obama came home to headline three fundraisers and hold meetings with friends and supporters of his Obama Foundation, which is overseeing the planning, development and fundraising for his Obama Center, the museum and library to be built in Jackson Park.
On Friday, Obama raised money at events for Hillary Clinton and House Democrats and stopped in the Loop to early vote. On Sunday, Obama headlines a fundraiser for Senate contender Rep. Tammy Duckworth, D-Ill., at the Stony Island Arts Bank, 6760 S. Stony Island Ave., Chicago.
For a full report on Obama’s Friday in Chicago, CLICK HERE.
