Celebrities

We've added a new section to the web site for golfing encounters our members have had with celebrities.  It's just for fun. If you have any stories and/or photos relating to golf and celebrities, please email them to Aaron.

On Monday, May 28, 2001 Bill Clinton paid a surprise visit to St. Andrews. Tee times were shuffled around and he was given a tee time directly behind UCGC member Paul Higaki. "Who are all these guys in suits?" asked Paul. They were secret service men. Bill Clinton was very approachable and introducing himself to lots of people.
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Jeff Day once played golf with actor Malcolm McDowell. Perhaps Malcolm's most famous role was as the main character in Stanley Kubrick's 1971 cult classic "A Clockwork Orange". It was nominated for best picture, best screenplay, and best director. Malcolm has starred in well over 100 films during his acting career. They played at the Ojai Valley Inn, site of several Senior PGA events and for years the site of the Skills Challenge. Jeff was nervous on the first tee with Caligula standing behind him. At one point Malcolm took Jeff aside and said of Jeff's brother (their playing partner) "He's a cocky bastard, isn't he?".

On March 9, 1977 former President Gerald Ford, three months out of office (Jimmy Carter in office January 20, 1977), sent a letter to Clay Taylor, our club president, accepting an Honorary Lifetime membership to UCGC. President Ford, still an avid golfer, is 90 years old and living in Rancho Mirage, California. As of July2003, Ford is the nation's second-oldest living president. Only Ronald Reagan, 92 and debilitated by Alzheimer's disease, is older.

Aaron Walburg was nearly hit by a ball from Bay Area television news anchor Pete Wilson. It occurred at the par 5 12th hole of the Presidio on 7/14/1998. Pete hit a fairway wood into Aaron's foursome and failed to acknowledge the breech of etiquette. Pete Wilson is the co-anchor of ABC 7 News at 6. Pete has been an anchorman in the Bay Area for 23 years.
An interesting update to this is that on 8/22/2005 Aaron was playing a practice round in preparation for his upcoming Eddie Reed finals match with Rich Hextrum and was placed in a group immediately behind a foursome in which Pete Wilson was playing. He considered returning the favor from seven years prior, perhaps even issuing forth a blood curdling scream, "Now we're even, Pete!", but instead he wisely dismissed the thought. Anyway, Pete was really hacking it up out there and he felt kind of sorry for him...

See of you can figure out who is who in the photo to the right. One of these guys has a Heisman trophy and led the Oakland Raiders to two Super Bowl victories. The other is a mediocre golfer who enjoys sugary snacks and spends a lot of time seated at a computer. Both men are modern-day heroes. However, one is slightly more likely than the other to someday be inducted into the NFL Hall of Fame. This picture was taken at the 2003 Big Game Cup held on November 20th, 2003 at Stanford Golf Course two days prior to Cal winning the Big Game.

Aaron with Congressman Mike Honda. Mike Honda represents the 15th Congressional District of California in the U.S. House of Representatives. His district encompasses the Silicon Valley. Mike has been a public servant for decades during which he has been lauded for his work on education, transportation, civil rights, the environment, and the high-tech community. Mike was born in California, but spent his early childhood with his family in an internment camp in Colorado during World War II. His family returned to California in 1953, becoming strawberry sharecroppers in Blossom Valley in San Jose.