An Army couple received a pleasant wedding surprise when U.S. President Barack Obama personally called them to offer an apology for having hijacked the location of their wedding to entertain his golf plans last weekend, Bloomberg News reported.
Natalie Heimel and Edward Mallue Jr., both captains in the U.S. Army, had planned to get married on Sunday on the 16th hole of the Kaneohe Klipper Golf Course on Marine Corps Base Hawaii, a destination where Obama is popularly known to play golf while on vacation with his family.
But on Saturday, the couple was forced to relocate their wedding on short notice after the president unwittingly booked a tee time to play golf at the time of their ceremony, according to sources familiar with the incident, who asked to speak anonymously given sensitivities involved.
However, neither Obama nor the White House staff was informed in advance that the couple had been asked to find a different location, the source told ABC News. Rather the golf course manager had made the decision unilaterally.
In the end, the couple was happily married nearby on the lawn of the base commander's home overlooking the tee and also received a congratulatory call from their commander-in-chief after he learned about the inconvenience.
Described as "one of the world's best military golf courses" with majestic views of the Ko'olau Mountains and the Pacific coastline, the Kaneohe links are a popular venue for Hawaiian wedding ceremonies. But all plans are subject to change when the president is in town, according to sources.
Currently on a Hawaiian holiday, Obama has been a regular on the course, playing five rounds over a period of 10 days.
Meanwhile, the golf course manager declined to comment when asked about the wedding by Reuters. A spokesman for Marine Corps Base Hawaii, which operates the facility, did not immediately respond to ABC News' request for comment.
