President Barack Obama arrives on Air Force One at Palm Springs International airport in Palm Springs, California, Saturday, June 20, 2015. The president will be golfing in the area this weekend. AP
RANCHO MIRAGE, California, United States — President Barack Obama is spending this Father’s Day golfing in California with his high school buddies, while his wife and daughters are on a European tour.
Obama arrived in Palm Springs and headed straight for the course at the Sunnylands estate, which is closed to the public for the summer.
But a forecast high of 115 degrees Fahrenheit (46 degrees Celsius) wasn’t keeping Obama and his childhood friends off the fairways.
As California grapples with a crisis drought, the courses in the desert oasis of Palm Springs have been criticized for their water use.
White House spokesman Eric Schultz responds that many courses have taken water mitigation steps aimed at conservation.
Schultz says Obama discussed the drought with California Gov. Jerry Brown in a meeting in San Francisco Friday.