In leisure mode, Obama shows off his golf game President Obama reacts as he misses a shot while golfing on the first hole at Farm Neck Golf Club in Oak Bluffs, Mass., on the island of Martha's Vineyard. Jacquelyn Martin / Associated Press / August 11, 2013 By Kathleen Hennessey August 11, 2013, 2:45 p.m. OAK BLUFFS, Mass. -- President Obama wasted no time getting out on the golf course Sunday, the first day of his weeklong summer vacation on Martha's Vineyard. Obama and his golfing partners headed to the Farm Neck Golf Club, a semi-private club on the east side of the island, for what will likely be the first of several golf outings during the presidential getaway. The first foursome included aide Marvin Nicholson, chef Sam Kass and investor and Obama friend Robert Wolf. The president's golf outing was no surprise. He's been known to tolerate miserable humidity and bone-chilling wind to go out for his almost weekly game in Washington. It would have been a shock if he'd stayed off the course on this sunny, late-summer day. But the White House did surprise the group of reporters and photographers who follow the president by allowing the pack to watch a bit of the president's golf game. The White House typically keeps the journalists far out of viewing range -- even in vans or a restaurant -- during the games. On Sunday, the group was allowed to gather in the trees on the first hole and watch Obama and the group putting. It was a three-putt hole for the president, who started by chipping his ball up on the green and overshooting by about 15 feet. His next shot broke to the left, as the first golfer let out a cry and kicked his knee up, as if trying to coax the ball in the other direction. No luck. Obama was in full leisure mode, wearing white shirt, khakis and sunglasses and taking his time on the course. He and the group left the course more than five hours after arriving. Obama touts decrease in backlog of vets' claims