Report: Obama joins D.C.-area golf club

Columbia Country Club in Chevy Chase, Md., has a very famous new member.

Former President Barack Obama has reportedly accepted an invitation to join the exclusive country club, according to the Washingtonian's Elaina Plott. The club, which opened in 1911, sent out a letter to its membership Thursday informing them of the decision.

"Following careful deliberation, the Board of Governors voted to extend an invitation for honorary membership to former President of the United States Barack Obama," reads an excerpt obtained by the Washingtonian. "We have received official word from Mr. Obama of his acceptance of our invitation."

The club hosted the 1921 U.S. Open, and is approximately a 6-mile drive north from the Obamas' residence in Washington's Kalorama neighborhood. The 44th president reportedly also joined the Robert Trent Jones Golf Club in Gainesville, Va., in May.

One Republican member of Columbia Country Club privately complained about the decision, but not for political reasons - instead lamenting that the attendant Secret Service presence would "lock up the course," a source told Plott.

"The board looks forward to the addition of Mr. Obama and his family to our wonderful and very special membership," the letter concludes, "and encourage everyone to provide them with our traditional and time-honored 'Warm Columbia Welcome.'"