Castro also had a disdain for the game - especially after Che beat him

Castro also had a disdain for the game - especially after Che beat him
Aug 13, 2009 04:30 AM

Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez's move to close golf courses is similar
to what his mentor Fidel Castro did shortly after the 1959 Cuban
Revolution. Castro ordered military barracks to be built on most of the
golf courses that once catered to high-rollers.

But golf was still played in Cuba. In a 1962 publicity stunt, Castro
played a round with Che Guevara, who had been a caddy in his Argentine
hometown before he became a guerrilla icon. According to Castro, The New
York Times reports, it was meant to make fun of then-U.S. president
Dwight Eisenhower, who was too busy to meet Castro in 1959 when the
Cuban leader was in Washington. It turned out that Eisenhower was
playing golf.

But Castro lost the round of golf to Guevara, and was so angry that he
fired the journalist who wrote about his defeat.

Golf courses are now making a comeback in Cuba under Raul Castro's
government because the country needs revenue from tourists.

TheStar.com | World | Castro also had a disdain for the game -
especially after Che beat him (14 August 2009)
http://www.thestar.com/news/world/article/680503