Posted on 04/24/2018 5:52:36 PM PDT by lightman
The story of five black women who were asked to leave a York County golf course for reportedly playing too slowly is making headlines and causing outrage across the country.
The group of regular golfers said they were confronted at the second hole by Steve Chronister, one of the owners of the Grandview Golf Course and a former county commissioner, who accused them of lagging and offered to refund their money if they would leave. They were the only African Americans or all-female groups on the course in Dover Township, according to Sandra Thompson, who posted a detailed account of her experience on her Facebook page.
After the 9th hole, another owner called police on them, she said, noting they had been asked three times to leave.
Thompson wrote on Facebook that they felt were being discriminating against.
"As we waited and as we spoke to police," she wrote, "no other group approached Hole 10 to tee off, so for about 20-30 minutes there was no one behind the group who were behind us."
The owners of the Grandview Golf Course in York weren't available on Tuesday for comment. The voicemail box for the business was full.
Another owner issued an apology to Thompson and invited them back to play, Thompson wrote on Facebook.
The incident has attracted the attention of celebrities, including musician John Legend, who Tweeted about the incident.
"Please stop calling the police on black people who are just trying to live," he wrote as he retweeted a link to the news story.
As the story has gone viral, some people have heaped abuse upon a different golf course in in Pennsylvania unfortunate enough to have a similar name.
The Grandview Golf Club in North Braddock has been deflecting outraged comments on social media all day Tuesday intended for the Grandview Golf Course in York.
It didn't help matters when Newsweek picked up the story and the writer identified the wrong golf course, erroneously saying that the course in Braddock was the "oldest golf club in York County." But the course in Braddock is in Allegheny County. Newsweek later ran a correction.
The general manager for the golf club near Pittsburgh said he received several hundred angry emails and up to 400 phone calls intended for the "other" Grandview course.
"We've been getting pretty beat up today," said Tom Beeler, of the mix-up. "We've been called racists and bigots and people have threatened to do bad things, including burning down our golf course."
Beeler had been at a golf tournament Monday so he was unaware of the news breaking out of the York area after the York Daily Record first published an account of the incident with videos.
Emails and voicemails started arriving about 8:30 p.m. Monday night, Beeler said.
"We couldn't figure out what was going on," he said.
Beeler had to turn his phone off (his desk phone automatically forwards to his cell phone) to try to get a few hours of sleep Monday night.
On Tuesday morning, he directed staff members to try to get the word out that they were not affiliated in any way with the Grandview Golf Course in York. They put a note on their Twitter account and website:
"There have been some instances of people confusing our course with the York, PA Grandview course that is currently being accused of racism in the news. We are in NO way shape or form affiliated or connected to that course. Here at Grand View, we pride ourselves on treating all our golfers with kindness, respect, and courtesy. Please do not attack us on Facebook, Twitter, Google, or any other platform as we are NOT that course."
Angry people also have written negative reviews for the wrong golf course on several websites, Yelp posted a message on its page Tuesday to note that it was going to "clean up" reviews that seemed prompted by the news coverage.
"We've had phone calls of people just screaming at us," Beeler said. "They won't even pause to let us explain that we're not the one, that they called the wrong place."
Yes. Common golf etiquette is that slower players let others play through. It is also usual to limit groups to four, not five players. But, age of entitlement strikes again.
Lots of Napalm?
If they tell you to go - don’t argue.
Take your business elsewhere. You don’t need rude treatment.
They’re within their rights to refuse to serve you but it works both ways.
Speak up and let others know how you were dealt with and move on.
Imagine if they were all relative novices.
Zzzzzz...
Personally, I would have taken the refund and gone to a different course.
But I grew up in Queens, NY and the only courses were publicly owned and this would not have happened but we had to wait 2 hours to play a 6 hour round.
And the sand traps - would they turn into glass?
Ah yes. The old ‘Scorched Earth’ method.
Sure does remove all the gophers and crabgrass.
“We’ve had phone calls of people just screaming at us,” Beeler said. “They won’t even pause to let us explain that we’re not the one, that they called the wrong place.”
That is the nature of all Liberals.
Let me guess. If the group behind them had asked if they could play through, that would have been racist too.
I suspect a setup.
So I guess Starbuck's is on the right side of the law, too? Still look at the bad publicity and hysterics in the media. It may cost them some, but too many people love them.
Thanks for citing the rules, don't know if they apply in every state now or what.
Were they playing as a fivesome? If so and playing slow they should either speed up or leave. Nothing worse than waiting 30 mins between holes.
Correct.. there is nothing more annoying than a slow group ahead, who then slows down the entire golf course. Think about a car driving 40 Mph on a 55 mph limit 2-lane highway.
All them golf courses look the same.
Shoulda just turned on the sprinkler system.
A group playing too slowly should WAVE THROUGH the following group. it is also extremely inpolite and in many cases (depending on the golf club’s rules) illegal to have FIVE players in a group. A FOURSOME is normal.
“If the group behind them had asked if they could play through, that would have been racist too.”
I can see that playing out...
“Pardon me ladies. Mind if we play thru?”
From the picture above your comment, the “ladies” part would’ve been the first mistake.
RE your photo: The one on the right...hard to read...does her cap say “Entitled”?
;~]
I'm always suspicious when one of the complainants makes a claim like this.
As though they had drone footage to prove it.
(Of course, they know that it's practically unfalsifiable.)
Regards,
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