Today, Pennsylvania came in hot with the latest addition to the “things-that-you-cannot-do- while-being-black” list: playing golf slowly.
On Saturday, Grandview Golf Club in Pennsylvania called the Police on five black women because the Co-owner of the course felt like the group was playing too slow and the women wouldn’t leave the course (in the middle of their game).
The five women— Carolyn Dow, Sandra Thompson, Myneca Ojo, Sandra Harrison, and Karen Crosby—are part of a golf group known as the “Sisters in the Fairway,” whose members are experienced golfers that have played all over the world.
The five women were on the second hole when they were initially stopped and told that they were playing too slowly.
However, Sandra Harrison told the AP that she spoke with a Grandview Golf Pro, and the Pro said the women were fine because they were keeping pace with the group ahead of them.
Still, the women skipped the third tee to avoid any further confrontation.
By the ninth hole, three of the five women left; and, the two who chose to keep playing were approached by the owners of the park for a second time. The park owners told the women that they had taken too long of a break and needed to leave the course.
If you’re not a golfer, “taking a break” on a golf course is arguably more common then hitting the ball straight.
So, these women then contended that their break was, in fact, not too long because the men playing behind them were still on a beer break and not even ready to tee off.
At this point in the dispute, Grandview Golf Club could have just asked the men behind these women if: (1) the women’s pace of play was actually bothering them, or (2) if they wouldn’t mind “playing through” the women. But these women were black women. So Grandview Golf Club ignored all reasonable remedies to this minor situation and called the whole Police on them.
In a statement to the AP (probably after they realized this video got out), Grandview Golf Club said:
We sincerely apologize to the women for making them feel uncomfortable here at Grandview, that is not our intention in any way…We want all of our members to feel valued and that they can come out here and have a great time, play golf and enjoy the experience.
However, it seems like Grandview Golf Club is already backing off their initial apology:
In the past players who have not followed the rules, specifically pace of play, have voluntarily left at our request as our scorecard states. In this instance, the members refused to leave so we called police to ensure an amicable result.
Sure…
There’s absolutely no reason to believe that large groups of men, slugging beers, and peeing in the woods off the tee box, and smoking cigars, on their days off work, on a golf course with no wife or kids in sight, wouldn’t just always follow all the rules of the course whenever they were asked.
Flip the page to see the video of what happened after the golf club called the Police on the five women.