5 members of Sisters In ee Fairway claim racial and gender discrimination at Pennsylvania’s Grandview Golf Club after police are called for ‘slow play’.
AAGD STAFF
April 24, 2018
Being an African American golfer in America may give some people the impression that you’re elite, upscale or well to do, but regardless of the prestige that surrounds the game, this past Saturday a group of five black women playing at a Pennsylvania golf club found themselves in front of area police after the club called in the authorities, saying, the group was playing to slow.
The co-owner of Grandview Golf Club and his father said the women were playing too slowly and refused requests to leave the course, according to the Associated Press.
Golfer Sandra Thompson and four of her friends met up Saturday to play a round of golf at Dover Township’s Grandview Golf Club, where they are all members, she told the Guardian newspaper. Thompson said that once their group reached the second hole, a white man whose son co-owns the club came up to them twice to complain that they weren’t keeping up with the pace of play. Thompson, who is an attorney and also heads the York chapter of the NAACP, told the Guardian newspaper it was untrue.
KEEPING PACE ON COURSE
On the same hole, group member Sandra Harrison, said she spoke with the golf pro at the club, who said the group was fine, and that they were keeping pace with the group ahead of them.
Despite that, the women skipped playing the third hole in order to avoid any other issues, she said.
“I felt we were discriminated against,” one of the women, Myneca Ojo, told the York Daily Record. “It was a horrific experience.”
Video submitted to YouTube by Sandra Thompson
As a part of golf etiquette, and not to hold up the pace of play, slow-moving players will let groups behind them go ahead, or what is known as ‘play through.’ To monitor the pace of play, golf courses have ‘rangers’ (or other personnel) who monitor the pace of play on the course, letting golfers know when they are taking too long.
The five women were Sandra Thompson, Myneca Ojo, Sandra Harrison, Carolyn Dow and Karen Crosby. Thompson, 50, is the president of the York branch of the NAACP, a former candidate for York County judge, the vice chair of the county Democratic party and a full-time attorney.
The five black women golfers are not novice players, but, in fact, are members of the group of local Pennsylvania businesswomen known as Sisters in the Fairway. The group has been in existence for nearly a decade and is made up of experienced players who are known for competing and golfing all over the country and around the globe. Thompson said they’re very familiar with golf etiquette. This was their first time playing at the course, and they even got special permission from the course clerk to golf as a fivesome that day.
TAKING A BREAK – HALFWAY THROUGH
After the ninth hole, where it is customary to take a break before continuing on the next nine holes, three of the five black women in the group (Harrison, Crosby and Dow) decided to leave the course because of being so disturbed and shaken up by the earlier treatment, the women told the Guardian newspaper.
According to the Guardian newspaper, Thompson said the man from the second hole, identified as former York county commissioner Steve Chronister, his son, club co-owner Jordan Chronister and several other white, male employees approached the remaining two women and said they took too long of a break and they needed to leave the course.
Myneca Ojo, a member of Sisters in the Fairway said, “They came in an approach that was really hostile, and these guys were 6’3″- 6’4″. And so it was about four or five of them that were together and they all had drinks in their hand. So we were very frightened,” she told Fox 43.com.
The women argued they took an appropriate break, and that the men behind them were still on their beer break and not ready to tee off, as seen in a video Thompson gave the newspaper. The women were told that the police had been called, and so they waited. Northern York County regional police arrived, conducted interviews and left without charging anyone.
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“We were called there for an issue, the issue did not warrant any charges,” Northern York County regional police chief Mark Bentzel said. “All parties left and we left as well.” In attempting to reach Steve Chronister through a phone listing, the line rang busy on Monday. He told the York Daily Record he didn’t have time to comment on Sunday.
Since the Saturday ordeal, the Grandview Golf Club has apologized for calling police on the group of black women. And reportedly, the apology came on Sunday from Jordan Chronister’s wife and co-owner of the club, JJ Chronister, who personally called the women to apologize and the club has offered the women full refunds of their membership, but they are more interested in answers to this situation before taking checks. The Chronister’s are part of a group who purchased the course in Spring 2017.
“We sincerely apologize to the women for making them feel uncomfortable here at Grandview, that is not our intention in any way,” Ms. Chronister told the Guardian newspaper. “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.”
Chronister—who was not even present during the altercation—said she hopes to meet with the black women to have a conversation as to how the golf club can take the incident as a learning experience and do better in the future. However, Thompson said she’s not sure a meeting is what needs to happen.
“This type of treatment to black women reeks of racial and gender discrimination,” said Debert Cook, publisher, African American Golfer’s Digest. “I am disgusted to learn of this situation. How much more humiliation and denigration do we have to take, as a race of black people, before we are fully respected in this country, and in this game? Certainly, some strong measures are needed to see that this type of harassment is not inflicted upon black women, or persons of color, who seek to enjoy a round of play on a golf course.”
“There needs to be something more substantial to understand they don’t treat people in this manner,” she said to the Guardian newspaper.
