exactly. And given that the group of men are clearly seasoned golf players (as the father son duo own the club), they know that is perfectly acceptable and it is proper etiquette for THEM to ask the ladies politely if they can play through.
This is a widely known and common occurrence on the course. It is very very obvious it had nothing to do with the pace these ladies were playing at and everything to do with gender/race.
Exactly. For most people at country clubs, “playing golf” is a euphemism for getting away from the wife and getting to drive little go-karts while drunk. And often to be racist.
I remember once at my old job, I was having a hard time getting ahold of the CEO and other execs to get some big decisions finalized. I finally went to my boss and asked what to do and he expressed shock that I hadn’t gone golfing with the CEO. “I don’t golf,” I said, and it had to be explained to me that all the heads of the company got all their business done while drunk and driving golf carts around at the country club, because they were assholes.
Where daddy an his lawyer buddies meet him with more beers and a welcome party while the charges get dropped. No thanks. Ever since judges began ruling that rich people shouldn’t go through what poor people go through at the hands of our “justice” system, I’ve lost faith in having any social justice coming from that cesspool.
Which is why it makes a perfect metaphor for the unsustainability of late-stage capitalism: it’s currently regarded as a dying sport in America. Putting aside initiation fees that can run into six figures, you need lots of both time and money to get good at golf and both are in increasingly short supply outside the top economic 1%.
I remember being shocked as an adolescent when I was informed that the L.A. Country Club, which is smack dab in the middle of one of the most liberal parts of the country, was “restricted” (no Jews, no African-Americans, no unaccompanied women, etc.). Driving down Wilshire through that area was like driving past a brachiosaurus on a regular basis. Apparently it’s still mostly WASP bankers and landlords and Judge Smails types.
I’m personally thankful for this aspect only in that it allowed my father a regular escape a few times a week from his awful second wife during the last decade when the marriage went truly bad.
Golf historically has always been about elitism and classism, and i definitely do not doubt racism still plays a part as was seen in this story. I have no interest in ever playing golf, a sport that uses up large tracts of land and resources for a select few of wealthy people? No thanks.
That’d be the Patriarchy, Jim.
I have some faith that no matter who called, it would have gone down JUST like this.
For fucks sake part 2…
And the oligarchy
cc @gracchus
A couple points in defense of Golf as a sport/past time.
Golf courses actually do help to preserve an abundant amount of land as non developed (for housing or commercial use). They ensure a large space of greenery and forest and are generally speaking well maintained and do help the environment in this regard in many instances. It is true they can also be a drain on resources where they clearly don’t fit that environment (golf courses in Nevada or Arizona come to mind).
Golf in the last 25 years became far more accessible. There are actually more public courses than private clubs today and even most private clubs have begun to open their courses to non-members. This was basic economics as less and less elitist pricks were paying for club memberships, so clubs turned to where the money was at…non-members. Most golf players do not belong to a club as paying $10,000+ per year is not cost effective for most people - obviously.
Golf had a boom through the 90’s and 2000’s and has tapered off in popularity in the last 5-8 years. It isn’t really surprising as to why…the boom in gender and cultural diversity the sport saw from the early 90’s to 2010 waned. Additionally we began to see attention brought to it as a negative activity, especially in the last few years.
I do not blame the sport/leisure activity for the bad behavior of these men. After all…the ladies in question love the sport and play it regularly! They are not awful people because the sport is an awful sport. There are terrible people found in all segments of sports/leisure activities. I am not a huge fan of golf, I enjoyed it as a few times a year thing to do with my Dad because he loved it so much. We had a Thanksgiving tradition for him, myself, my brother in law, and a couple uncles to play early morning at one of the two public courses near us. No matter how cold, or if there was snow. We played, and the courses always welcomed us even if they had to open just for us. I guess my point is…I don’t think we should blame the entire sport.
Which, unfortunately, animals are either not encouraged to live on or are actively driven away from. It’s “preserved green space” in the same way that a pool is “preserved wetlands”.
not necessarily true. I knew specifically of multiple courses I went to with my father over the years that actively promoted a healthy deer population and provided additional food sources and watering spots for them and other non destructive/dangerous animals.
I never golfed in Florida or the south…where I can assume actively trying to keep gators or snakes away would be commonplace because of the danger/threat they pose.
so I guess its…#notallgolfcourses ?
The true sport of the elite is raking in the bucks by turning golf courses into tracts of tight-packed McMansions.
Bringing back the classics! Soon they’ll be re-segregating the drinking fountains.
Doesn’t that immaculate green grass required a lot of herbicides? And don’t those tend to run off into streams, rivers and lakes? And doesn’t keeping all that grass green require lots and lots of fresh water?
the serious case against golf is empirical, and undeniable. That is its environmental impact. The construction and maintenance of golf courses is harmful to fragile ecosystems the world over. Its proliferation as the international pastime of the leisure class is multiplying the problem, and its approval by governments and societies epitomises the wasteful and scurrilous approach to development that is replicated in miniature on millions of suburban lawns.
For gallingly anthropocentric douchebags who make pretend that such open space is habitat for anything other than gallingly anthropocentric douchebags.
Golf Courses are not open space, they’re and intensely developed monoculture, from a biology standpoint.
I don’t know any golfers whom i don’t consider a total member.
Tiger Woods has sucked in the last 5-8 years.
Correlation is not causation, but it’s still correlation.
Not usually in groups of four.
I don’t think it needs defending, like buggy whips. I don’t blame them for being used on people. But their time came and went.
While I agree that golf is a huge waste of resources, as a game I really had fun with it and I do enjoy human-designed natural environments such as a golf course or a garden. I would call it a game rather than a sport, and to me it isn’t a good walk ruined, but a good walk enhanced.
But, it’s also a stomping ground for elitist assholes and the cost of actually playing on well maintained nice courses on a regular basis is ridiculous. I used to have a cheap pseudo-membership at some small club I have never seen just to be able to play at all, and I played at a small 9-hole club where I wasn’t a member, which probably contributed to the harassment.
That’s awesome and good to know. I lived down the street from one and the folks I knew who golfed there were always complaining about the owners being lax about keeping deer away. It also made a nice sledding area during winter.
I’m not knocking golf as a sport in and of itself. It’s not for me but it gave my father, who was a talented player, lots of joy. I’m just pointing out that as an industry and culture it has its problematic aspects.
So do public parks and green belts and greenways and cemeteries, none of which drain resources or exclude people to the extent golf courses do.
That’s no co-incidence, lining up as it does with the beginning of the end of the postwar economic prosperity and the start of the decline of a middle class that could afford the time and money to play. The industry has supported these moves more out of economic desparation than out of a sudden desire to see more black people and women and weirdos playing golf. What they really want are more overgrown white frat boys like the ones who attend this aptly named “democratic” tournament:
Which is why I put the membership fees aside. The real cost is in time (it takes at least 4 hours to play 18 holes) and, to a lesser but still significant degree, the price of equipment.
There are people who don’t care about playing well, but they’re more likely on the expensive private courses doing business networking and getting drunk.
Golfing attracts a disproportionate share of entitled arseholes compared to other sports. It’s a regular joke amongst golfing enthusiasts themselves (Larry David devotes a whole sub-genre of his comedy to this and he loves the sport).
no doubt…and if the choice was between a public park vs a golf course…I’d take the park. But if the choice is between a golf course and another strip mall…I’d rather have the course.
Again…my perspective here on this story and the conversation that follows should be about the racism and elitism these gentlemen expressed…not an all out attack on golf. These ladies seemingly love the sport. So if we attack the sport as the root of evil, then they get dragged into that; which I think is not the important thing here.
know what I mean?
edit:
Another point as to why golf became more popular from 1990 to 2010. Prior to that a full set of decent clubs ran well into the hundreds of dollars even thousands, plus the extra cost of shoes, balls, a bag, etc. Now large sporting outlets have full sets for under $100 including a bag. Balls are cheap, shoes are cheap. And instead of having to belong to a club, you can just make a tee time and pay $25-50 to play. It became far more affordable for the middle class.
