remind you that you’re not. At some of America’s A-list clubs, guests can show up ahead of a member and are treated as if they are the ones writing the cheques, with access to locker rooms, the practice range, perhaps even a bite to eat. At other places, you’re encouraged to wait in the car park, if not the KFC down the street. At a Northern California club with holes along the Pacific, a guest showed up one day and wandered innocently into the golf shop to buy a gift for his wife. The shop attendant informed him unaccompanied guests were prohibited from buying anything. “OK then,” the guest replied, “I’ll just hit balls.” When he asked to be pointed to the practice area, the attendant directed him to the range at a different course down the road. In Orlando, two clubs were supposed to have a reciprocal relationship, but one side’s participation was grudging at best. This was apparent when a visitor arrived at the sister club for his tee time, asked to use the washroom and was shadowed by an employee – the staffer even lurked uncomfortably in the corner as the guest used the urinal. “It was to ensure I didn’t wander into any other part of the clubhouse or locker room,” the guest said. “It was like a pet in a house that isn’t allowed out of a certain cornered-off area.” At many clubs rules persist about where one can change shoes, as if the appearance of socks in broad daylight is a form of indecent exposure. At a name-brand club outside New York City, a guest showed up
A STAFF MEMBER CAME WITH A LETTER ISSUING A WARNING AND A SUGGESTION TO BUY NEW SHORTS IN THE GOLF SHOP.
wearing sneakers, which he was told weren’t allowed in the clubhouse, so he then sought to change his shoes by his car. “Amazingly, out of nowhere, an employee pops up from the trees and says, ‘Sir, you aren’t allowed to change your shoes in the car park,’ ” his friend recalled. “We tried to solve this issue and kept asking the employee what to do. His response, ‘Figure it out.’ ” Briefly stumped, the guest resolved to walk back down the driveway of the club in his sneakers until he was outside
the gates, changed into his golf shoes, then walked back. Problem solved, calories burned. For an inanimate stretch of asphalt, a car park can provide a telling window into a club’s worldview in other ways. At a posh Palm Beach club, a guest arrived in a pickup truck and was asked if he was there to make a delivery. “No, I have a tee time,” he replied. He returned from his round to learn the valet parked his truck in the service lot. At a different club in the North Carolina mountains, the
GOLF DIGEST SOUTH AFRICA 77
JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2025
Made with FlippingBook interactive PDF creator