Pennsylvania’s Grandview Golf Club issued an apology Sunday after a group of five black women with a membership at the club were kicked off the grounds by the co-owner for playing too slowly.
Video footage recorded on Saturday by Sandra Thompson, one of the five women removed from the club, shows Jordan Chronister, one of the owners of the club, repeatedly telling her to leave the establishment. Chronister’s father, former York County Commissioner Steve Chronister, is seen in the background trying to keep Jordan from continuing to confront Thompson.
According to reports, Thompson and her friends were approached by the younger Chronister on the second hole of the course and informed twice that they were moving too slowly. They later opted to skip the third hole to avoid any further issues.
On the ninth hole, however, things heated up once again after the Chronisters and several other white male club employees approached Thompson and her friend, Myneca Ojo, and informed them that now they were taking too long of a break. According to golf etiquette, it is customary to take a break at the ninth hole before continuing to the next nine.
After filing their complaints with Ojo and Thompson, who is also the head of the York chapter of the NAACP, the men told the two that the cops had been called and that they had roughly five minutes to leave the grounds.
Though three of the five women had already left because they were shaken up, Thompson and Ojo stayed until officers arrived.
Northern York County Regional Police Chief Mark Bentzel released a statement Monday, saying, “We were called there for an issue, the issue did not warrant any charges. All parties left and we left as well.”
On Sunday, a day after the women were kicked from the club, JJ Chronister, Jordan’s wife and co-owner of the establishment phoned them to personally apologize and offered to meet with them to “fully understand what happened so that we can ensure that it never happens again.”
“We sincerely apologize to the women for making them feel uncomfortable here at Grandview; that is not our intention in any way,” JJ told the York Daily Record Monday. “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, a second statement released by the club on Monday offered a less apologetic tone.
“In this instance, the members refused to leave, so we called police to ensure an amicable result. The members did skip holes and took an extended break after the 9th hole. We spoke with them once about pace of play and then spoke with them a second time. During the second conversation we asked members to leave as per our policy noted on the scorecard; voices escalated and police were called to ensure an amicable resolution,” the statement noted. It’s unclear whether the author was JJ or someone else at the club.
In response to JJ’s first statement, Thompson stressed to the Record that “there needs to be something more substantial to understand [so] they don’t treat people in this manner.” She added that her friends and herself are “interested in getting long-term resolution… we’re not looking at surface or quick fixes.”
It’s unclear when a meeting will take place between the two parties.
Sourse: sputniknews.com
