Golf club accused of taking a leap back in equality
Arrowtown Golf Club is under fire for barring women from Saturday tournaments as female members accuse the club of taking a large step backwards in equity.
Women have been free to play against the men in Saturday club competitions for around 20 years but that changed last October when the men’s match committee announced a change where women would only be able to compete amongst themselves, the Otago Daily Times reported.
The committee had reportedly had issues around women’s differential scoring and acted after a member’s complaint over a woman member’s eligibility for an event.
According to the Otago Daily Times, only three women, who couldn’t play during the week due to work commitments, were competing in the Saturday tournaments against the men.
Joanna Booker, who was one of the players, has called the club ban ‘‘misogyny gone mad’’.
‘‘In this day and age where the world is striving for equity between the sexes, it seems that Arrowtown Golf Club has taken a large step backwards. We would love to have sorted this out within the club but we’ve exhausted our avenues there and been told that we have no speaking rights with the men’s match committee,’’ Booker said. Arrowtown Golf Club vicepresident Paul Palmer denied women have been kicked out of the men’s Saturday competition.
He said problems arose after the women started playing off the men’s tees, or white tees, just over two years ago, yet were given an extra six shots.
‘‘Basically, the match committee, in their wisdom, and I wasn’t involved in this decision, wanted to revert back to the old system of those ladies playing off the yellow tees,’’ Palmer said.
‘‘Some aspects of the communication in doing that weren’t good.’’
Drew Findlay, men’s match committee member, disagrees with the move but concedes he is in the minority on the committee.
He said banning women from competing with men is ‘‘ridiculous in this day and age’’ and is a ‘‘very backward’’ move and ‘‘male chauvinistic’’.
Maria Arhanic, who has played Saturday mixed golf at Arrowtown since 2001, said when the men’s match committee was not able to get the results consistently correct, ‘‘we made the mistake of complaining’’.
‘‘We complained and then we got a sledgehammer approach – they totally over-reacted to something that could have been resolved,’’ Arhanic said.
‘‘They’ve never once sat down with the three of us and said, ‘how can we resolve these issues?’ ’’
New Zealand Golf chief executive Dean Murphy told the Otago Daily Times members had approached them for help and they are urging the club ‘‘to consider a different path forward’’.
‘‘Our view is that for competitions or for playing days or for any kind of activity at a golf cub, there shouldn’t be any restrictions whatsoever,’’ Murphy said.
‘‘Ultimately the club can make their own decision, but we think there’s probably a more preferable way forward than antagonising particular groups.
‘‘We’re not stepping in or investigating or bringing out the big stick – we’re just going to work with the club to help it find a solution that everyone can be happy with,’’ Murphy told the Otago Daily Times.