Club calls police on black golfers, accusing them of playing too slow
Women in group say the issue wasn’t one of pace but discrimination
Five African-American women say they were discriminated against at a Pennsylvania golf club when they were told they were taking too long on the course — and then the police were called.
On Saturday morning, the women — who, according to local media, were experienced golfers and part of a group called Sisters in the Fairway — teed off at Grandview Golf Course in York County. The women told the York Daily Record that they were told by the club’s owners they were not keeping a quick-enough pace. The club offered to refund their memberships and then called 911.
‘It was a horrific experience’
The confrontation follows a spate of similar confrontations among businesses, their customers or members, and the police. From the arrests of two African-American men at a Philadelphia Starbucks to a 911 call made on two African-American men working out at a New Jersey gym, the incidents have reignited racial tensions in commercial spaces and cast scrutiny on how law enforcement and companies respond.
“I felt we were discriminated against,” one of the women, Myneca Ojo, told the York Daily Record. “It was a horrific experience.”
The club has since apologized. JJ Chronister, a co-owner, told the Daily Record she had personally contacted each of the five women and hoped to “use this as a learning opportunity.” The club did not return a request for comment by the Washington Post.
Sandra Thompson, another of the women who is also the president of the York chapter of the NAACP, told the Daily Record that her group was set to tee off at 10:08 a.m. Saturday but was delayed for almost an hour because of frost on the course. Thompson said a clerk at the course said the group could play with five players, as opposed to a more traditional group of four or fewer. Thompson did not immediately return a request for comment by the Post.
After completing their second hole, Ojo and another woman in the group, Karen Crosby, said they were approached by Steve Chronister, who told them he was the owner of the club and that the women needed “to keep up the pace of play.”
“He was extremely hostile,” Ojo told the York Daily Record.
JJ Chronister said her father-inlaw, Steve, is not an owner of the club but instead serves in an advisory capacity.
Also at the second hole, another woman in the group, Sandra Harrison, talked with a golf course pro who said the women were keeping a fine pace.
Steve Chronister approached the women again to tell them to hurry along. Thompson said they had kept the group ahead of them within their sights the whole time, as is consistent with golf etiquette.
Thompson said Chronister told them: “You’re going too slow. I’ll give you a refund.”
“I said: ‘Do you realize we’re the only black women on this course, and you’re only coming up to us? We paid; we want to play.’ He walked off in a huff,” Thompson told the York Daily Record.
The group skipped the third hole, only to arrive at the fourth hole behind a group that had not yet teed off, Thompson said.
When the women reached the ninth hole, three of them — Harrison, Crosby and Carolyn Dow — left because they were so shaken up by the confrontation. Thompson said that she and Ojo were then approached by Steve Chronister and his son, Jordan, who is JJ’s husband.
In videos posted by the York Daily Record and by Sandra Thompson on YouTube, a man who identifies himself as Jordan Chronister tells the women he had been timing them while they took a break from 12:45 to 1:28. He speaks over a woman who is asking him to explain why her group was approached. At one point, Chronister is told by another man in the frame to “let the police handle it.”
Officers came and left
Officers from the Northern York County Regional Police arrived and left without filing any charges.
“No result on our end, no action,” Northern York County Regional Police Chief Mark Bentzel told the York Daily Record.
The police department did not immediately return a request for comment by the Post.
In a second statement released Monday, JJ Chronister said that in the past, “players who have not followed the rules, specifically pace of play, have voluntarily left at our request as our scorecard states. In this instance, the members refused to leave so we called police to ensure an amicable result. … During the second conversation we asked members to leave as per our policy noted on the scorecard, voices escalated, and the police were called to ensure an amicable resolution.”
Thompson told the York Daily Record that she was hoping for sensitivity and diversity training — not just a meeting with the golf club.