Per Chelle May Gross on Facebook (slightly edited to fit)
This year, my husband’s usual tournament partner could not play because he is participating in his nieces wedding, so Stephen needed to find a temporary partner.
Insert Lauren, our daughter would be home for the first summer in quite some time, and she plays a rare golf round every now and then in her free time. She was a division one college basketball player, so free time was almost non existent. Hence her first summer home, but Stephen thought “what the heck, she loves competition, so why not?”
Lauren agreed. They filled out the paperwork, hand delivered it in April, and proceeded to prepare, while looking forward to the weekend and some fun competition.
He books hotel reservations, dinner reservations, and the rest of us that don’t play make our usual plans of going to McCarty’s and The Gallery for lunch.
Yesterday, morning we receive the phone call letting us know the Lauren would not be allowed to play.
We ask why? She is a girl is the only reason given.
We then proceed to ask if we missed something. Is it stated anywhere that it is a Men’s Tournament? Does it say men’s only? The golf pro admits that it does not state anywhere that it is a men’s only tournament, but a girl has never played in the tournament before.
My husband explains that if it had stated it were a men’s tournament, he would never have asked her to play. He explained that we are fine with men or women only tournaments, and was unaware that women were not allowed to play. Not one of the people that play with them on a regular basis believed that she would not be welcome. Stephen explained how wrong he felt like the club was for the decision, but also for calling less than 24 hours before they were to leave town to travel to Cleveland. He explained that Lauren expected no special treatment and that she would play from the men’s tees like everyone else. She just wanted to play.
The Golf Pro asked for some time to talk it over with some others and he would call back.
He called back, after talking to the past pro, their decision stood. She would not be allowed to play. They did not want to open that “can of worms”.
Lauren, then called to talk to him, she simply wanted a reasonable answer as to why. His response to her was “We have never had this problem before.” She then replied with “So, the fact that I am a girl is a problem?” Then she asked him “If Dad had lied and said that she was a boy, and she dressed like a boy, would she have been able to play”, and he replied, “Yes.”
Insert my son, who also plays in the tournament. He sends an email to the club stating his offense and that he planned to let anyone that would listen know what happened.
Stephen then gets a call from a friend he went to school with who (unknown to us) happens to hold a position on the board at the club. Hopefully that keeps him anonymous.
He apologizes and asks Stephen, if they allow Lauren to play, would she still be willing to do so? Stephen talked to Lauren. She agreed. She just wants the right thing to be done. He lets us know he would get back with us very soon.
5 1/2 hours later at 9:30pm Stephen reaches out to his friend to see what he needs to do about hotel reservations. He responded with we are still meeting, I’ll let you know soon.
At 10:30pm Stephen reached out again before going to bed, he explained that if they were going to play in the tournament, he would be leaving by 9am the next morning. He was told, some members of the board had to go home, but they were still communicating via text. His friend would let him know something by 5am.
5am – nothing, 6am – nothing, 7am – nothing, at 8am Stephen reached out again. He was told that they were still discussing the “issue”. But they would get back with him very soon.
At 10:15am over an hour after Stephen and Lauren were supposed to leave town, Stephen reached out one last time to ask for a final decision. He explained he believed there was only one right answer and he could not believe that it had taken this long, but he had to know something or they would miss their tee time.
After over 24 hours of thought, discussion, communication between the Board, current Golf Pro, past Golf Pro, and members of the club. The Cleveland Country Club decided to stand with their decision of not allowing a girl to play in the tournament that states nowhere it is a men’s only tournament simply because a girl has never played before.
I’m simply shocked that clear heads could come together and still come out with the same conclusion.
a woman has been refused entry into a golf tournament here in Mississippi here’s the full story but first thank you guys for tuning in to the Clay Edwards YouTube channel here at save jxn on YouTube we do appreciate it it’s Saturday afternoon June 8th the story set the internet on fire yesterday on Facebook here in central Mississippi all throughout Mississippi should I say as the original post by the mother of the girl Michelle May gross has been shared well over 2,000 times with o with nearly a thousand comments we’re gonna just read the kind of Cliff Notes version of it here and then we’re going to switch back over to the Vicksburg news and give you their version of the events because as you see here it’s rather lengthy and I’m not that good of a public reader I will copy and paste this and put it here in the comments for not the comments I’m sorry in the description for you guys to read don’t forget check out my radio show every Monday through Friday morning right here in central Mississippi on 103.9 fm Wy a b it is the clay Edward show it is the most incendiary show on all of radio we like to think so anyway all right here we go this was yesterday about 2 p.m. good afternoon I am not one to post very often as you can see by looking at my news feet however I do feel it necessary to speak when the truth could help make something right today I feel the need to share a situation we found our family in the middle of I’ll throw out the short truth first and then I’ll give you the rest of the story Paul Harvey style yesterday morning less than 24 hours before my husband and daughter were set to tea off for a practice round of golf at a tournament they signed up for in April my husband received a phone call from the golf pro letting him know that he and Lauren would not be allowed to play in the tournament because Lauren was a girl yes you read that right because I understand it is their right as a private organization to not allow her to play I am not arguing that I’m just shocked if you’d like to know the rest of the story here it is so we’re going to switch back over like I said it’s rather lengthy and I think the vickburg news did a really good job of kind of giving us a synopsis of it it happened in Cleveland at the Cleveland Country Club says the annual event is not for men but a girl has never played in it before in 2024 in Cleveland Mississippi at the Cleveland Country Club a woman has been refused entry into an annual tournament the golf pro admits that it does not State anywhere that it is a men’s only tournament but a girl has never played in the tournament before said the mother of the excluded player the mother’s social media post explains the family has participated in the event and been a part of the tournament family for decades quote we have made this a tradition and gather together yearly to catch up with each other drive through campus see what new restaurants have been added how the town has grown changed and what is still there since our time there the mother and husband both graduated from Delta State if you don’t know Delta state is in Cleveland Mississippi this year my husband his usual tournament partner could not play because he is participating in his niece’s wedding so Steven the husband and dad needed to find a temporary partner insert Laur Lauren their daughter she was going to be home for the first summer in quite some time explains Mom shell gross they fill out the usual paperwork make travel plans and book rooms for a nice family weekend to catch up with old friends and continue a tradition on Thursday morning they receive a phone call telling them Lauren was not going to be allowed to play she says we asked why she is a girl is the only reason given said gross Mom gross said we then proceed to ask if we miss something is it stated anywhere that this is a men’s tournament does it say men’s only the golf pro admitted that it does not State anywhere that it is a men’s only tournament but a girl has never played in the tournament before she says my husband explains that if it had stated it were a men’s tournament he would never have asked her to play he explained that we are fine with men or women only tournaments and was unaware that women were not allowed to play not not one of the people that played with him on a regular basis believed that she would not be welcome Stephen explained how wrong he felt like the club was for the decision but also for calling less than 24 hours before they were to leave town to travel to Cleveland he explained that Lauren expected no special treatment and that she would and that she would even play from the men’s teas like everyone else she just wanted to play The Country Club asked for some time to discuss it and shortly after called back with the decision to let him know that it was going to stand Lauren could not play according to gross the country club said they did not want to open that can of worms a call was made to the family from a country club board member who was also an old school made of Stevens the board member asked for a little time to discuss it with the rest of the board yesterday the day before the event around 10:15 a.m. the final decision from the country club was Lauren was not going to be allowed to play Robert at the country at the Cleveland Country Club Pro Shop spoke briefly with the vix Daily News and asked that we speak with the head pro who of course was not available Robert did not have a phone number for the head pro either Robert did offer however quote I can tell you the situation has been addressed with the appropriate people and has been taken care of and that it is about the only comment to be made and that is the only comment to be made quote when asked if that meant Lauren would be allowed to play Robert said she is not playing no sir the Country Club is open to women has events for women and they are SK and they are currently featuring a woman on their social media profile one person commented she should have told them she identified as a man they would have had to let her play shell gross responded she even I’m sorry she would never falsely represent herself that wouldn’t be right she took it like a man she took it like a man and they went to play golf at Mard point for her part Lauren wants everyone to know she is fine but the story needs to be told Mom shill said she thinks it happened to her for a reason at the time of publication the head pro had not contacted the Vicksburg news here’s a picture of the of the entry form as you see here nowhere on it see if we can make that a little bigger for y’all yeah there we go nowhere on it does it mention men or men man or woman it just says Cleveland Country Club 48th annual four ball invitation on June 8th and 9th 24 entry fee 225 a player 450 a team golf cart fees name address email handicap uh yes you would like to reserve a cart Senor flights name email blah blah blah nothing on here about nothing on there about uh man or woman all right so let’s do this we’ve gone through everything we read both sides of of of the story here so let me make my screen a little bigger more of me less of that look I’m a I’m a girl dad my my daughter played some sports did pageants all that stuff I’m obviously a conservative I’m anti- men being involved in women’s sports in any way form or fashion outside of coaching look I’m a I’m a side with the golf course the golf club on this one with the Country Club I don’t like it but if we’re calling balls and Strikes here and we’re saying we don’t want Men playing in women’s tournaments and we shouldn’t have to we shouldn’t have to even clarify that that’s not a that it’s not wanted or or or allowed it should just be common sense we got to use that same energy on the other side of this too and I understand the disappointment of the mom the family and I do think the country club handled it wrong but did they know that Lauren was a girl that I’m guessing if you ever put an event together couple days before they were probably going through the entry fees I mean the entry stuff getting entry forms getting their stuff together getting their list together and they noticed a girl’s name and said oh crap we got to let them know better to let them know a couple days ahead of time or a day ahead of time whatever then when they got there again it’s a bad situation for all parties involved but we sit here you know and like Riley gains for instance has been making the rounds on a bunch of podcasts lately really explaining what happened with the Leah Thomas stuff with all the swimming and all that I don’t really want to compare the two but you got to draw the parallels and you just got to put a fine line down the middle not a fine line a very bold line it’s like men play men’s sports women play women’s sports and I know this is just such a drastic difference it’s a it’s a daughter and a father playing in a country club and it’s an opportunity for them to make memories together the country club you know they handled it wrong but it should have just been assumed that it’s probably an only men’s tournament I’m trying to rationalize it and I’m almost changing my mind as I taught this but it’s just like the I hate to draw a extreme comparison here but I had this conversation with somebody the other day I I am a pro-life absolutist do I think there’s cases where you could make an argument for abortion Pro probably you know honestly uh a minor being raped or something like that but you can’t live in a gray area you have to be absolute about things and you just have to say that that’s God’s will unfortunately and I think we we’re we’re drawing to that same point here with this Men playing women’s Sports women’s playing men’s sports you just got to draw a hard line and you got to be like no we just can’t do it again I know that’s a terrible analogy but I’m just making a point you got to dig in your heels and just say this is what it is we playing over here and y’all playing over here because imagine if the if the roles were reversed in this and a man was trying to play in a woman’s tournament a mom and her son were trying to play in a woman’s tournament it would be seven levels of Hell rain down from every female in Mississippi that a man was stepping in to play in a women’s sport that’s just how I have to look at it what do you guys think should the daughter have been allowed to play and I look I’m saying this from a dad’s point of view I’d have been disappointed too I think several different parties are probably at fault at this they if they’ played in this tournament for a long time they’ve never seen a girl play in it they maybe should have made a courtesy call it’s like hey Bob can Lauren play in this thing my my other partner ain’t gonna be able to do it and boom a simple yes or no or let us figure it out we’ll get back with you uh a Small Town Country Club has now been drugg into a very polarizing National conversation that I’m sure they had no interest in wanting to be a part of uh now you you got this family’s name who’s going to be out there and drugg into this because of the Facebook post I’m sure they’re all good people hopefully they figure out a way to get this worked out but I’m GNA it’s edgy but because I think you got to draw a hard line I’m personally going to stand with the country club on this one because I just know if it was the other way around we we’d be raising seven levels of hell so I think the mother handled it well than saying something about it which I mean that’s totally up to her I’m not one to tell people not to vent their emotions on the internet I do it every day and do it for a living I thought she handled it very well she was articulate she didn’t roll anybody under the bus I didn’t think uh but uh it has gone viral and once you put it on the Internet it’s everybody’s business we’ll break it down some more we’ll see if anything news breaks of it over the weekend and I’ll talk about it on my radio show Monday morning 7:00 a.m. to 9:00 a.m. love to get you guys take on it were they in the right were they in the wrong the country club what do you think should they have let the daughter the girl play we’ll see maybe I’ll change my mind over the weekend I don’t know but right now I feel like they made the right call tune in to the clay Edward show Monday through Friday 7 a.m. to 9 a.m. 103.9 fm wab hit subscribe like share leave a comment right here below let me know what you think guys real quick before I get out of here are you suffering from low testosterone you may be and don’t even realize that you are you my friends could be a candidate for testosterone replacement therapy that’s right Men’s Health in Mississippi has got you covered check it out I’m going to get you a free screening are you suffering from fatigue decreased muscle tone lack of energy low libido that’s your sex drive brain fog sleep disturbances lack of confidence man you could be suffering from low te I’m going get you a free screening just text my name clay 601 327 855 that’s Men’s Health of Mississippi located right there on fountains Boulevard in Madison Mississippi you can check them out online at men’shealth ms.com that’s men’shealth ms.com for your free testosterone screen today actually disregard the website just text my name all caps clay 6013 27855 we appreciate you guys taking the time out of your weekend to watch this video again one last time please hit the Subscribe button like share and drop a comment down below agree disagree or clay you’re back crap crazy all of it works good for me stay blessed
2 Comments
BINGO
Club should let her play because it waited so long