Bear Slide Golf Club in Cicero, Indiana issued a Facebook statement after LIV golfer Harold Varner III and his group were told they were no longer welcome on the course and given refunds.
The club said Varner had a foursome booked on the tee sheet for August 18th, but the group arrived 30 minutes late and brought six total golfers.
“We accommodated the additional group and they were informed they could go off as 2 threesomes,” the club wrote. “At the first tee, they insisted that they should be allowed to play as a 6-some. The starter informed them again that is not allowed.”
According to the statement, one member of the group told the starter he was being rude and needed to calm down after asking four more times to play as a six-some, while another member of the group defended the starter. Varner then asked the pro shop three separate times if the group could play together, and was told again that it was not allowed with play behind them.
The club said the two threesomes teed off separately and played that way through the first three holes. At the par-3 fourth hole, away from the clubhouse, the groups joined together. Bear Slide disputed a claim that the group was simply watching the group ahead of them tee off, saying staff watched all six golfers tee off and putt out together.
“After leaving 4 green, the group was informed that they needed to bring their carts back to the parking lot,” the club wrote. “They were told that they would be refunded but that they were no longer welcome on the course. At no time were they ever told to ‘Get the hell off the course.’ All of them received the refunds.”
Bear Slide also disputed a claim that no one was behind the group on the course, saying there was a group waiting on the fourth tee, another on the third hole, and two more groups on the second hole at the time.
“Perhaps this group felt like they should get special privileges because of who they are and the organization they belong to,” the club wrote. “But we believe that everyone should be treated fairly and should follow the same rules, regardless of your playing ability or connections.”
The club closed the statement by saying it is committed to providing a great experience to everyone who plays the course and only asks that a few rules be followed. See Bear Slide’s full statement below.
Varner released his own statement disputing Bear Slide’s account. “The statement posted by Bear Slide contains several inaccuracies and does not fairly represent what occurred,” Varner said.
“Harold and his team paid to play. Before teeing off, they asked whether they could play a 3v3 scramble. When the starter declined the request, they respected the decision and played at pace as two separate groups of three,” Varner said.
“The first group would complete the hole, watch the second group play into the green and then proceed to the next hole. At no point did the six golfers combine or play as a sixsome. There were also no groups immediately ahead of or behind them being delayed,” Varner said.
“At the end of the fourth hole, the starter spoke with the second group and asked everyone to leave because he believed they were attempting to combine. Harold’s group was already heading to the next hole, and Harold was never personally approached or asked to leave. Once the message was relayed, the entire group left respectfully and without issue,” Varner said.
Varner closed by saying he was sharing the account only to ensure the facts were represented accurately. See Varner’s full statement below.
