Gentlemen Only, Ladies Forbidden

It seems that Portmarnock Golf Club, a venerable Irish golf club founded in 1894, continues to believe that Golf is an acronym for "Gentlemen Only, Ladies Forbidden", and in a 3-2 decision, Ireland’s supreme court upheld the Club's right to exclude women. The court ruled that the Club's decision to bar women from membership did not violate Ireland’s Equal Status Act because the law permits exceptions for exclusively male and female clubs if the Club's “principal purpose is to cater only for the needs of persons of a particular gender”. The club argued, and the court agreed, that the club's principal purpose is social fraternization. The plaintiffs argued that golf clubs are venues for power-brokering relationships important to businessmen and women alike and a lot lot more happens in golf clubs than playing golf.

This story was also picked up by the Arizona Republic on November 4, 2009, without comment about the local "Men's Grill" controversy, which has now been resolved. The Phoenix Country Club, which was the original and long-time site of the Phoenix Open PGA Golf Tournament, was established over a century ago and is located in the heart of central Phoenix. Its membership includes many of the most influential business persons and families in the Valley, including women (I am not a member).

The Club has a separate Men's Grill, Women's Grill and Mixed Grill. The Men's Grill is located on the second floor of the clubhouse overlooking the golf course with dark wood and high definition television sets and plaques on the wall commemorating past Club golf champions. It was always bustling with activity during the noon hour during the week and you could always find leading male politicians, attorneys and business persons chatting over lunch.

The Mixed Grill is about half the size of the Men's Grill and is also located on the second floor of the clubhouse overlooking the golf course. It has white linen table cloths and nice decor, but very few patrons during the lunch hour. Although I have never been in the Women's Grill, I am told that it is a smallish room adjacent to the Mixed Grill with few distinguishing features.

After years of in-fighting among Club members, in September 2008, the Arizona Attorney General Terry Goddard filed a lawsuit against the Phoenix Country Club alleging that the Club violated the Arizona Civil Rights Act “by excluding women from using the Men’s Grill and men from using the Women’s Grill”. The Club responded that it was exempt from the Arizona Civil Rights Act because it was a "private club". The question of whether a country club or other organization is a "private club" under the Civil Rights Act is a question of fact and turns at least in part on whether the club facilities are truly private for the use of its members or are used for public meetings and events and whether the club or organization derives significant income from catering to outside groups.

After some very public and unseemly wrangling, in January 2009 the lawsuit was settled and the Club agreed to open all of the club’s dining facilities to all members and their guests “regardless of sex”. As part of the settlement, the Club did not admit liability and the Attorney General "acknowledged that he is now satisfied that the club is operating as a private club”. The acknowledgment of private club status by the Attorney General was a significant victory for the Club because it may preclude the Attorney General from bringing any further lawsuits against the Club under the Arizona Civil Rights Act due to the "private club" exemption.