Women Golfers Find A Clubhouse Divided -- Many Private Country Clubs Still Maintain Separate Lounges, Assign Tee Times By Gender

Anne Quigg and her pals had just shot a lousy round of golf at Sahalee Country Club, and they wanted a drink. But nary a waiter could be found in areas of the exclusive Sammamish Plateau club where golfers of both genders can mingle.

The men's-only grill, on the other hand, was bustling.

Quigg and her female companions managed to talk someone into bringing them drinks, which they drank in an empty dining room that Quigg, 42, describes as a "goofy, no-view, depressing spot. It was just a joke."

At Sahalee, thirsty female golfers have been chased away from the men's grill for trying to order a Diet Coke, other members say.

Scenes like this play out frequently at private country clubs throughout the Puget Sound area, where swanky bars and prime tee times are in many cases off-limits to women. As more women and younger people take up the sport, golfers of both genders are questioning some clubs' tradition-entrenched rules that many consider a throwback to a bygone era.

Now a state legislator has joined the cause, vowing to introduce measures to penalize private clubs practicing what some say is gender discrimination.

"If you have within society discriminatory practices anywhere, in any place, it reflects on all of us," said Sen. Darlene Fairley, D-Lake Forest Park. "I've always been very, very cognizant of the fact that once you discriminate against a certain group, it's a whole lot easier to discriminate against another group."

Discrimination in private clubs can't be outlawed directly. So Fairley is pondering legislation to yank state liquor licenses from clubs such as Sahalee if members aren't treated equally, or rescind a long-standing property-tax break most golf courses now enjoy.

"We'll hit them on all fronts," Fairley said.

Difference noticed at Sahalee

Fairley was alerted to the issue by James Jacobsen, an anti-discrimination lawyer and member of Sahalee, the tree-lined course that hosted the PGA Championship last summer and was ranked 95th in the nation by Golf Digest.

Jacobsen wrote letters to Fairley and three other lawmakers calling for laws that would mandate equal access at all clubs. He declined to elaborate, saying he's now trying to "work from within" at his club and persuade Sahalee board members to include a single, integrated grill in an upcoming remodel.

Sahalee general manager Tom Halsey acknowledged the different views about the club's rules, but he wouldn't say much else. "In the interest of preserving my job, no comment," he said. "It's a very hot topic here right now."

Fairley is trying to rally support in the Legislature, which is more than 40 percent female.

Sens. Adam Kline and Jeanne Kohl-Welles, both D-Seattle, who received letters from Jacobsen, say they would back anti-discrimination legislation.

Some call it a private matter

But not all women golfers support legislating gender-based fairness at country clubs. Quigg, for one, says the matter should be handled within the private clubs.

She's a member of Seattle's Sand Point Country Club, where she can't always enjoy one of her favorite pastimes - puffing on a cigar - because smoking is allowed only in the men's cardroom and in a dining room that is rarely open.

"That's the only thing that really frosts me," Quigg said. "But I knew the rules when I joined, and I went in with my eyes wide open."

Quigg still tests the rules at the club, where men's day features hot hors d'oeuvres, but women's day does not. She sneaks into the cardroom for a smoke when no one is around, she said, and plans to tee off during a men's-only Saturday outing in a few weeks, "just to shake things up. . . .

"I'm just going to freak them out," said Quigg, a Sand Point member for 10 years.

Many club operators say what goes on inside private clubs is none of the state's business. Some, such as Steve Hall, general manager of Seattle's Broadmoor Golf Club, said he doubts new laws would take into consideration space limitations at golf courses.

For others, it's a matter of tradition, said Wade Esvelt, general manager of the exclusive Seattle Golf Club, the area's oldest.

"We do the things we've been doing and have been successful at doing for more than 80 years," said Esvelt. "We're the same we've always been, and everyone here enjoys it and we're satisfied with it."

Times are changing

While the rules may be the same as years ago, the golfers are not, said Jeff Shelley, author of "Golf Courses of the Northwest" and a board member at Sand Point. Groups such as the Women's Golf Association and the Women in Business Golf Club have helped to publicize the sport for women.

"The demographics are definitely changing about who joins private golf clubs," Shelley said. "There are more working women now, and they have less free time on their hands, and they want to have all the privileges. The mythology of golf being a rich white man's sport has died."

That means golfers such as trial lawyer Lisa Marchese must join an equal-access club if they want the freedom to network and entertain clients at will.

"I think it would be too bad if it took a state law to get people into the 21st century," Marchese said. "Hopefully, if you give a problem attention, you shame people into realizing how indefensible this is."

Another longtime woman golfer, who has a handicap in the single digits, said she would gladly support a measure outlawing discrimination at the clubs. "It's just - it's obscene," said the woman, who didn't want to be identified for fear of being blackballed at her club. "I feel like a second-class citizen."

Imposing state laws on private clubs is tricky, but not impossible. New York, New Jersey and Connecticut recently mandated equal access to golf clubs for all members.

Washington clubs that won't let women golf on Saturday mornings - a much-sought-after tee time - or that operate segregated bars may already be in violation of the law, said Wendy Minick, regional litigation coordinator for the Northwest Women's Law Center.

These clubs often rent out space for weddings and parties that are attended by nonmembers, arguably subjecting them to equal-opportunity laws that govern public operations, Minick said.

Some also open their swimming pools and pro shops to the public.

Also, the line between public and private was blurred two years ago when Senate Republicans tried unsuccessfully to use state dollars to pay for extra security at Sahalee during the PGA Championship.

Minick is representing nine women in Tenino, Thurston County, who have alleged sex discrimination at the all-male Fraternal Order of Eagles social club. She said publicity surrounding that suit has prompted calls to the center from women concerned about fairness in country clubs.

In years past, the center has reached informal settlements with country clubs on such cases.

Legislators tried to tackle the issue of gender discrimination at country clubs about 10 years ago. The measure failed, but testimony during hearings and worries about potential lawsuits prompted many Seattle-area clubs to modify their policies.

Clubs draw a money line, instead

Now clubs such as Sand Point, Sahalee and Broadmoor, which boasts Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates as a member, segregate services and facilities largely based on membership status.

"Certificated" members - those who pay the steepest fees - are allowed choice tee times and more club access. While women can purchase such memberships, they rarely do.

Some clubs have added women's cardrooms and "mixed" grills, but they are not as lavish or as well-staffed as the men's-only facilities. Club owners say the discrepancies are justified because men far outnumber women at most clubs; staffing a women's room all day isn't economically feasible.

And some clubs offer separate but equal tee times for each gender. Tuesdays usually belong to women and Wednesdays to men, for example.

"I can't really complain at my club because I pay way less money," said Carol Tate, who has a $5,000 membership at Seattle's Rainier Golf and Country Club. Most other members pay $15,000 for initiation fees.

"There are a lot of ladies who have joined who couldn't afford to join otherwise. This is a good deal for women."

It doesn't bother Tate a bit that, because she has a cheaper membership, she can't golf on Saturday mornings. She likes to sleep in, anyway.

When Nancy Cooney and her husband, Ed, decided to join a club 10 years ago, they shopped around for one that treated women equally. They settled on Bear Creek Country Club in Woodinville.

"We joined Bear Creek purely and simply because I could tee it up on Saturday morning with my husband or with the girls," said Nancy Cooney.

But she thinks legislation is unnecessary.

"I really think women who have problems in their clubs need to address this within their clubs," she said. "If they're going to discriminate, and I don't like to use that word, I think it should be done by skill level and not by gender, and let the chips fall where they may."

Dionne Searcey's phone-message number is 360-236-8268. Her e-mail address is dsearcey@seattletimes.com