Critics Tee Off, Tee Time for Women Axed

Nine men in charge of a public golf course Thursday changed a policy banning women from teeing off during prime playing times, saying they feared pickets at the course.

The board that oversees the Hickory VFW Golf Course for the local chapter of Veterans of Foreign Wars this spring adopted a policy requiring women to wait until 11 a.m. to tee off on weekends and holidays, saying they play too slowly.

Course Manager Don Wilson, president of the board, said he thinks the policy was fair but decided to scrap it when some people opposed to it threatened to picket the course Saturday.

“With the letters I’m getting and the statements I’m getting from some of the men, I don’t want to see those two groups get together,” he said. “If somebody got hurt out here, I would take it personally. . . . We’re doing this specifically because of the pickets.”