‘The Old Boys Network Mentality’ : Golf: Twenty of 42 private courses in Los Angeles and Orange counties deny women tee times on Saturday mornings, an AP review reveals.

Saturday morning is prime time for California golfers: The air is cool, the pace is leisurely and a coveted early tee time allows players to get in 18 holes without blowing the whole day.

At many private golf courses, however, Saturday morning tee times are a luxury reserved for men.

Continuing a practice that some states have moved to end, 34 of 74 private golf courses in the Los Angeles and San Francisco metropolitan areas ban women during prime weekend hours, an Associated Press review found.

Administrators and golf professionals at the courses cite various reasons for the restrictions--tradition, women generally play more slowly than men, more women than men are able to golf during the week.

None of those arguments sit well with Carla Medina, a golf pro at Sequoyah Country Club in Oakland. Women golfers at Sequoyah aren’t allowed to tee off on the weekends until 10:30 a.m.

“This is the old boys network mentality,” Medina said. “There are a lot of businesswomen who would love to play in the morning. By 11, half the day is shot. It’s kind of hard to believe that it’s 1995 and this kind of stuff is still happening.”

Twenty of 42 private courses in Los Angeles and Orange counties and 14 of 32 private courses in the Bay Area deny women tee times on Saturday mornings, the AP review found. Some of those courses also ban women on Sunday mornings. A few ban women from clubhouse bars.

The AP found no public golf courses with restrictions on women’s play on weekends.

Ron Goodman, the starter at Wilshire Country Club, said men deserve the best tee times because male members outnumber female members.

“It’s a male-run club,” Goodman said. “They’re the ones making the rules because it’s their game. The ladies have enough time to play.”

Some women have filed lawsuits claiming their country clubs discriminate against female golfers. A handful of the clubs have responded by amending their rules.

Judy Carlson successfully fought the practice at Discovery Bay Country Club in Byron. In January, the club lifted its ban on women teeing off on weekend mornings.

“The younger people tend to be a lot less agreeable to the discrimination policy,” she said. “They’re brought up with a different attitude. Most of their wives work, and there’s a whole different value system there.”

The state Supreme Court is considering a case brought against the Peninsula Golf and Country Club in San Mateo by Mary Ann Warfield. She contends the club is a business violating California’s civil rights law. A ruling is expected in July.

Two states--Minnesota and Michigan--have passed laws that revoke liquor licenses of private clubs that restrict women’s play. An appellate court in April upheld the Michigan law by throwing out a lawsuit filed by six male members of a Detroit club.

Private clubs traditionally keep men off the course on Tuesday and Thursday mornings. Women usually are restricted from playing on Wednesdays.

But it’s the additional weekend restrictions that outrage many female golfers.

“The demand on everybody’s time is equal,” said Marge Head, whose husband is a member at Sequoyah. “Why should we be punished because of our gender? Golf is golf.”

Tom Morgan, executive director of the Southern California Golf Assn., said he was surprised to learn of the AP’s findings.

“Quite frankly I thought women had made some progress in that area in recent years,” he said. “I’ve heard that many clubs have relaxed their rules in recent years, especially for working women.”

Los Angeles attorney Gloria Allred, who has filed several lawsuits on behalf on female golfers, said many women don’t take legal action for fear fellow club members will alienate them.

“I think that many of these clubs think it’s their sacred right to discriminate,” Allred said.

The restrictions vary:

--South Hills Country Club in West Covina has no bylaws restricting women’s play, but doles out tee times with the understanding that only men can play Saturdays until noon and Sundays before 10 a.m., assistant pro Mike Vandergoes said.

--San Gabriel Country Club does not allow women to play Saturdays before noon, Sundays before 11 a.m. and on holidays before 1 p.m., assistant pro Loren Chaffin said. The club’s voting members are 427 men and three women.

--Lakeside Golf Club in Toluca Lake does not allow women to golf on Saturdays, said Gina McCurdy, who works in the pro shop. If women want to play on Sundays, they must play in foursomes with men, she said.

Mark McEvoy, assistant pro at Green Hills Country Club in Millbrae, said his club doesn’t allow women to golf until after 10 a.m. on weekends. He said that policy won’t change even though some of the club’s 200 women golfers have complained.

“I guess because of all this equal rights stuff, some of our younger membership like to complain just to stand out,” McEvoy said. “They kind of want to rebel against the rules. But most of our older ladies were brought up thinking it’s just a privilege that they’re let out on the golf course.”