Dennis golf officials say they have adopted a policy that allows men and women to play in the same tournaments.
Joyce, 43, of Yarmouth Port filed a lawsuit in U.S. District Court in Boston Feb. 15 alleging that the town of Dennis, “through the actions of the administrators of its two public golf courses, discriminated against her on the basis of sex, in violation of the Equal Protection Clause of the 14th Amendment to the United States Constitution and the Commonwealth’s public accommodation statute.”
In her complaint, Joyce, a low-handicap golfer, names the town of Dennis, Dennis Pines and Dennis Highlands golf courses, Town Administrator Bob Canevazzi, Golf Director Mike Cummings, former Golf Director Dennis Penner and Golf Professional Russ Champoux.
Joyce’s attorneys, Laura R. Studen and Nancy A. Newark of the Boston law firm Burns & Levinson, cite the town’s “perpetuation of an ‘historic custom’ of offering ‘men only’ golf tournaments that prohibit women from participating.” Studen and Newark compare depriving Joyce the right to play in a men’s only golf tournament to “the once ‘historic custom’ of men’s only bars or of whites’ only drinking fountains.” They further allege that practices at Dennis golf courses “perpetuate the social and economic inferiority of women and cannot be rationalized by any legal standard.”
The Dennis Golf Advisory Committee voted in October to adopt the Massachusetts Golf Association and United States Golf Association’s non-gender-biased tournament rules and regulations.
This came six months after Joyce, a member of Dennis golf courses since 2005, was not allowed to play with her father, Patrick Joyce of Dennis, in a men’s member-member golf tournament at Dennis Pines.
Joyce’s attorneys state that as a result of their client’s challenging the defendants, “she has been ostracized, marginalized, humiliated, embarrassed and denounced in a manner that has come to her at a very high personal cost.” They charge that damages in excess of $75,000 have resulted from Joyce’s “humiliation, embarrassment shunning, disenfranchisement and other losses.”
The suit asks the court to order the defendants to cease discrimination on the basis of gender; award her all damages proven at trial; pay all Joyce’s costs, expenses and attorneys’ fees incurred in prosecuting the town; award her punitive damages and to “treble all of the damages she proves at trial to have suffered as a result of the Town of Dennis, Dennis Pines and Dennis Highlands’ deceptive and unfair acts and practices;” and to award her further relief as the court deems fit.
At its first meeting following denying Joyce’s request to play in the May 4-5 men’s tournament, the golf advisory committee discussed its gender-based policy. At the time, GAC Chairman Jim Horvath urged adopting the MGA and USGA non-gender based policies, but the committee voted 5-1 against Horvath’s proposal.
Last June, the GAC voted 6-1 in favor of all 2008 member-member and member-guest tournaments having both a men’s and a women’s field. Believing the change should be implemented for fall tournaments, Horvath opposed the vote. At the same meeting he resigned from the golf committee, citing increased work demands.
The town’s gender-based policy was not discussed in July, August or September.
On Oct 22, the GAC unanimously voted to adopt USGA entry procedure, rules and regulations for all tournaments starting in 2008.
Horvath said Tuesday, “Personally, I’m glad the issue was raised in May because something needed to be done. I also wish that other members of the GAC had gone along with my suggestion [to adopt USGA policy] on May 14 when I brought this up. At the time, I showed members the USGA and MGA tournament entry forms that are non-gender biased.”
Horvath said he is disappointed with Joyce for not attending any GAC meetings and voicing her displeasure in person. “She or any woman should have the right to play in a men’s tournament as long as they play from the men’s tee markers and by the tournament rules,” he said. “I wish the change had come sooner, but at least it has come.”
Joyce said she was unaware of the GAC vote to adopt USGA guidelines. “On Nov. 2, I received the town’s position paper in response to my MCAD [Massachusetts Commission Against Discrimination] complaint,” Joyce said. “It said that historically in Dennis men play with men and women play with women.”
Assistant Golf Director Brian Boone said he didn’t understand why Joyce received the erroneous position paper in November. “That position was stated by town counsel back in August. Why she received it in November, 12 days after the vote in her favor, I can’t explain,” he said.
But when asked why she filed the lawsuit last Friday, four months after the town’s policy changed to allow women to play with men in any tournament, Joyce maintained that the change hadn’t been instituted. “Why isn’t the change in policy posted in the clubhouses?” she asked. “Why isn’t it explained in the membership packet?”
Boone said the membership packet never mentions tournaments. “The first page of the tournament package announces in big print that you can’t miss, ‘We are now following USGA guidelines,’” Boone said. “That’s a direct result of the Oct. 22 vote.” Boone is still working on the 2008 tournament schedule, which includes a member-member tournament on May 3-4.
Joyce is suspicious of the town’s claim of adopting USGA policy. She contends member-member tournaments will include men’s and women’s divisions rather than allowing people of both genders to play with and against each other.
“That is absolutely not true,” Boone said. “If Elaine registers in any Dennis tournament and wants to play against men because it raises the level of her game or for whatever reason, she may do that. This change should cover all possibilities.
“We have made it as fair and equitable as possible,” Boone continued. “Whether it happened too slowly for her, I can’t help. The [GAC] meets once a month.”
Joyce said she wants to play in tournaments with men because “you play against people who are as good as you or better than you if you want to get better. There are no women at my level except one college student [Mary Chamberlain, who defeated Joyce in last year’s club championship] and she doesn’t always play in Dennis.”
Joyce joined Dennis golf in 2005 after spending several years in the late 1990s battling the same policy in Yarmouth. She said that by 2001, she had won the fight for equality for women golfers, but playing in Yarmouth “was never the same.”
Eric Oman, chairman of the Dennis Golf Advisory Committee, said that as of Tuesday Joyce had not renewed her golf membership in Dennis. “Considering that we changed our policy last October, we were kind of surprised that she filed a lawsuit last Friday,” he said. “To my knowledge, this is the first time a woman has tried to play in a men’s tournament.”
But Joyce disagrees. “Other women in the club would like to play with men,” she said. “In fall 2005, a couple wanted to know if the wife could play in the men’s member-member and were told no.
“I want them to realize how much they hurt me,” Joyce said. “I want other towns to take notice and change.”
In neighboring Harwich, women may play in men’s tournaments if they are members of the Men’s Golf Association, according to Golf Professional Joe McNulty. Brewster’s Director of Golf Operations Mark O’Brien said at Captains Golf Course, men’s and women’s member-member and member-guest tournaments have historically been gender specific. “It [a woman asking to play in a men’s tournament] has never come up,” O’Brien said. “If it did, we would bring it to the golf commission.”
As of Tuesday, Dennis town counsel had not given the defendants in Joyce’s case permission to speak to the media.
