Veteran Golf Writer Gets Kicked Out/Banned from Private Club – of Which he was a Member
Veteran New England golf writer and publisher Tom Gorman has been kicked out and banned from Blue Hill Country Club in Massachusetts – of which he was a member.
This comes after Gorman published an article in newengland.golf about the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court ruling that Blue Hill was in violation of the “Tips Act.”
In GolfNewsRI’s estimation, the article was written straight and contains quotes from Attorney Paul Holtzman, who represented the wait staff, and a statement to New England.Golf from Concert Golf’s Peter Nanula.
Concert Golf owns Blue Hill Country Club.
Gorman writes that he was sent a letter on November 5, terminating his membership.
“Take your choice of words but in a certified letter dated Nov. 5 to me from Blue Hill Country Club, I have been “terminated by the Club. The letter is filled with grammatical errors and signed by the general manager instructing me to “reach out to Aaron Straub, Director of Member Relations” at Concert Golf Partners, corporate owners of Blue Hill CC and 20 other golf properties throughout the United States,” writes Gorman in an article on newengland.golf.
Gorman followed up with a call to Director of Member Relations Aaron Straub on November 19 and was told the following, according to his article.
“We have received 37 complaints from members of Blue Hill that are not happy with the way you presented the club in recent published articles. Concert Golf has many options in deciding what’s best for the club. Based on the feedback of members and other criteria we made a decision that you are not welcome there and that we will not renew your membership for next year.”
Straub added, “We believe that your published article in August on the Massachusetts SJC decision against Blue Hill contained some inaccurate content, and reflected more as a hostile opinion piece. That type of journalism should not be coming from a member. You can use your media platform to do whatever you want and I’ve already been informed you plan to make this issue public. That is not the way Concert Golf does business. We handle these matters confidentially for the benefit of both parties.”
Gorman is required to be gone from the club by January 1, 2022 (so not immediately) and is also not allowed to be at the club as a guest.