THE DENIM NAZIS?

By Torleif Sorenson on 11/21/14

As president of Weston Golf Club in Massachusetts, Tom Ferry saw it as part of his duties to enforce the club's dress code, which clearly states that denim attire of any kind is not acceptable in the clubhouse, the golf course, or anywhere on club grounds.

This should not be surprising; the very exclusive club has a $45,000 initiation fee — as well as a Donald Ross-designed course. But what happened on a Saturday night in September makes Weston Golf Club look like a bizarre cross between Caddyshack and the Jerry Springer Show. (Assuming that show is even still on the air.)

According to the Boston Globe, Stephen and Charlotte Weeple are not club members, but were meeting friends in the clubhouse bar for drinks. Ferry stepped in to inform them of the club's no-denim rule. Callum Borchers of the Globe takes it from there:

Ferry believed the Weeples were in violation of the dress code and used profane language to tell them jeans are not allowed on the grounds, according to a letter the couple wrote to the club's directors.

Charlotte Weeple declined to comment, but in her letter to the board, obtained by The Boston Globe, she said she thought Ferry was joking until he called her derogatory names, igniting an animated shouting match between her husband and Ferry.

At 10:58, Weston police received a 911 call reporting a fist fight in progress.

"When I arrived, I observed two men... engaged in a loud, verbal argument," patrolman Joseph Kozowyk wrote in his report, noting that "neither man had any signs of a physical altercation."

The incident broke up when the Weeples left Weston GC without joining their friends inside.

Afterward, though, Charlotte Weeple complained to the club’s directors about her treatment and insisted that neither she nor her husband was wearing jeans. Moreover, Weeple bristled at the implication she did not know the rules of proper attire.

"Having grown up and spent much of my life in golf clubs around Scotland and officers' clubs in the military, I am fully aware and respectful of dress code and etiquette," Weeple wrote.

It later developed that several club members were also in denim that evening.

Apparently, club directors convened a kangaroo court an investigative panel to uncover all of the details of this conducted an investigation into this horrific violation of country club decorum and comportment. Eventually, the directors suspended ten members for a period of three months.

Ferry has since resigned from his post as club president.

At least it didn't turn out like your average "basketbrawl":




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Image via Weston Golf Club

H-T: Luke Kerr-Dineen