Slaying the Dragon of Golf Snobbery

Copyright © John Coyne. Used with permission.

LAST YEAR THE ROYAL AND ANCIENT Golf Club of St. Andrews allowed women to join for the first time in its 262-year history. Not only that, but since 2012 women are accepted as members of Augusta National, even African-Americans!

Yes, times are changin' in clubs.

The Midlothian Incident

There are, however, other key moments of social progress in the long history of the game. One early historic moment came in 1914 and has forever been known as the "Midlothian Incident." It involved the famous and flamboyant Walter Hagen and the country club where I caddied as a kid.

Hagan was then a 21-year-old professional at the Country Club of Rochester. He had…