Action: Unreturned membership fee tees off golfer

My wife and I moved to Rainbow Springs in Dunnellon in 1994. We joined Rainbow's End Golf Club, where we made many friends and enjoyed walking and playing the course. I received a letter dated Oct. 21 that said my membership was being canceled because I had ignored the rules governing play at the golf club. The letter said that my wife could remain a member.

We called and asked for the course rules and a list of rules I had ignored. We also asked that our $1,000 initiation be returned, along with our membership dues. The director refused to send us anything. If these written rules exist, I know of no one who has seen them.

I wrote a memo to the club Nov. 7 explaining that the conflict began in the spring of 2001. I was running the MGA annual tournament for the fourth time, and there had been no problems. During the second week of competition in March 2001, I finished my round and entered the clubhouse to record the scores of the players as they finished.

It was 12:10 p.m., and although the course was supposed to be closed to the public until 1 p.m., the public was going off the first tee. This indicated to me that the pairings had worked well.

As soon as I entered, the new manager started yelling at me about the way I had done the pairings. There was a heated argument, in which I readily admit I participated fully. To avoid further confrontations with him, I dropped out of the MGA and stayed out of the club as much as possible.

In the late afternoon of Oct. 18, I was playing and practicing on the fourth hole when the pro drove up in a golf cart from the direction of the clubhouse with a young boy. She chastised me in front of him for practicing on the course.

I replied that I had practiced on the course since becoming a member, with the knowledge of the two previous managers, sometimes practicing with them. I have never seen a written rule prohibiting practicing on the course. Also, I have seen the pro tell at least one person taking lessons from her to drop balls and practice. Are taking and paying for lessons from the pro the criteria for being allowed to practice? Our membership was canceled after that, by letter, without any kind of hearing or due process. The club returned the remainder of our 2002 dues and kept our $1,000 initiation fee. It's obvious the club doesn't want me there, and that's okay with me. However, I think it should return our $1,000. Dolph Sharpe

Response: J.T. Collins, vice president and general manager of Rainbow Springs in Dunnellon, said that you failed to include the letter spelling out the reasons for your membership termination in your complaint to Action. Though the two letters you included do address the fact of your termination and the club's decision to reimburse the unused portion of your membership, the second letter, dated Nov. 1, is addressed to your wife. It offers her the opportunity to remain as a member or to resign, and like you, receive the pro-rated membership fees back.

The letter not included with your complaint, also dated Nov. 1, indicates that you were given several chances to "correct your behavior" before the decision was made to revoke your membership. Collins said that this decision was not arbitrarily made by one club official but by several individuals. According to his letter, the behavior that caused the club to make its decision ranged from such issues as your disregard for the manner in which the club wanted players to be assigned to each tee to entering the golf course on holes other than 1 or 7 and placing yourself between players. The rules of the club state that you must check in with the pro shop and start on the hole it assigns. Rules about cutting in by players are posted in the clubhouse and in the men's and women's bathrooms. He said that you were given several chances to correct your behavior before the decision to terminate your membership was made.

With regard to your request for the return of your initiation fee, Collins said this fee is paid by every member at the time of joining the club and is not refundable, regardless of the reason for leaving the club.

- Action solves problems and gets answers for you. If you have a question, or your own attempts to resolve a consumer complaint have failed, write Times Action, P.O. Box 1121, St. Petersburg, FL 33731, or call your Action number, (727) 893-8171, or, outside of Pinellas, toll-free 1-800-333-7505, ext. 8171, to leave a recorded request.

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