No charges filed after alleged racial incident at Grandview Golf Club

The five women say they need to discuss a possible meeting with Grandview co-owner JJ Chronister.

(Undated) — No charges were filed against two women who say their group of African-American female golfers was discriminated against by Grandview Golf Club’s ownership and staff on Saturday.

“No result on our end, no action,” Northern York County Regional Police Chief Mark Bentzel said on Monday. “We were called there for an issue. The issue did not warrant any charges. All parties left, and we left as well.”

The two women, Sandra Thompson, 50 and Myneca Ojo, 56, were originally at the club, located at 2779 Carlisle Road, Dover Township, with three other friends, sisters Sandra Harrison, 59, and Carolyn Dow, 56; and Karen Crosby, 58.

The five are part of a larger group known as Sisters in the Fairway. The group has been around for at least a decade, and all of its members are experienced players who have golfed all over the county, they said.

On the second hole of the course, the group was told they were not keeping the pace of play by former York County Commissioner Steve Chronister, who identified himself as the club’s owner, they said.

Later, the women were told they had taken too long of a break between the first and second halves of the course. They were then asked to leave, offered their membership money refunded, and the police were called.

By that time, only Thompson and Ojo remained. The other three had left because they were traumatized by the alleged harassment, they said.

Club co-owner JJ Chronister reached out to the women and asked to meet with them “to fully understand what happened so that we can ensure it never happens again,” she wrote in a news release on Sunday.

However, a second statement she emailed on Monday offered a slightly different point-of-view, stating in part that “We spoke with them (the women) once about pace of play and then spoke with them a second time. During the second conversation we asked members to leave as per our policy noted on the scorecard, voices escalated, and police were called to ensure an amicable resolution.”

Ojo, who is director of diversity and inclusion at the Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission, said Monday the group had yet to discuss the possible meeting together.

“No, there’s no new development; we’ll let her (JJ Chronister) know,” Ojo said. “We just haven’t figured out the time, the approach … It does need to come to some conclusion.”

On the proposed meeting, Thompson, who is president of the York branch of the NAACP, said Sunday, “We’re interested in getting long-term resolution, not short-term resolution. … We’re not looking at surface or quick fixes, because surface or quick fixes doesn’t fix the mindset of what led to this.”

Thompson is the vice chair of the Democratic Party of York County and a full-time attorney with law offices in York. She is also a former candidate for York County judge.

JJ Chronister owns the club with husband Jordan Chronister. JJ Chronister’s father-in-law, Steve Chronister, is not an owner of the club, but serves in an advisory capacity, she said.

Complete second statement by Grandview:

Grandview currently has 2400 members. In the past players who have not followed the rules, specifically pace of play, have voluntarily left at our request as our scorecard states. In this instance, the members refused to leave so we called police to ensure an amicable result. The members did skip holes and took an extended break after the 9th hole. We spoke with them once about pace of play and then spoke with them a second time. During the second conversation we asked members to leave as per our policy noted on the scorecard, voices escalated, and police were called to ensure an amicable resolution. 

This story comes to us through a partnership between WITF and The York Daily Record.