Woman claims she was denied entry into Mississippi gold tournament because she’s female

CLEVELAND, Miss. (WLBT) – Lauren Gross says she’s been waiting months to play in the golf tournament with her dad.

Yet 24-hours before she and her father were set to tee-off for a practice round at the Cleveland Country Club, she claims her father received a call saying she could not play because she is a female.

Gross is still trying to wrap her head around the fact that she was denied competing in the game because of her gender.

Gross says it’s a tournament her family has participated in for many years.

Because her father’s regular partner couldn’t make the tournament this year due to a wedding, he asked her to fill in. But after signing up, her name stood out to those over the registration process.

“My dad gets a call, and the pro asked him, like, ‘Hey, is your daughter’s name Lauren? Is that a girl?’” Gross claims. “He said ‘yes’ and they were like, ‘We are not going to allow her to play because she is a girl.”

That’s when Gross says she reached back out to those at the golf course to get more clarity on the situation.

Gross says the explanation given to her went along the lines of, “Well, we didn’t brand it as a man’s tournament, but for the forty-plus years we have been putting this on, it’s been that way, so we are just going to keep it that way.”

Gross says during the registration process, there weren’t any rules made noticeable to her that women couldn’t play in the tournament.

Without anything in writing backing up the club’s decision to not allow Gross to play in the tournament, she took the issue to social media.

“One thing that I want to be known is that I’m ok that I didn’t get to play in the golf tournament,” Gross says. “It’s not the end of the world for me. I just think the principle of the situation and speaking up is more so to try and keep these things from happening in the future for women.”

3 On Your Side reached out to the Cleveland Country Club Sunday morning for a comment or interview, but have yet to hear back. We also tried to call a member who sits on the board there, but couldn’t get him on the phone.

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