The Week That Was, november 19, 2017

     The stain of sexual harassment charges has soiled one of America’s greatest golf destinations.
     In court documents, a woman alleges that Hank Hickox, the former general manager of Bandon Dunes, directed inappropriate sexual advances and comments at her and at other female staffers for years. She also alleges that Bandon Dunes was a hostile environment for women and that its management company, KemperSports, neglected to address her complaints in a timely, sincere way.
     These sad and troubling accusations have been made by Darla Hamblin, who went to work at Bandon Dunes in 2000. Hamblin filed a $501,000 lawsuit against Hickox and KemperSports but withdrew it earlier this month, just days before a trial was scheduled to start. The action suggests that the parties have reached a settlement.
     Mike Keiser, the developer of Bandon Dunes, isn’t named in the lawsuit.
     Hamblin’s court filings contend that Hickox compared the size of her breasts to those of other employees, touched her in unwelcome ways, gave her an unwanted, open-mouthed kiss during a work party, questioned her about her sex life, and expressed an interest in having a sexual relationship with her.
     Hamblin reportedly didn’t file a formal complaint about Hickox’s behavior with KemperSports until 2015 because she feared for her job. According to KGW-TV, she believes that KemperSports has “a company-wide culture of permissiveness” and that Hickox, who had close relationships with KemperSports’ leadership, once warned her “not to ‘bite the hand that feeds you.’”
     In a court filing, KemperSports acknowledges that Hickox “was forced into early retirement” last year.
     Hamblin’s allegations are supported by a court declaration submitted by Adrienne Fitzgerald, a former KemperSports executive. Fitzgerald told the court that Hickox was “notorious in the company for being sexually inappropriate and horribly offensive.”
     Fitzgerald, who worked at the company’s headquarters in suburban Chicago, states that she learned of Hamblin’s complaints when she overheard some of her male colleagues joking about them.
     “These men constantly talked about sex during work hours and gossiped about which female employees in the company were sexy and attractive and which ones were ugly and not worth f---ing,” declared Fitzgerald, who’s quit her job at KemperSports. “For a woman to stay or succeed in management, she had to be one of the boys and put up with their inappropriate behavior.”
     In a statement to Golf.com, KemperSports insists that it took “decisive remedial action” when it heard about “the alleged inappropriate behavior at Bandon Dunes” and that it’s retained “independent outside counsel” to “investigate the situation.” It also says that it’s “committed to providing a workplace environment that is rewarding, comfortable, and free from discrimination and harassment.”
     The statute of limitations has passed on many of Hamblin’s allegations, but the legalities of her case aren’t the issue here. When it comes to men and their customary insensitive treatment of women, a day of reckoning has arrived. As recent headlines prove, predatory behavior will no longer be tolerated. Women will no longer remain silent.
     Like their counterparts in politics, the movie and fashion industries, and every other walk of life, men in the golf industry need to address their demons and exorcise them. If they don’t, they’re going to be brought before a judge, either in a court of law or in the court of public opinion. Either way, the verdict will be harshly rendered.

     Like his U.S. counterpart, Kim Jong-un is finding it difficult to shake his golf dreams. Earlier this year, it was revealed that North Korea’s Peerless Leader aims to build “a sports and ecological resort” near Lake Mubong, in the northern part of his impoverished nation. Now comes word of a second golf-focused resort, this one at the slowly emerging Wonsan–Mount Kumgang International Tourist Zone, near the city of Wonsan. Kim Jong-un reportedly wants to turn Wonsan into a “world-famous tourist city,” and he apparently figures that a golf course – along with planned resort-style hotels, beaches, a ski area, and other attractions – will do the trick. But who’s kidding whom? Most vacation spots promise that you’ll return home with pleasant memories. North Korea may very well send you home with tapeworms in your intestines.

     Pipeline Overflow – Jack Nicklaus has celebrated the soft opening of his 300th “signature” design. It’s in West Palm Beach, Florida, and it’s a remake of the old Robert Trent Jones-designed course at Presidents Country Club, which now operates as Banyan Cay Resort. Nicklaus believes he’s created “a modern-day golf course and something special,” with “a lot of excitement” and “a lot of challenges.” . . . Romania’s top poultry producer has opened his nation’s second 18-hole golf course. The course, designed by Ioan Străjan, will anchor a 166-acre resort (sorry, but I can’t find the name) that Ioan Popa is building outside Alba Iulia, and it’s expected to put Romania “on the map of world-class golf.” The nation’s only other 18-hole layout is Paul Tomita Golf Club in Alba . . . Sometime next spring, Forrest Richardson will debut his re-do of Palo Alto, California’s flood-prone municipal golf course. The 18-hole track, originally designed by William F. Bell, will henceforth be known as Baylands Golf Links, and it’ll be accompanied by a three-hole “youth” layout and a short-game practice zone.