WOW, Times Have Changed.....

[BNGL]

Yes quite a bit I’d say 2-3 times a year or so for 7-8 years.

[farmer]

I wonder if you can wear upscale cargo shorts at MJ's club?

[Sean2]

Based on some of the previous posts I don't think I would like Seminole much. The members sound a bit full of themselves. The club I belong to is a middle class place. I have only met a couple of members with an "attitude", everyone is pretty much down to earth and couldn't care less about your social status or whether you drive a van or not.

[BNGL]

just curious what you have heard about it.

[Forged4ever]

I most definitely believe that story as a famous Steeler from the glory days(4 Super Bowl Rings) actually caused a rule change at one of the top-tier club’s in town cuz when he married a Lady who, through her parents and then on her own, was a member.

 

Previously, at ALL four of what are consider to be the top tier of clubs in Western PA, ie., The Pittsburgh Field Club(my club), Oakmont, Fox Chapel Golf Club(across the street from club & I was a member for about 14-15 months) & St. Clair CC, and though some do not include Sewickley Heights in this group, both I and anyone that knows sh*t about golf, clubs, etc ., does, and all of these clubs had a policy that if you were a Voting Member, and you married, your spouse, regardless of sex m, race, religion or political beliefs, as long as the marriage was recognized as “legal” within the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, was also a member.

 

Aleta and Rocky Bleier never thought that this would be an issue at her then present club, one of the 5 named above, as Rocky was idolized by many, liked by all and having met and socialized with him previously(he and Aleta’s father were patients of my Father’s and my dad would be his first line signer at our Club when they applied for membership), he was a great guy, who knew how to Play the “game,” whether it be the Steeler locker room, a corporate board room or the PFC Men’s card room.

 

Well, there was an issue, on a few fronts according to the board of this club.

 

One, Aleta’s membership was a “Social” membership, meaning that she could use all areas of the club., ie., pool, tennis courts, skeet range, and at this club, an equestrian facility, in which she was a competitive and decorated Equestrian, and of course all dining rooms and full clubhouse privileges.

 

The only area that she did not have open access was the golf course, where I’m not sure, however I believe at the time, at least at our club, she could play twice a month at no charge and then an additional two more times, at a guest’s discounted fee.

 

Also, as a social member, and this applies to all “social” members at the clubs listed above, as she did not purchase a bond upon initiation, she had no equity and hence, no voting privileges.

 

Think renting versus owning~

 

Well, a portion of the club got all a dither with Rocky as their newest member the second issue, and one that I mentioned in an earlier post, was who exactly he would bring to the club as his guests. While there was nothing they could do about him, as the horse was already outa the barn, pun intended, they proposed and passed a new rule, so named the “Bleier Rule,” that is still refereed to today along with his name being used as a verb, as I overheard a guy talkin in the cars room over the Christmas Holidays about a bud of his getting “Bleiered” at one of the above named clubs over his recent second wife’s application.

 

The rule is basically that if a single, divorced, widowed member got/gets married/remarried, that the new spouse would be required to go before the membership committee and could in fact be “black balled” by the club, leaving only the spouse with membership privileges, and severely limiting the time that say, Aleta could bring Rocky, or any member could bring their spouse, up to the club as a “guest,” regardless of activity or area of the club.

 

Well, Aleta being Aleta, and I did the same thing when I resigned from the club across the street from the Field Club the day that they black balled my then Fiancée, a beautiful(she was former Miss Teen PA & a college cheerleader), bright(she had her MSc from Carnegie Mellon, the same school that I got mine from, where we met and her mother was an Engineering Proff, her dad was a renowned Cardiologist) successful(she was in mid-level mgt. and making more than I at the time) Korean Lady, she did the same thing and resigned from her club and came to ours, where she and Rocky had no problems getting in(Rocky and my Bro became tennis doubles partners and won 6 club doubles championships and 3 All-Club Championships, consisting of a tourney consisting of 12 clubs from around SW Pennsylvania).

 

So, please excuse this novella, though I’d bet big bucks that Jeff’s story was more fact than rumor as our species, regardless of where we call home or what organization/club that we belong to can be really F’d up, especially those who take themselves and their lot in life waaaaaaaay to seriously?

 

Thanks for sharing Jeff?

 

All the Best,

RP

[Forged4ever]

Ya, I’ve Played it a number of times, the last being in the winter of 2012(my last in the game) and Maddie just Played it this past Autumn along with my father and the member. It’s not as stuffy as it was, however she puts it still above any clubs in Pittsburgh, and we’ve gotta few still really haughty clubs around, lol

 

You guys that now me, my attitude and views on this subject and my posts support them as I’ve left em all over the board and actually got into it back in 2015-16 with a long time sometimes controversial member, who I like a lot, however I disagree with him on this as his attitude is that which I constantly ridicule and chide, about guys takin themselves and their lot in life too seriously, as I believe that he does, and if ya remember his post or I should say his response to me was that I was basically a “jock” who got “dropped into the right crib,” ??

 

No sh*t, it’s the single greatest compliment that I’ve received on this board, though I’m sure that he meant it as an insult, lolol.

 

I’m just either too vain or too dense to take it the way that he intended, hahaha

 

My final response was that thank God that there are more guys that think, believe and act like I running things than guys like him.

 

Anyhoo, ya, there’s still that “ambiance of arrogance,” as I’ve always referred to it, at Seminole, though you would never see it as a guest, just as you would not at my Club, your city’s top private club, Oakmont, Pine or Augusta.

 

However, you can take this to the bank....

 

It’s there and under the “right” circumstances, would most definitely rear it’s head and stand front and center!!

 

Just as carrying oneself with Class is timeless, so too are the *ssholes who are Classless. They’re just more closeted today and the opportunity to rear their ugly worthless head is greatly curtailed, however if ya push the right button, you’ll meet em and get to experience it?

 

All The Best BN & thanks much for responding?

RP

[Forged4ever]

Actually, the members that I, Maddie and you or anyone that Played as a guest would meet are good guys. I mean they may not all be someone that I’d roll with, though some could say the same of me, however they’re very nice, gentlemanly and easy to be around for a 4-5 hour round.

 

In fact I’ve always found this to be amusing and even discussed it with my Buds, including Nathan Smith and Sean Knapp, who both belong to top-tier clubs, and that is that all of these arrogant ?’s are rarely if EVER Players, and are mostly mid-caps and above, 10~ to 20~+, who are more into pretending and posing than in actually Playing.

 

As my comment with my avatar states, it’s uncanny how much one can discern about another across 18 holes of golf or a couple of pops? in the 19th afterward?

 

I and Maddie have never had anything but a great experience while a guest at Seminole. They know how to do it and how to do it right??

 

It’d be an experience well worth taking if the opportunity presented itself?

 

Have a Blessed Easter My Friend?

RP

 

 

[Hawkeye77]

My sister and her husband both got music related masters degrees from Carnegie Mellon back in the 80s - they literally lived in Fred Rogers' neighborhood and she got a little money on the side because if I recall correctly the church he attended paid church choir members or paid for performances and she performed there (and if I'm wrong she sang at a different church, but she met Fred a few times and I think that is where).

[Forged4ever]

Hey Brother, I hope all’s well?

 

Ya, your Sis and her hubby have an education that is as good as it gets in this country as along with having world class undergrad & graduate Business, Engineering, Math & IT/Computer programs, CMU’s undergrad & Graduate Music & Theatre departments may be their most renowned, storied and decorated departments and programs.

 

When I was there for my Masters in ‘88, over two years(1986-1988) Steven Spielberg, John Hughes and James Cameron all guest lectured at the Music/Theatre school, and I asked about it and I mean, we had Lee Iacocca(Chair/CEO Chrysler) & John Akers(Chair/CEO IBM) for a lecture and I took a class from former AMC(American Motors Corporation) Chair/CEO Gerald Meyers(he showed up FIVE TIMES over a full semester and the putz didn’t speak more than 20-30 minutes of any of the hour and fifty minute classes??) whom CMU bestowed an honorary Doctorate, which for the CMU biz school to do is about as rare as a total eclipse, but WTF, those are uber directors, lol, and bigger than the lecturers that we had and I was told that while the business, engineering and IT programs got most of the ink, CMU’s “diamond” was the music/theatre departments and “anybody can crunch numbers” though few could Play an instrument, act or sing like a CMU grad.

 

I dont know if that was true however it did shut me up. WTF, one thing that I knew was that we still had a better graduate program than Pitt??

 

Stay well and I wish you and yours a Blessed Easter?

 

Maddie is chauffeuring me around and asked who I was texting, I told her that I was responding to you and she said to say hi and send “hugs and kisses,” lolol, so, this is from Maddie, ??

 

And this is from me, ?

 

Stay Well Brother,

RP

[BNGL]

Sure? Just like at any club, (or life for that matter) there’s a handful of members that are a pain in the butt, they think that membership gives rights or powers that simply don’t exist. (You hit a solid point, most of them that gave us/me trouble sucked at golf and for the most part didn’t matter weren’t on a committee, were either new or legacy members, or guests believe it or not using reciprocal playing privileges “your greens aren’t as fast as San Francisco Golf Club!” Go play there then!). But 99 percent of members at any club that I have met are nothing but great hosts on and off the property. Even though I’m no longer working I still maintain healthy relationships with a majority of members that I worked for

 

Mr. Nicklaus is correct when he said membership is a privilege, not a right. That rankled a lot of members at Bear’s, so much so so they brought a lawsuit against him (there were other issues, more to do with HOA but that was his response which is dead on).

Elwhippy y’all will get a real good look at it for the Walker Cup in 2021 as I believe it will be televised/for sure streamed somewhere

 

[BIG STU]

Good to hear from you again RP---- The story you told makes me glad I am not a member of an upscale club. I hate politics and bickering. Since I have finally retired and they closed my home course of 20 years I basically joined across the street. Nothing at all in any shape or form like your course. Mostly golf and a swimming pool. But for $3500 a year unlimited golf and range balls plus grill and bar discounts. Now we are semi private and this time of the year we depend on condo rental guests for revenue. Well with the current situation we lost all our winter snowbirds and alcohol sales have dropped drastically due to not being able to operate the kitchen and drink in the bar and on the patio. They decided to assess members $5 a day for gas fee for the carts. I remember the owners talked to me the other day ( I have known them for years) and told me they were going to do that. I told them shucks I saw no problem. Boy was I wrong the older members are howling! Over FIVE freaking dollars. And these are retirees with a heck of a lot more money than I have. One of them was griping about the "contract" I told him he better look closely that they can assess you up to $100 a month but that is max. Not to be misconstrued if you do not play you do not pay the $5. Like I told him he better be glad the course is open because they are getting one of those "loans" and could sit back and close the course for the duration of this crisis. I officially retired April 1 st and have played every day since how ever much I want to and so after today I have paid $55 extra. So what? at least we remain open. Like I said nothing like your club in any shape form or fashion. In fact my bud up the road that is a member of a upscale club his food and beverage assessment is more a year than my full membership. Yep I hate bickering and politics the main reason I have resigned from the sound board at 2 churches in the last 10 years

[BIG STU]

That ain't a Chevy van so it could not be Sammy Johns---- ya know just saying

[elwhippy]

Aha. 2021 Walker Cup. Something to look forward to.

[Hawkeye77]

Right back at all of you!!!!

That would have been about the time they were starting and then they lived there after for a couple of years - he worked at the opera company and she actually performed opera professionally off and on as they moved about the country (but never the Met). Had the pleasure of visiting Pittsburgh when they got married and, oddly enough, had to fly to Pittsburgh in '92 for work so stayed at their place a couple of nights. Sadly, didn't see as much of the city as I wanted either time because, well, there wasn't much time for that. Second time my wife was 3 months along with our first daughter and I remember my sister and I taking a walk to some kind of neighborhood shopping area not far away and I discovered my first Baby Gap and was in my first Victoria's Secret, lol. Had to wait almost two years for the little one to grow into the cool jean jacket I overpaid for and remember the look I got when I surprised my wife with something (pretty conservative actually) she really didn't think she needed to be wearing at that point in time, haha. Oh well.

Whoops, sorry, what does this have to do with Seminole? Nothing!

And my memory tells me we are either right at or on the eve of your birthday? If that is correct, Happy Birthday!!

[caniac6]

I would love to belong to an upscale club! It most likely would be a great course, in great shape. I would enjoy being able to go to a really nice practice facility, and having a good meal in a beautiful clubhouse. I would do my best to find a group of guys that put golf first, and don't worry about the politics of the club. Regardless of where you play, you will always run into folks you don't like. I just steer clear of those guys. Say hello, and just keep moving. I don't think any place is ever going to be perfect, but if you can find a good group, almost any place can be pretty close. I just think you need to be aware of the rules and regulations, and stick to them.

[weil2020]

Stay at home,spent much time with my wife and daughter.

[mizuno player]

I was shocked as well he was accepted so quickly.

Every club has their share of D Bags. I belonged to a club, left as I couldn't taken it anymore, had two men's group. One of mostly mid to high caps and when mid to low. The mid to high guys complained about every tournament. Thought they should be all net. Yet complained because the winner of the net division was a sandbagger. What's funny is they were All sandbaggers. One guy was so bad he had been kicked out of some of the top clubs in the area. Richard you'll like this. He won a member guest at the Field Club!!

The low guys all thought they were so good that no one should be allowed to play in front of them. The course should be set up really difficult. Not One was a plus cap and most sandbagged to be a low anyway. This group probably treated guests the worst. They didn't think they should be allowed!!

This club would never be considered a top tier club either.

[Petethreeput]

Walking up #9 at Oakmont, hot as heck and muggy. I had lost about 15 pounds so the conch at the waist wasn’t so good. My shirt had become untucked through the front nine. I was playing horribly, but it was an experience I won’t forget.

After my approach my caddie says, “You need to tuck in your shirt. I didn’t have to tell Tom Brady, but you have to.”

So he must be an A-lister. I, clearly, am not.

[Forged4ever]

Bro, that’s hilarious about the one bagger??

 

My dad’s former Partner, who himself was an “on the board” 4~ to 7~ at the time, used to bring a guy, who was considered to be THE biggest bagger in the Burgh at the time(he was a dentist, did implants, made a killing as the first in Pittsburgh, retired at 52yo and then worked with(for) Stan Druckenmiller, THE big hedge fund guru, where he netted more than he had from his dentistry practices. He knew Stan as both were members at Oakmont), and though he carried a ~4 to 8~, with money on the table or in the Invites, he was a machine and legit +1 to 1~ all day, lol

 

Guys went crazy cuz though Roger(the dentist? ) Played it down and in, and I never saw him take a putt or Play it any way other than as it lay, my dad’s former partner was a friggin cheat. He at one time had been a Player as in college, he was the #2-4 man on Penn State’s team, though obviously through the years his game had declined with age and health issues, and he was early/mid 60’s at this time, he was probably a legit 10~ to 13~, and this is why I called him an “on the board 4~ to 7~ at the time,” cuz that number on the board wasn’t his true number.

 

I and my father refused to Play with him and while I really really liked him as a person, I had called him and had him DQ’d from the Championship flight of the Club Championship, when he missed a 4-5’ putt and took it and signed the card. I flipped out and went bananas and guys actually stepped between us and I don’t think that I would have touched him, not because of his position with my dad, cuz I didn’t give a sh*t about that, though I was 6’2”, 223lbs and in shape with an edge, and he was 5’9”, and a very very very soft 175-180lbs??.

 

Well, Roger was on EVERY guy’s invite list and it was f*cked up that he would plan out his list 2-3 years down the road at EVERY top-tier club in town, and a bunch of the smaller clubs, which actually had very nice swag for the winners as I Played in some.

 

This went on for probably 7-8 years before he was banned from our invitational as he and a different partner had won 3-4 of them, I forget the exact number, and the other clubs followed, including his own club, Oakmont, which lead to him getting p!ssed and leaving the club.

 

If your boy that won at PFC was a dentist, it is indeed a very small world, lolol

 

I hope that You & Yours had a great Easter?

RP

[Ferguson]

 

Word is the former boyfriend friend of the family, pulled the factory 302 and dropped in a crate 350 with a turbo 400 transmission.

[BIG STU]

^^^^^ OHHH OK!!! Yeah I know Fergie strikes again

[BIG STU]

[sst17]

That explains his choice on Tampa Bay over any other NFL city. Waited to announce where he was going after his membership was approved!

[dan360]

Now that the 'GOAT' is a Buc, the entire state sans the 14 loyal Dolphins fans, is going to be tripping over themselves for a chance to say they know him.

That said, it's Florida. Seminole or not, they're known to do things there a lot that aren't always status quo.

[caniac6]

Isn't Seminole on the other side of the state from Tampa?

 

[ThinkingPlus]

Yes. Palm Beach.

[sst17]

Closer than NE, LA, or other NFL cities. I was mostly being facetious though...

[mizuno player]

Not a dentist. A fraud and cheat in the banking world. He did federal jail time. At least he's consistent in that he cheats at everything.

 

Hope you're well and hit the ball when we return to some form of normalcy.

 

[Burt Chance]

Good to see Forged is still here rambling on about something. Talk about self absorbed.

[Forged4ever]

Like a sponge? ?

 

Thanks for taking the time to respond Burty

 

Forged