An anonymous submission from a member of Springfield Country Club in Springfield, Ohio.

I’m a member at Springfield Country Club in Ohio, home to a regional U.S. Open qualifying event. Beautiful course, tight community, everybody knows everybody. Right now, we’re living through the most ridiculous golf story I’ve ever heard.

It started last year, when this 27-year-old guy, let’s call him “Caleb,” joined the club. He doesn’t have a job. Says he made a pile of money in crypto. Wife’s a doctor. And he basically lives on the golf course. I’m talking golf EVERY SINGLE DAY. 

He was really friendly, knew everybody, and quickly became one of the most recognizable members at the club. He and his wife even moved to Springfield, apparently just to be closer to the country club. His wife commutes to Columbus for work while “Caleb” continued his incredibly demanding schedule of playing golf and doing absolutely nothing else. We all thought he was a  “living the dream” guy. 

Fast-forward to September, and out of the blue, I get a text from him. He says he has a connection to get us into a charity golf event at Double Eagle Golf Club in Columbus. Now, for anyone who doesn’t know, Double Eagle is an EXTREMELY exclusive private golf club. It’s the kind of place where getting invited to play is a pretty big deal. According to “Caleb”, Governor Mike DeWine, former Governor John Kasich, and Urban Meyer are just a few of the “Special Guests” that are supposedly going to be there. He says it is $300 to play in the event but needs the money sent that week, that way we can get fully registered. 

Three hundred bucks to play an incredible golf course, potentially meet some big names, and support charity? Sounds amazing. I send him the money…. Turns out, so did A LOT of other people. Weeks go by, and guys at the club start casually chatting about this upcoming event. One guy mentions he’s going. Then another. Then another. And suddenly we’re all looking at each other thinking… “Wait a minute. YOU got invited too?”

What we thought was a small, exclusive golf outing was apparently turning into the largest gathering of Springfield Country Club members in Columbus history. At first, we realized nearly 10 people had been invited. Then we started comparing text messages. And that’s when things got really interesting. Apparently, “Caleb” had been offering OTHER people opportunities to play at different exclusive golf courses. Different courses. Different events. Different promises. Same basic concept. Send “Caleb” a few hundred bucks, and he’ll get you into a golf experience most people could only dream about. Some people sent $300. Others sent $700 or $800 because they wanted to bring friends. And then…Silence.

People started saying Caleb wasn’t responding to their messages. Some claimed he’d blocked their numbers entirely. The promised golf outings weren’t materializing, and nobody seemed to know what was happening. So naturally, we did what any group of middle-aged country club golfers would do. We started a massive group chat. And let me tell you, this group chat has become the most entertaining and concerning thing happening at our country club. Every few hours, somebody adds another member. Almost every new person has the exact same story. “Wait… he got me too!”

At this point, we’re approaching 50 people who say they paid “Caleb” for golf opportunities that haven’t materialized. We’re talking thousands and thousands of dollars. And just when we thought the story couldn’t get any stranger, another detail emerged. We heard that “Caleb” allegedly owes the country club itself nearly $5,000.

So now we’ve got a guy who supposedly made enough money in cryptocurrency to retire in his twenties, plays golf seven days a week, and apparently has some pretty serious financial questions surrounding him. And here’s what makes the whole thing so unbelievable. This wasn’t some random guy sending suspicious messages on Facebook Marketplace. This was somebody we knew. Somebody we played golf with constantly. Somebody whose family had become friends with our families. He lived in our neighborhood. His wife knew our wives. He was part of our community. People trusted him. And that’s why so many people were willing to hand over their money without thinking twice.

Now, several members have reached out to his wife, who has reportedly been very kind and has been trying to reimburse people. To be clear, nobody seems to know what she knew about any of this, and I’m certainly not suggesting she was involved. But here’s my absolute favorite part of this entire situation. The explanation we’ve been given for why “Caleb” has essentially disappeared and can’t communicate with anybody? His phone is broken. That’s right, the 27-year-old retired crypto guy who supposedly has enough money to play golf every day of his life apparently cannot respond to anybody because his phone doesn’t work.

Apparently, the only thing harder than getting a tee time at Double Eagle is getting an answer about our $300. Meanwhile, our entire country club has turned into an episode of Dateline. People are comparing screenshots, adding up payments, tracking down other members, and trying to figure out just how many people were promised these incredible golf experiences. And every time we think we’ve found everyone, another person comes forward. The story is still unfolding, and we’re trying to establish exactly what happened, where the money went, and whether everyone will eventually be reimbursed.

But here’s what I keep coming back to. This guy spent more than a year becoming part of our country club community. He played golf with us, became friends with us, and built relationships with our families. And now dozens of people are wondering whether they were all taken advantage of by somebody they considered a friend.

I don’t know whether this ends with everyone getting their money back, a police investigation, or some completely unexpected explanation. But I do know one thing. I’ve played some pretty expensive rounds of golf in my life. But $300 for a tee time that never existed? Yeah, that’s a new one. And apparently, I’m in a foursome with about 50 other guys.

Signed,

An Anonymous, Slightly Poorer Member of Springfield Country Club

P.S. If anyone knows how to get a tee time at Double Eagle, apparently I’m still in the market for one.

Yes I am probably more excited than I should be in the video and feel I sound terrible but there are a couple reasons. One, I am a terrible golfer so never excepted to get an eagle. Two, yes I am drinking. Three, personal life has been hard and this just felt great.

A little more context, just recently started divorce proceedings this week and it’s been a hard time. Sent this video to my regular golf group plus my closest friend hoping for a small response. Not only did they all cheer me on my close friend that’s only golfed one time in the last two years was at the golf course 15 minutes later to play the last 11 holes with me. Sometimes we get lucky and god gives us the friends and good times we need. Just felt like I needed to share.

Utah golf is truly a unique experience. If you ever have the chance, I’d recommend scoring a prime summer tee time at Sand Hollow for only $70. This feels like highway robbery. Yes, I understand if you’re not local you’ll be traveling, so it’s an added expense to get there. But it is so worth it.
Set against a dramatic red-rock landscape with multiple national parks and the Vegas strip just a two hour drive from the 1st tee, it makes for the ultimate golf and adventure trip.

EDIT: Thank you to the redditors who brought to my attention that my pricing was inaccurate on this post. I played the course before the off season price increase. I still highly recommend making the trip as it was one of the more memorable rounds I’ve played!

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Mine: playing Pro V1s.
I’m probably going to get killed for this one, but I don’t think most amateur golfers would notice much difference in their scores playing a ball that costs half as much.
What’s yours?

The other day I read a post here about somebody watching the weirdest routine they'd ever seen of a guy who would pull a couple of clubs from his main bag and put them in a smaller bag before going to his ball, hitting, then coming back and returning the clubs to his bag. I thought that sounded like a ton of work and then moved on with my day.

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I might not ever go back. If you already have one I cannot recommend trying it enough especially on CPO days.

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Glynlea country club, Port St Lucie, Florida

Even the PGA Tour is in on the joke

What you shooting ?

If you have what you feel is a true love for the game I highly recommend this video. If you’re unfamiliar with the story, Crenshaw and Tom Kite skipped Wednesday practice to fly to Texas to serve as pallbearers for their friend and mentor Harvey Penick. I still get a lump in my throat thinking about it.

https://youtu.be/fzES_9-C-xw?si=MDrTUrYtzyDOjeX7

Me? “Been nice knowing you”

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Should I even bother looking or just keep what I got?

Oldest Wilson brother Andrew wearing a Pine Valley member polo in Wes Anderson’s first movie Bottle Rocket

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