Police Called to Boston-Area Country Club After Couple Wears Denim on Premises

Gambling may be illegal at Bushwood, but the wearing of denim actually led to a police response at one Boston-area country club.

The Boston Globe’s Callum Borchers brings us the story of Stephen and Charlotte Weeples, two guests who were driven from Boston’s Weston Golf Club in a flurry of fisticuffs and squad cars after allegedly committing the cardinal sin of wearing denim on the premises. 

As Borchers reports it, the Weeples arrived on the clubhouse’s property around 10:45 p.m. on a Saturday night in September. They were to meet up for drinks with friends who were members of the club, but all that changed when then-Weston Golf Club president Tom Ferry arrived on the scene.

The Weeples would later recount their confrontation with Ferry in a letter to the club. As their version of events goes, Ferry stopped the couple outside the clubhouse and caused a scene that would make Judge Smails blush. 

According to the Weeples, Ferry used “profane” language to tell them that jeans are against the club dress code. Charlotte noted that she thought the man was joking until he began calling her “derogatory names.” 

While it’s easy to imagine Ferry using put-downs like “U-pattern proles” and “Wrangler-wearing serfs,” Charlotte does not specify as to his exact remarks. 

What we do know is that a shouting match quickly broke out between Stephen and Ferry, and the police received a 911 call from the clubhouse reporting a “fist fight.” 

Authorities responded to the scene but reported seeing only a “loud, verbal altercation.” 

The Weeples would eventually leave the premises.

Charlotte maintained in their letter to the club’s director that neither she nor her husband were wearing jeans at the time of the incident.

Fallout from the denim disturbance has since reached far and wide.

Weston GC launched an investigation into the incident, interviewing members and potential witnesses to the altercation. The club then used information gleaned from these interviews to suspend 10 members they found to be in breach of the dress code that night. Imagine the Moscow Trials, but with boat shoes. 

As for Ferry, Borchers reports that the president initially accepted a one-month suspension of duties for his role in the altercation. He later resigned in early November when club members organized a petition calling for a club-wide meeting.

Ferry offered an apology to the Weeples as he left office.

“I am sorry that the ongoing discord over enforcement of the club’s policies has reached such an embarrassing level,” Ferry said, via Borchers. “Most importantly I wish to repeat publicly the apology I gave to the people with whom I interacted outside of the club that night. It was wrong of me to have spoken that way, I have no excuse, and I sincerely regret having done so.” 

Weston GC spokesperson Karen Schwartzman has since issued a lukewarm non-apology for Ferry’s actions, admitting “an effort to enforce club rules got out of hand.” 

“The dress code is meant to encourage people to present themselves in ways that engender pride in the club,” Schwartzman said.

Schwartzman did not comment on the club’s conduct policy, which appears to engender a stilted sense of entitlement.

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