We don't Carey... she'll have to book
As the world's biggest-selling female singer and an international sex symbol, Mariah Carey has grown used to getting her own way. But the pop superstar is set to face some unfamiliar difficulties when she makes a flying visit to golf courses in Edinburgh and East Lothian. The enthusiastic golfer is planning to take advantage of a forthcoming concert in Scotland to stop off in Edinburgh and play on some of the region's famous courses.
However, rules regarding "lady players" mean she will be banned from the bar at one club house and forced to take a male partner before she is allowed on some courses. Nor will she be able to squeeze in a game at any time to suit her busy schedule - due to restrictions on "women's tee-off times".
One of the region's most prestigious clubs was so unimpressed by her fame and fortune that they warned she would have to book soon if she wanted to get a game during October. The 33-year-old New Yorker plans to visit Edinburgh for a few days' golfing before she performs at the SECC in Glasgow on October 25. She also intends to meet the producers of a play to discuss appearing at the Fringe in a new drama next year.
But, at Muirfield Golf Club, in Gullane, East Lothian, the venue of last year's British Open Championship, club secretary John Prideaux was distinctly unimpressed. Mr Prideaux, who admitted he had never heard of the singer, said the club refused to bend its no-female-members rule for anyone. At £100-a-round, the singer would be able to play the famous course, but only under strict conditions.
"If the lady wants to play, and has a gentleman to accompany her, then there is no problem. We do have ladies' changing rooms," said Mr Prideaux. "She will be able to play provided there are visitors' tee-off times available, so I would suggest she gets booked up well in advance to make sure." It was a similar story at the prestigious Royal Burgess Golf Club, near Barnton, which also has a no-female-members rule.
Club secretary Graeme Seeley said Carey would be welcome and could even make use of the club's new changing facilities for female golfers - but there were conditions. He said: "Mariah Carey could certainly come here if she were to phone the professional and book a time. She would also have to be accompanied by a male."
Bruntsfield Links Golf Club offered Carey a warmer welcome, insisting she could play without a male partner and was free to drink in the bar. But she would have to avoid the men-only playing times from 4pm-6.30pm during the week and before 3.30pm on a Saturday. Bruntsfield club secretary Ian Armstrong said: "She can just pitch up, we'd be delighted to see her. As long as she checks that there are no competitions on."
Strict dress codes at all the courses mean the four-inch heels, tight T-shirt and hot pants she wore for a recent lesson in Los Angeles would be off limits. She was unfazed by raised eyebrows at the time, saying: "I went on to the course in high heels and barely anything on and they didn't mind."
Asked about the potential problem of turning up without a male partner, one of her representatives told the Evening News that the rule was unlikely to trouble the superstar. "She has bodyguards so there will be plenty of people with her," said the singer's spokeswoman. She added: "She just wants to go to Edinburgh and relax and play golf because she has heard that there are so many fantastic courses in the area." (Edinburgh Evening News)
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