Harold Varner III and five other golfers were asked to leave Bear Slide Golf Club in Indiana on August 18 after a dispute over playing as a six-some. The group had been told more than once that the course did not allow six players to stay together, but they still ended up being sent away after finishing the 4th green.
That removal happened during the week of LIV Golf's season finale in Indiana, the period when LIV Golf Indianapolis had become the final event of the year after its team championship in Michigan was cancelled. For Varner, who was there with members of his OKGC group, the timing matters because the trip was tied to one of the sport's busiest weeks and the disagreement unfolded in front of other golfers already on the course.
Bear Slide said Varner had booked a foursome but arrived around 30 minutes late with six golfers in total. Staff said they handled the mismatch by setting up two separate three-balls, and the first three holes were played that way. The club said the starter told the group a six-some was not permitted and that Varner was sent to the pro shop, where he was warned on three separate occasions that the larger group broke club policy. Despite that, the two groups later joined back together on the 4th hole.
That is where the story turned from a rules dispute into a course-side confrontation. Bear Slide said staff saw golfers waiting on the 4th tee, another group on the 3rd hole and two further groups on the 2nd hole, which is why it said the larger group could not be allowed to continue. The golfers questioned why they could not play together because they said there was nobody behind them, but the club maintained that the size of the group was the problem, not just who was immediately visible from one tee box.
After watching all six golfers tee off and putt together, the club asked them to leave once they had completed the 4th green. Bear Slide said the players were told to return their carts, were informed they would receive refunds and were no longer welcome at the course. It also pushed back on the way the episode was described online, saying nobody told the group to “get the hell off the course” and stressing that all six received refunds.
The broader logic is simple: courses generally set a maximum group size to keep play moving and avoid backing up golfers behind them. In this case, the club said that policy was enforced as soon as the six-some became a live issue, and the late arrival did not change that decision. What remains unanswered is why the group arrived late with six golfers for a booking that was set for fewer, because that detail sits at the center of why the round ended before it ever had a chance to settle.
