Vista Ridge High School golf team members who arrived at Avery Ranch Golf Course for practice earlier this week were surprised when a local adult entertainment club was conducting its annual charity tournament.
According to a report from KXAN-TV in Austin, Vista Ridge golf coach and assistant athletic coordinator Keith Allen sent a letter home to parents explaining the situation. The letter said those conducting the Yellow Rose Cabaret’s annual charity golf tournament were “acting very inappropriately” and that the team’s golfers “did witness some lewd behavior.”
Practice was canceled that day and the following day while school staffers worked to get clarity from the golf course’s management team about the incident.
On Tuesday, according to KXAN, school staffers did talk with Avery Ranch management. According to a letter sent to parents, Avery Ranch’s owner/GM Adam Owen said that he did not condone any inappropriate behavior and noted the course would not host the event in the future.
Also in the note, the coach said the high school — which sits about 30 minutes north of Austin — has had a “20-year positive working relationship with Avery Ranch,” and added that golf course management was “very apologetic” about the incident.
“We are sorry this happened and appreciate your support as we work to restore trust with our players and families,” the note from Allen to parents said. “What occurred yesterday is not acceptable and we will work closely with Avery Ranch to ensure this never happens again.”
Calls from Golfweek to the school district’s media relations department and the coach went unanswered.
The Yellow Rose Cabaret posted to its Facebook page after the incident.
“Any attempt by the golf course any attempt the fein surprise an to the adult nature of the tournament is disingenuous. This was their mistake,” the post said.
The post went on to say this was a private event and the adult club had rented the course for the entire day.
“The Yellow Rose has played their annual (sic) charity golf tournament at Avery Ranch for the last four years. Avery Ranch is a private golf course and The Yellow Rose rents the entire course for the whole day. This tournament was no different than any previous tournament. This is a tournament for adults and no children were allowed on the course at any time while it was being played. The high school golfers were only on the driving range not the actual course. This is an area our marshals did not and were not supposed to supervise. We were completely unaware that the golf course scheduled a high school practice at the same time as the Yellow Rose Tournament,” the post said.
The councilmember who represents the area told Fox News that inappropriate behavior was viewed by the athletes.
“I started receiving complaints from constituents about what had happened,” Austin City Council Member Mackenzie Kelly told Fox News Digital on Thursday. “I don’t believe that any student should be exposed to that type of behavior that was happening out at the golf club that day. I’ve seen photos of women who were topless, in g-strings, passing out alcohol. I’ve been told that there were women dancing on top of golf carts without clothing on.”
