Harold Varner III has been a fixture on LIV Golf since its launch in 2022. Varner played every season and won his first individual title in May 2023 in Washington, D.C. He now plays for OKGC, the league’s newly rebranded Oklahoma-based team, alongside Taylor Gooch, Jason Kokrak, and Graeme McDowell. This week, he made headlines for something unrelated to his golf swing, and as a result, course marshals asked him and his group to leave the public course in Indianapolis mid-round.
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For context, here’s how the story started. Bear Slide Golf Club is a public course in Cicero, Indiana, rated among the state’s better tracks. Like most public courses, it caps player groups at four players unless the golf pro approves an exemption to maintain the pace of play.
NUCLR Golf first posted that Varner and his OKGC teammates were told they were no longer welcome at the Bear Slide Golf Club. Furthermore, they were issued refunds after attempting to play as a six-some instead of splitting into two groups of three, as the course required. The post went viral, leaving fans debating whether the club had overreacted or the group had ignored the rules.
Bear Slide also noticed and has now responded with a detailed statement explaining what happened on its part.
“On August 18th, Harold Varner III had a foursome booked on the tee shot. When they arrived, they were 30 minutes late for their tee time and brought a total of 6 golfers. We accommodated the additional group, and they were informed they could go as two threesomes. At the first tee, they insisted that they should be allowed to play as a sixsome,” it posted on Facebook.
According to the club, the situation escalated from there. The starter turned the group down again, and a member of Varner’s group accused them of being rude. Varner asked the pro shop thrice if the group could play together, but received the same answer every time: no, especially with other golfers waiting behind them.
Most public courses cap groups at four players and require approval to exceed that limit, since extra players slow the pace and extend round time. That’s the rule. Bear Slide claims Varner and his group kept pushing against it.
Even after back-and-forth discussions, the LIV Golf team didn’t obey the rules. According to the club, the group teed off as two three-somes for the first three holes, then merged into a six-some once they were out of sight of the golf club at the par-three fourth.
The Bear Slide staff watched the whole group tee off and putt out together before asking them to bring their carts back in and issuing refunds. Bear Slide also pushed back hard on a couple of details from the original posts, denying the allegation that anyone was told to “get the hell out of the course” and insisting that multiple groups were waiting behind them.
That said, neither Varner nor the OKGC Golf team has commented publicly on the club’s version of the event. Moreover, LIV Golf hasn’t addressed it either. For now, the story sits where the club left it.