One story that best encapsulates country club point-missing has circulated for years. The setting is an old, eastern golf club, with one of the best courses in the state. The club is notorious for its men-only policy.

One day a member having lunch at the club abruptly falls ill at the table. He grabs his chest, falls to his knees. A concerned scrum gathers around his table. Word reaches his wife, who arrives at the club gates within minutes.

“He is inside,” she is told as she tries to pass through. “Unfortunately,” the attendant continues, “no women are allowed on property. Please wait here.”

You will not find a set definition of country club stuffiness, but you know it when you see it. This collection of the stuffiest country club stories we’ve ever heard, most from within the past 15 years, represents a side of golf the game has made efforts to shake, with at least some degree of success.