[trilochana.nejman]

The head pro told you that you'd be liable for a trail fee.

You wrote that your response was: "So I said yeah I'll get you but now everyone in my group was already on the way to our hole for the shotgun start so I had to go" In a court you would be asked to clarify that statement but I'm going to assume that you meant that you would take care of the fee later because you were running late for your tee time.

The fact that you played your round demonstrates that the head pro apparently agreed with that.

Upon your return, the head pro asks you to pay the trail fee.

But now, instead of paying him (as you implied you would prior to your round) you take issue with the fee. It seems to me that you basically told this guy that you would take care of the trail fee after your round (you even say that the fee itself was no big deal) but when you're done, you basically refuse to pay it.

So an argument ensues during which he wagged his finger in your face and "disrespected" you, but since you say (before any finger pointing) that you had to cool down, I can only assume that your actions and/or words may have contributed to his "disrespecting" gesture.
In all of what you've written up to now, you mention "pointed fingers" or "disrespect" at least eight times and in fact, you mention it no less than five times in the email you wrote to the pro. It seems to me as if you're more enraged over feeling somewhat emasculated by his finger pointing - especially in front of a room full of people - than you are over being charged the fee and I think that is what's really bothering you.

While it may very well be true that others ride for free, the fact that you formally or informally agreed to pay the fee or at least acknowledged that you were aware of it prior to beginning your round, led the pro to believe that you would settle up later so he had every reason to expect to be paid upon your return to the pro shop.
When you returned and questioned the fee, you implied that it was unfair and that you'd have to think about it so the pro obviously interpreted that to mean that you either weren't going to pay it or he was going to have a hard time collecting it and he reacted to that. In all fairness, I can't say that he's wrong.

The way this was handled by the both of you could obviously have been better. But the bottom line is that from what you've said and the way you've explained it, I have a hard time seeing your point. He told you about the fee before you teed off and you basically agreed and would take care of it when you were finished. You didn't, so got mad.
It's possible that the head pro is probably no Dale Carnegie himself, but I think you owe him a trail fee.

I know that's not what you want to hear, but you asked for an honest answer and that's mine.


-JP