# Golf Cart Gail

Golf Cart Gail is the nickname given to a white youth soccer field marshal who called police on a Black father watching his son's game in Ponte Vedra, Florida in October 2018. The incident went viral on Facebook and Twitter as another example of white people calling law enforcement on Black people without clear cause.

## Origin
The incident happened on Sunday, October 14th, 2018, at a Ponte Vedra Athletic Association youth soccer match in St. Johns County, Florida[1]. That same day, Facebook user amy.l.williams.777 published a post describing what she witnessed between the field marshal and Gerald Jones, and the post picked up more than 32,000 reactions, 10,000 comments and 33,000 shares in under a week[3].

According to Jones, after he stepped away from the sideline to avoid escalating things, the woman told a deputy she no longer felt safe due to his supposed threatening behavior[3]. On October 16th, First Coast News, an NBC and ABC affiliate in Jacksonville, published two clips from the scene, one showing the woman on the phone with police and another showing Jones speaking with the responding deputy[3].

- **Platform:** Facebook (viral spread on Twitter)
- **Creator:** Unknown
- **Date:** 2018

## Overview
Golf Cart Gail is the nickname the internet gave to a white youth soccer field marshal who called police on a Black father, Gerald Jones, while he watched his 13-year-old son's game in Ponte Vedra, Florida[1]. The nickname followed the same naming template as earlier 2018 viral incidents like BBQ Becky, Coupon Carl and Cornerstore Caroline, where white people summoned law enforcement on Black people in mundane public settings[1].

The label stuck because the whole confrontation happened while the woman rode a golf cart around the sidelines of the youth match. Jones said he was only telling his son that the referee's call is always right when she rolled up and threatened to phone the sheriff[1]. Video of the police response and the woman's 911 call spread widely, with commenters framing it as a textbook case of misusing 911 over a Black parent doing nothing unusual at a kids' sports event[2].

## How It Spread
Twitter users started calling the woman Golf Cart Gail almost immediately, slotting her into the running list of 2018 nicknames like BBQ Becky and Coupon Carl[1]. @mergerson_jms wrote that raising your voice at a soccer game while Black is enough for a stranger to feel threatened and dial 911, while @DollyVol and @LSpear37 posted that the callers themselves should face harassment charges[3].

On October 17th, Redditor stein63 shared the story to r/news, where it collected more than 25,000 points at an 83% upvote ratio and over 3,500 comments[3]. National outlets picked it up quickly, with NBC, ABC, The Daily Dot and Forbes all running the story under the Golfcart Gail branding[3].

On October 18th, the New York Post ran an interview in which Jones, an auctioneer, broke into tears describing how he had to explain the police response to his son[1]. In the same piece, Ponte Vedra Athletic Association president Gary Eason defended the field marshal's decision and said the situation had been sensationalized, a stance Jones directly rejected when asked if he was owed an apology[1].

## How to Use
Golf Cart Gail is used as shorthand rather than a template. Writers and posters typically drop the name when a new viral clip surfaces of a white person calling 911 on a Black person over something trivial, listing her alongside BBQ Becky, Coupon Carl and Cornerstore Caroline as reference points[1].

## Frequently Asked Questions
### What is Golf Cart Gail?
Golf Cart Gail is the nickname given to a white youth soccer field marshal who called police on a Black father during his son's game in Ponte Vedra, Florida in October 2018[1].

### Where did Golf Cart Gail come from?
The story broke on October 14th, 2018 through a viral Facebook post by user amy.l.williams.777 describing the confrontation in St. Johns County, Florida[3].

### What does Golf Cart Gail mean?
The name is part of a 2018 wave of viral nicknames like BBQ Becky and Coupon Carl used for white people who called 911 on Black people without apparent cause[1].

### How do you use Golf Cart Gail?
People cite Golf Cart Gail as a reference point when discussing similar viral 911 incidents, often listing her alongside other named callers from that same year[1].

### Is Golf Cart Gail still popular?
The story spread heavily in October 2018 with national coverage from NBC, ABC, The Daily Dot, Forbes and the New York Post, and the name is still used as a shorthand reference for that class of incident[3].

## References
1. [https://nypost.com/2018/10/18/black-dad-speaks-out-in-aftermath-of-golfcart-gail-incident/](<https://nypost.com/2018/10/18/black-dad-speaks-out-in-aftermath-of-golfcart-gail-incident/>)
2. [https://www.firstcoastnews.com/](<https://www.firstcoastnews.com/>)
3. [https://knowyourmeme.com/memes/golfcart-gail](<https://knowyourmeme.com/memes/golfcart-gail>)

---
Source: https://meme.com/memes/golf-cart-gail
Published by meme.com — The Internet Meme Library