Upper Class? Maybe...Maybe not...

From Al...one of the writers:

When I was last in Las Vegas I blurted out "golf is very middle class." I didn't think about it, it just appeared -- my mind going out to play by itself as it is wont to do. However I have thought about it a few times since then and I think I agree.

Actually, golf these days is very demcratic and fairly classless. Many public high schools have golf teams and teach golf during P. E. Golf, like tennis, cuts a broad swath across socio-economic groups these days. Both used to be at least upper middle class and, quite frankly, very WASP. Today professionals in these sports come in all colors and backgrounds.

It is not uncommon for people to see highly touted middle class, albeit probably upper middle class, objects as upper class. Mercedes-Benz, BMW, Vogue magazine, Chavez Regal -- even Chavez Salute (the one that comes in a Wedgwood bottle) are good examples.

So, one might ask, what is upper class? I think it includes driving a Bently (often with a Toyota in the garage for everyday); it is Macallan Scotch; Worth magazine for the salon or Visionaire for the coffee table. Your wedding in the Times is upper class; having it appear in People is not. Your opinion letter in Foreign Affairs is upper; appearing in USA Today is not. Rancho Santa Fe is class, Rancho Bernardo is not. The tables in Monaco are upper, slot machines in Vegas are not -- even at the Ballagio. Owning several homes so you don't have to carry luggage when you travel is upper class, but all that does not fit into sports now does it?

So what do the sporting set do? Let's see, several princes of my aquaintance race horses in cross country challenges ( not, of course, at a race track although they might own one of the horses appearing at a public track).

A friend from old money who owns a bank also owns truffle hogs he takes out and he hunts white stag in the forests of Southern France.

Skiing is in if you are staying in your own cottage in the Alps or estate in Aspen -- Prince Bandar just sold his little hideaway in Aspen for $135 million.

Polo is still big with some of the younger crowd and a really nice yacht docked in a fashionable marina (preferably one you own), or belonging to the Geneva Yacht Club, is good.

Golf still comes into the picture, I will admit. There are several private clubs located in castles and surrounded by their own private forest that have courses along the lake; Club Domine du Imperial, a castle once once owned by Napoleon, and Club de Bonmont, are examples. Membership costs around $50,000 a share, and one does not really buy just one share. However they really are clubs and the links are so little used that a company called Swiss golf allows people to play for around $2,500 to $5,000 a day so upwardly mobil types can feel like they are part of the elite who actually belong.

I think Henry Miller had it right when he said "If you never heard of it, it is probably upper class."

Sent from my BlackBerry® wireless handheld.

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