How a comedian’s country-club review led to $50 million lawsuit

Like many comedians, Jake Adams has a shtick. His shtick is reviewing Jewish country clubs.

In videos of his visits to those clubs, which have racked up millions of views on social media, Adams, who is Jewish, mixes on-course antics (a “traditional divot-fixing dance,” for instance, set to Bar Mitzvah music) with cheeky commentary on everything from off-course amenities (“a hot tub — but not too hot!”) to the quality of the lunch buffet. 

Each segment includes a pickle review and closes with an overall club ranking, based on a 10-point “Star of David” scale. 

Adams does not conduct his reviews undercover. Clubs — and club members — invite him. Many see his content as good PR. In the roughly 18 months since Adams launched the series, his videos have drawn a robust audience (Country Club Adjacent, the Instagram account on which the reviews appear, along with other golf-related humor, has more than 950,000 followers). Not everyone has loved his work; in one instance, Adams told GOLF.com, a club requested that he take down a review and he obliged. But otherwise, he said, the response has been “overwhelmingly positive” — with a notable recent exception that Adams describes as “pretty wild.”

The wildness stems from Adams’ review of Boca Grove, a private golf and residential community in Boca Raton, Fla. The video of his visit, which posted in early January, is similar in tone to his other reviews. It opens with Adams’ playful narration — “The Jews have flocked south for the winter, and I went to meet them in Boca” — and goes on to quick-cut shots and commentary about the club and its facilities, including a basketball court (“Big shocker. It was empty”) and a cold-plunge pool “to train your nerves to handle random calls from your mother.” At the turn, Adams takes a break to have his arm wrapped in teffilin — straps traditionally worn by observant Jewish men during weekday prayer. Lunch is delivered by “Juber eats,” and Adams samples a pickle that meets his approval. He approves of the club, too, rating it 9.2 out of 10.

When the video was released, it was initially “liked” by Boca Grove’s social-media account. But that “like” was soon withdrawn, and not long after, the club made its displeasure with the content plain by levying a 90-day suspension on Isaac Scharf, the club member who had hosted Adams. In its decision, the club cited concern over “references to religious practices that have been deemed offensive to a reasonable person.” The suspension was later extended to Scharf’s wife and the couple’s five children, prohibiting the family from using the course and other club facilities.

Though Scharf’s suspension expired earlier this month, his response to it has not. He has filed a $50 million federal lawsuit against Boca Grove, accusing the club of religious discrimination and seeking compensation for civil rights violations, emotional distress and economic harm. The complaint also alleges that the club’s actions against Scharf and his family are part of a broader pattern of exclusion of Orthodox Jews at Boca Grove.

Jennifer Jolly, Boca Grove’s general manager, told GOLF.com that she could not comment on the matter. But she shared a written response from the club, stating that the issue is “not about the suppression of religious practice.”

Rather, the response reads, “The decision in question followed feedback from multiple members — Orthodox and non-Orthodox alike — who felt the behavior depicted in a publicly circulated video mocked sacred tradition in a way they found deeply offensive. The concern centered on conduct perceived as disrespectful, not religious observance.”

Adams, who is not a party in the suit, said he first set his sights on reviewing Boca Grove last year when he received an invite to the club from Scharf, who had stumbled across Adams’ videos and found them amusing. The two arranged to play golf on Dec. 8 of last year.

When Adams arrived at Boca Grove that day, he told GOLF.com, he was greeted warmly by the pro shop staff and gifted with swag. Scharf’s complaint provides a similar account while noting that Scharf had alerted club management in advance of his plans to host Adams and had met no resistance to the prospect of Adams filming a review.

In issuing its suspension, Boca Grove’s board did not specify which material in the video it found offensive. But the complaint alleges that in a hearing with the club’s disciplinary committee, Scharf was told directly that the offending imagery was that of him helping Adams wrap tefillin. Exactly why this was considered offensive was another matter. The complaint claims that Scharf was told that the board was punishing him not because the scene was offensive to Jews who wrap tefillin but because of its positive portrayal of Orthodox Jewish life at a club. This, the complaint asserts, offended certain factions at Boca Grove who oppose the presence of Orthodox Jews and want to send a message that they’re not welcome.

Targeted exclusion of Orthodox Jews is a central theme in the suit — one that Scharf reiterated in an interview with GOLF.com. A former resident of Los Angeles, Scharf said that he played golf in Southern California but was not a member of a private club. He moved with his family to Boca Grove in 2020, at the height of the pandemic, drawn by the affordability and quality of life. Joining a golf club also was part of the appeal, Scharf said, as was the prospect of community connection, anchored by a synagogue just outside the gated entrance to Boca Grove. It wasn’t long, though, Scharf said, before he and his family began to feel unwelcome — a feeling that intensified as more Orthodox Jews moved into the community and, Scharf alleges, displeasure with their presence grew. 

In claims repeated in his complaint, Scharf said that “anti-Orthodox” members of the community had led initiatives aimed at discouraging Orthodox families from moving in and encouraging others to move out, such as canceling or limiting kosher amenities. Among other examples, the complaint cites the club’s 2024 decision to close a shady walking path along the 14th hole that was frequently used by Orthodox Jews to get to synagogue during Shabbat and other Jewish holidays. That closure, the complaint contends, forced those synagogue-goers to cross the street onto a more dangerous alternate route, exposed to traffic, sun and heat.

Of all the harm Scharf felt the club had inflicted when it suspended him and his family, he said he was most upset by the suffering endured by his children, who range in age from 1 to 22.

“I pleaded with (the club) all along — please, don’t punish the children,” Scharf said. “It’s been devastating, being a father of five, seeing the effect this has had on them — the trauma of my five-year-old being banned from the communal pool. You can’t explain something like that to a five-year-old. And it’s all because of a kangaroo court.”

Boca Grove has until June 26 to file a legal response to the suit.