In "A Rose for Emily," what conflicts existed between Emily and her father? (For whom or what was the horsewhip intended?)

All that we know for sure in this story is that Emily's father discourages all of the suitors Miss Emily had, which is likely to have been a conflict. We know that he ostensibly did so because none of them was good enough for her, not being of the socioeconomic class of the Griersons.  We are told that the townspeople

...believed that the Griersons held themselves a little too high for what they really were. None of the young men were quite good enough for Miss Emily and such. (Part II).

And we are given an image, what the townspeople saw in their minds,

...a tableau, Miss Emily a slender figure in white in the background, her father a spraddled silhouette in the foreground, his back to her and clutching a horsewhip, the two of them framed by the back-flung front door.

This is a striking image, of the father as a violent man, fending off all the young men come to court Miss Emily, with Miss Emily, small, thin, and helpless, purely dressed in white, standing behind her father, turning away from the father's brutality. 

Why did her father turn away these young men? The story does suggest that they were not good enough for her, but another reasonable inference is that he wanted to keep Miss Emily at home to take care of him. Whatever the reason, it is likely that Miss Emily longed for love, marriage, and escape from her father.  For a female in that time and place, marriage would have been the only escape route she would have had. But for any young women, in any time and place, such a father would have created a considerable conflict.