Prestigious Scottish golf club wants to open ‘unmanned bar’ in middle of course

ONE of Scotland’s most prestigious golf clubs has applied for permission to open an unmanned bar in the middle of the course.

The club also plans to sell beer from as early 9am so that golfers can have a pint with their breakfast prior to a round.

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This prestigious golf club has hosted the Scottish Open seven timesCredit: Getty

But plans to open an unstaffed bar in the middle of the course have raised concernsCredit: Getty

But concerns have been raised by the local licensing board amid fears of “crime and disorder” should the system be abused.

The Renaissance Club in East Lothian has hosted the Scottish Open since 2019, a tournament with a purse of almost £7million.

It is co-sanctioned by the PGA Tour and the DP World Tour and previous winners on the east coast links course include Robert MacIntyre, Rory McIlroy and Xander Schauffele.

The Scottish Open takes place the week before The Open Championship each year and attracts many of the world’s best golfers to North Berwick.

However, the club’s plan to open a bar inside its halfway house (located between the 10th and 11th holes) is understood to be a worry for East Lothian Council’s trading standards officer Alex Connell.

Under the proposal, the bar would be unstaffed in the evenings and for the whole of winter.

Instead, members will be allowed to let themselves in with an honesty system in place for access to a range of alcoholic drinks.

Players would be given a code that would allow them to buy cans of lager, Guinness, cider and pre-mixed drinks (cocktails, whisky and coke, etc) during their round.

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Connell has insisted the proposal conflicts with licensing laws requiring age verification at the point of purchase.

She said: “If the halfway house is unstaffed this authorisation by a responsible person does not appear to be taking place. Members and guests will be able to authorise their own sales.

“In the absence of a staff member there can’t be any intervention to refuse a sale, for example if a person is intoxicated or under 18.”

The report will go before the licensing board this week (Friday 27) and Connell has emphasised that the honesty system could be abused.

In addition to players becoming drunk and disorderly, the code could be given out to members of the public, and alcohol may be given to people underage.

They said: “In my opinion the proposed unstaffed operation of the halfway house does not uphold the objectives (of the board) in particular protecting children and young people from harm and preventing crime and disorder.

“This is a supply of alcohol that is available to numerous members, guests and potentially others should the code be given out.

“To protecting the licensing objectives and be compliant with the premises licence conditions I believe it needs to be regulated by a staff member at all times when alcohol is available.”

An alternative proposal is to authorise sales of alcohol from the club’s pro shop prior to the round, which can then be drunk at the halfway house rather than on the course itself.

Rounds at the ultra-exclusive venue are almost impossible to come by.

Players require an invite from a Renaissance Club member or very deep pockets to be able to tee it up (limited tee time are available for around £300 at certain times of the year).

The club has around 300 members who can play the course whenever they want to – and who pay around £5,000 per year for the privilege.

It occupies a parcel of land in East Lothian known as ‘Scotland‘s Golf Coast’ with several famous clubs nearby.

The Renaissance Club sits in between Muirfield, a course that has hosted The Open on 16 occasions, and Archerfield Links, another privately owned club aimed at the stay and play market (albeit much easier to access than Renaissance).

Gullane Golf Club, North Berwick Golf Club and the Glen Golf Club are also on the same coastline.

The Renaissance Club has been a popular venue for the Scottish Open with the prosCredit: Getty

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