THE operators of the golf course where the Scottish Open will be played this summer have been told to stop allowing members to serve themselves in an unmanned halfway house bar.
The Rennaisance Club, near Dirleton, had applied to include the building, which sits between the 10th and 11th holes, in its licence to sell alcohol.
However, a meeting of East Lothian Council’s licensing board on Thursday heard that the halfway house was not always staffed and operated an ‘honesty system’, with members able to help themselves to a selection of drinks and pay later.
And while the club’s agent Niall Hazzard compared the use of the alcohol-stocked fridge as no different to a hotel mini bar, the board’s licensing standards officer (LSO) disagreed.
In a report to the board, the LSO said that not having staff overseeing the sale of alcohol did not allow the club to ensure people were not being served while intoxicated or underage.
And she said that the use of a code to enter the building and CCTV to check stocks was not enough, telling board members she had been told about incidents when the code for the halfway house access pad had been shared in the past with non-members.
The club said that the halfway house was manned in the summer months during the day but, during the winter and in the evenings, members were given a code to access it.
Mr Hazzard said that it had toilet facilities, a kitchen area and a fridge stocked with cans of alcohol which members could access.
He argued that it was no different to someone having access to a mini bar in a hotel room which was not staffed.
Board members were asked to approve the variation to the licence but with an additional condition that alcohol would only be sold in the halfway house by a personal licence holder or trained member of staff in the building.
Councillor Lee-Anne Menzies, board member, told Mr Hazzard that the difference between a hotel room mini bar and the halfway house was that she would not expect other people to have access to her room.
And she said that, while she appreciated the extra efforts the club made to ensure that members followed the rules, she believed it should be manned.
She said: “Humans behave as humans, irrespective of whether they are in a private club or a local club.”
The board agreed by four members to one to approve the changes to the licence, with the condition insisting on staff being available for sales in the halfway house.
Councillor John McMillan voted to approve the licence without enforcing the halfway house condition.
Changes to the licence, including the early serving of alcohol from 9am, were also approved, with the condition it be served with a substantial plated meal and only by the glass, not bottle.
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