Alcohol to be served at golf simulator despite fears drunk patrons could use clubs 'as weapons'

The Golf‑X venue in Ayr will be allowed to serve alcohol alongside its golf simulator after bosses addressed concerns, including that golf clubs could potentially be used as weapons.

In August, councillors had raised concerns around the potential safety risk of having golf clubs around those drinking alcohol without supervision.

The venue’s representative Robert Honeyman had told them that they could mitigate the risk, but couldn’t guarantee there would be no risk.

That led to the decision being delayed to allow officials to work with the venue to address those concerns.

Following a visit to the Arthur Street venue earlier this week, where the layout of the premises and proposed safeguards were explained, on Thursday councillors gave Golf-X the go ahead to serve alcohol.

At the meeting, Mr Honeyman thanked the board for the site visit and reiterated that many of the original concerns raised in August – when the novelty of the venue was cited – had since been addressed.

He confirmed that specific improvements were in progress: hazard-tape marking of steps, corrected signage, updated training and personal licence records for staff, and improved on-site access for officers for any future inspection.

Licensing Standards Officer Catriona Andrews said although she had initially suggested certain licence conditions, the operators had gone beyond her expectations and she no longer deemed those specific conditions necessary.

She thanked the operators for their co-operation and noted that there was now “a clear understanding” of how the board expects venues combining alcohol and additional activities to be managed.

Councillor Laura Brennan-Whitefield said the site visit “gave me the understanding of how things actually worked” and noted it was “always reassuring when someone says they’re going to do something and they do it.”

Councillor William Grant, Chair of the Board said: “I think it’s very important to have site visits because it does give you a better insight into what has been done.”

He added that the board had always been supportive of the concept of the venue, but required reassurance on safety.

He said: “Even at the last meeting… we were totally in support of it. We just needed these things sorted out.”

The motion to grant the variation was proposed and seconded by the board, and carried unanimously (4 votes for, 0 against, 0 abstentions).