Liquor on city links common

But rules vary from city to city

Saturday, July 16, 2005

By JOHN R. PULLIAM

The Register-Mail

GALESBURG - While a number of central Illinois cities allow the sale of alcohol on their municipal golf courses, one thing is consistent: the rules and regulations are different from city to city.

The Galesburg City Council will decide Monday whether to allow the sale of alcohol at Bunker Links. Aldermen will be asked whether to allow sales over the counter whenever the course is open, to limit it to private golf outings or to continue to ban the sale of alcohol at the course.

The council meeting will begin at 7:30 p.m. Monday in City Hall, 55 W. Tompkins St., following a public hearing at 6:30 p.m. on the pre-annexation agreement for the property where Horne Development is proposing to build a new shopping center.

The town of Normal may be of most interest because the council there just changed the regulations for alcohol sales at Ironwood Golf Course within the past few weeks. Mark Saltsberg, course manager, said that before the 7-0 vote to change, alcohol could be consumed only in the clubhouse and on the patio of the course. The town did not sell the alcohol.

"You could bring in a caterer and they could get a $1 per day alcohol permit," Saltsberg said, for special events, such as birthday parties, anniversaries, etc.

The impetus for the change was when the course learned it could receive the bid for a major golf outing, the Bloomington-Normal Stroker Classic, if alcohol could be sold and consumed on the course. The council voted to allow those sales "exclusively when the course was being used for an outing," Saltsberg said.

Now, any group having an outing can go to a restaurant that has a liquor license and have that establishment provide the alcohol. The restaurant pays $100 for a secondary premise license in order to sell alcohol at the course.

"Quite honestly, beer and golf go together like ham and eggs," Saltsberg said.

One of the concerns in Normal was the municipal course was losing outings. Saltsberg estimated at least 15 outings passed on Ironwood because of the previous alcohol regulations. The difference between Bunker Links and Ironwood is that Ironwood has a facility for banquets.

Wayne Karplus, the town counsel in Normal, said when the course opened, a restaurant was built and operated by a contractor. The restaurant closed, but the facility can be used for the steak dinner and program that typically comes at the conclusion of golf outings.

Karplus said the restaurant with the secondary premise license also can have a beer tent on the course, as well as a beer cart.

Saltsberg said Railside Golf Course in Gibson City had a $50,000 increase in annual revenue when it began allowing alcohol sales, while the course in Roanoke had a 30 percent jump.

"The revenue is significant," Saltsberg said. "It's a chunk of change and you can't ignore it."

Bloomington and Normal are not identical twins. Bloomington has allowed sales of alcohol on its municipal courses on an everyday basis since the fall of 2002.

John Kennedy, the director of golf operations in Bloomington, said the food and beverage revenue increased about 40 percent in the first year sales were allowed on the course, rather than just in the clubhouse. When sales were limited to the clubhouse, it also had to be consumed there.

"And, pleasantly, we've had no problems," Kennedy said. "We've had no safety issues."

Two of Bloomington's municipal courses have banquet rooms. The city holds the liquor license and obtains the dram shop insurance.

"We just serve one drink, per person, per serving," Kennedy said, so golfers cannot take six packs, for instance, onto the course.

Tim Sweborg, the golf pro at Gibson Woods in Monmouth, said the course owned by the Monmouth Park District sells alcohol "basically ... any time the golf course is open."

The exception is that it cannot be bought before noon on Sunday. Beer can be consumed on the course at Gibson Woods.

"We supply coolers for them to take it on the course," Sweborg said.

Gibson said 2000 was the first year for alcohol sales at Gibson Woods. The regulations now in effect have yielded one unexpected bonus.

"It's made a big difference for us," Sweborg said. "Golfers could bring beer on the golf course before. Once we started selling it, they didn't buy as much because it was a higher price."

That, in turn has helped control liquor consumption.

Sweborg said another difference in Monmouth, compared to what is proposed in Galesburg, is "over here, all revenue goes to the Park District and I'm paid a salary. I'm not on the same deal as (Bunker Links' pro) Greg (Merrill) is."

In Galesburg, Merrill plans to sell beer, if one of the ordinances is approved. He told The Register-Mail earlier that it will make Bunker Links more competitive. The city is expected to receive 4 to 7 percent of the gross alcohol sales if sales are allowed at all times. If alcohol is approved only for outings, the city is expected to get between 10 and 15 percent.

City Manager Gary Goddard argues that the city will not be liable if someone has an accident after drinking beer at Bunker Links.

"The city is not requiring the concessionaire to sell beer," Goddard said. "We are just allowing beer and liquor to be sold at the golf course, just like we do at restaurants and taverns."

Goddard said the city could take a percentage of the gross sales of all alcohol in the city, but he does not believe that would make the city liable. Merrill will be required to buy his own dram shop insurance if he sells beer at the golf course.

"It's not our beer in the guy's tummy, it's the concessionaire's beer," Goddard said, giving his reasoning for the city not facing liability concerns. He also said that, unlike some cities that talked about huge amounts of new revenue because of alcohol sales at municipal golf courses, "We're hoping for increased play. We're not going to make anything (substantial) from alcohol sales."