Is alcohol par for the course?

Push to lift ban on grounds at Mass. golf clubs is welcomed on Beacon Hill

The Juniper Hill Golf Course in Northborough offers its players a little bit of everything, including a full-service pro shop, several function rooms, and two courses, the River Course and the Lakeside Course.

For Shaun Debold, a 46-year-old golfer from Mansfield, there's something still missing: a drink.

"I've definitely gone to courses and paid more to go there because I could have a cold beer on the course," Debold said on a recent morning round as he started at the first hole.

Standing a few feet away in his Panama-style hat and a red polo shirt, Greg Donahue agreed. "It's a no-brainer," said Donahue, 50, who also lives in Mansfield. "We play on enough courses in New England to know the ones that have beverage carts and the ones that don't have them."

Massachusetts bans alcohol from being served directly on the grounds of golf courses, a restriction that has been widely ignored by many courses that offer beverage carts at various holes. The state is one of two, along with Alaska, that bans alcohol on the grounds of golf courses, said Donna Dunn, executive director of the New England Golf Course Owners Association.

Now, state lawmakers want to relax the restriction. A bill pending on Beacon Hill for the last 17 months would give city and town officials authority to license the sale of beer or wine on the grounds of golf courses in their jurisdiction.

And so it would become legal to provide what some golfers have come to expect.

"This has become an important part of the experience that golf courses provide," state Representative James Fagan, Democrat of Taunton and the bill's sponsor, said in an interview earlier this month. "I think they're looking to remain competitive and have the opportunity to expand that aspect of their business, as well as offer something that golfers are interested in having available."

"It would be very well received," said Renee Gray, club manager at the Segregansett Country Club, an 18-hole private course in Taunton. "We've heard about it, and everybody has been discussing it."

The measure has been approved by the House and Senate, but must clear both chambers again before it goes to Governor Deval Patrick. Proponents of the bill say it will level the playing field between courses that already provide drinks and those that don't.

But some golfers are concerned that beverage carts could lead to too much drinking.

"I don't think it has any place out there, to tell you the truth," said Joseph Proulx, 61, of Burlington, as he puffed on a cigar near the Juniper Hill clubhouse. "Right now, you can go out with family, you can go out with kids, you can go out with a group of friends, and you don't have to worry about anyone being rowdy."

Extra revenue from alcohol sales on the courses could provide some relief for local courses that have seen their business drop because of the staggering economy, said Dudley Darling, Juniper Hill manager, and a board member and former president of the New England Golf Course Owners Association. "There are some people coming into golf, but it's the same percentage of people leaving, so the number of rounds being played are either flat or they've come down," said Darling, who plans to seek approval to sell alcohol on his course if the measure passes.

Gregory Cincotta - general manager of the Salem Country Club, a private 18-hole course in Peabody - said he wouldn't be disappointed if the existing restriction remains in place.

"We use that to our advantage when members come up to us and ask for one," Cincotta said with a chuckle. "I find that it slows down play, because people are always stopping in the middle of their round to get something, and the cart has to stop all the time to go get them drinks."

But some managers support legalization of alcohol sales on the golf course.

Kevin Osgood, a former president of the Golf Course Superintendents Association of New England, said that selling alcohol on the grounds "allows courses to control consumption so much better than what it is right now."

"Without being licensed on the course to sell, you can't monitor and you can't control it if someone stuffs some beers in their golf bag," said Osgood, president of Sterling Golf Management, which operates multiple golf courses in the region. "Unless you see someone sneaking it out, you don't know what they're consuming."

Several golfers seemed confused to learn about the current restrictions for selling alcohol on the course grounds as they stood near the first hole at Juniper Hill last week, including brothers Al and Fred Cole, who both said they could recall recently buying beer from beverage carts on Massachusetts courses.

"When you're out here for a day off and you're relaxing, I think they ought to sell it out here," said Al Cole, 64, of Marlborough. "After you play a few holes, it's nice to get some cold refreshment. You can bring water with you, but by the time you get to the eighth hole, it's warm."