A daily-fee course in Western New York reversed its policy after receiving backlash on social media. The course had previously required players to take Breathalyzer tests to prove that they hadn’t consumed alcohol while playing.
Buffalo Tournament Club, in the New York suburb of Lancaster had a policy requiring players to pay “corkage fees” for alcohol brought onto the golf course. The club had a beverage cart running on the course but stopped it because they claimed that it was too expensive to maintain and staff.
Club officials let players bring their own coolers with beer and other beverages for $5 per player. The fee was also charged to those who did not bring alcohol onto the course, but they could get their money back if they paid $1 for a Breathalyzer at the end of the round.
After the new policy was implemented, a few social media comments caused quite a stir.
Buffalo Tournament Club is a complete idiot. What is the corkage charge? Breathalyzers? What’s happening? pic.twitter.com/2FILcyhcnL
— Buffalo Golf & Social (@BuffaloGolfSoc) April 15, 2023
The Buffalo News reported that the owner of the course Timothy Davis said there were few complaints from players. However, the backlash on social media was enough to change the policy.
He told the newspaper, “We said ‘Look at how many people are unhappy, and we will discontinue this immediately.'”
