Galion golf course hit for selling beer without food
GALION – The Ohio Liquor Control Commission has penalized a Crawford County establishment over an infraction dating back to the early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Valley View Golf Course in Galion was one of several businesses statewide named last week in a news release from the office of Ohio Gov. Mike Dewine.
The news release alleges that on April 16, an employee of the golf course sold an order of Bud Light Beer “separately and without an accompanying food order from the liquor permit premises.” That sale was in violation of the emergency order Dewine had enacted at the time to help reduce the spread of the novel coronavirus that can cause COVID-19.
According to the news release, the commission issued a three-day suspension beginning at noon Dec. 4, , but gave the permit holder the option to pay a financial forfeiture in the amount of $300 in lieu of serving the suspension.
Representatives from Valley View did not wish to discuss the matter when contacted by the Telegraph-forum.
The golf course was highlighted in a late-march piece published by the Mansfield News Journal, a sister paper of the Telegraph-forum, because of its efforts to help provide a safe place for people to exercise outside and escape pandemic-induced anxiety.
Mike Stuckman, the owner of Valley View, said then that he was staying in close contact with the county’s health department so that he could be made aware of the laws that were changing frequently.
Staff at the course had put up a sign on the front door that directed visitors to either call the main line or knock on the side door for assistance.
Drinks and snacks were available, but not prepared food. Transactions were completed on the patio, as only employees were allowed into the building.
Guests were allowed to drive separate golf carts if they wanted to keep distance from one another — carts were disinfected after every use.
Once on the green, golfers would notice all of the flag pins had been pulled, and the cups were lifted a couple inches out of the ground.
“If you hit that, it counts as making the putt,” Stuckman said in March.
There were also no rakes to grab in sand traps, or ball washers to crank.
“There’s nothing to actually touch,” Stuckman said. “We’re trying to make it as safe as possible.”