Coarse behaviour

A ST ANDREWS golf club official has been suspended for making an “inappropriate suggestion” to a female worker after becoming drunk at a club function.

ST ANDREWS Club is involved in a disciplinary process ST ANDREWS: Club is involved in a disciplinary process

Peter Long, secretary of the acclaimed St Andrews New Golf Club, was suspended from his post after the incident.

Mr Long has admitted he made offensive remarks to a female club employee and swore at a fellow club member.

He blamed his actions on a cocktail of alcohol and painkilling drugs he had been taking for back pain.

But Mr Long claims the club denied him an opportunity to defend himself at a disciplinary hearing, which was due to be heard on Monday but was cancelled.

Now, the shame-faced administrator has apologised for his behaviour in a bizarre unsolicited e-mail to the club’s 1,400 members.

Mr Long, who has been club secretary for a year, said he had played in the annual match between the committees of the St Andrews Golf Club and the New Golf Club, despite suffering from back pain.

He said he had played little golf in recent weeks due to an extended bout of sciatica and had been told by his GP to take 400mg of Ibuprofen three times a day.

The official claimed he felt “obliged” to play after assurances he had made to the match convener.

He said: “In order to relieve the pain in my back during the course of the day, I took in excess of 3,000mg of Ibuprofen and in the post-match social, the mixture of such a high concentration of painkillers and alcohol caused me to behave extremely badly and in a manner totally out of character.”

Mr Long admitted to carrying a beer glass from the St Andrews Golf Club to the New Golf Club in contravention of a local by-law.

He also said he had intended to sleep on a camp bed in the club’s cellar and when one member told him he couldn’t, he swore at him.

Long added: “I made a very inappropriate suggestion to (a female club employee), which caused her to feel extremely nervous and agitated. For these actions I offer you my sincere and abject apologies. I have apologised and she has been gracious enough to accept my apology. I feel remorse and regret. All I ask is the opportunity to make amends. However, it would appear that the captain is intent on denying me not only that, but also the right to defend myself at a disciplinary hearing.”

Mr Long also apologised to the club member he abused by telephone and to the secretary of St Andrews Golf Club. But the New Golf Club committee of management have apologised to members who received Mr Long’s unsolicited e-mail and asked them to ignore it.

A spokesman for the club said: “The club is involved in a disciplinary process. A statement  will be forthcoming on the conclusion of the process.”

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