Bray Golf Club is facing the threat of being declared Ireland's first "discriminating club" over its treatment of women members.
The Equality Authority has given the club a fortnight to say it will comply with equal status legislation by giving women golfers equal rights in the club.
If it doesn't, the authority will seek a declaration from the District Court that it is a "discriminating club". The likely consequence of such a determination is that the club would lose its drinks licence.
While Bray's case is the furthest advanced, 10 other golf clubs are being investigated over allegations that they discriminate against women members, according to the authority.
In a letter to the club, which has been seen by The Irish Times, the authority accuses it of denying female members their status as full members. It alleges that since the introduction of the Equal Status Act in 2000, the club deliberately put in place "an elaborate set of rules and procedures devised to thwart the operation of the Act".
It states that the club imposed an "exorbitant" fee for women seeking to transfer from associate to full membership. This was doubled to £5,000 "in a clear attempt to provide some sort of cover for the excessive level at which the transfer fee was fixed".
It also accuses the club of denying women members a vote on these arrangements and of allocating them "substantially less playing time" than men. At weekends, women have been "systematically" excluded from playing, according to the authority.
A further area of dispute is the snooker room from which women are excluded, the letter claims.
"The sign saying 'members only' was clearly intended to refer solely to male members [and] was only removed in recent weeks. The area still continues as a male preserve."
Women members, who declined to be identified, told The Irish Times of how their names had been scratched off the timesheet and replaced with those of male members.
The president of the club, Mr Cyril Dunne, declined to comment until the letter from the Equality Authority had been fully considered. However, it is understood the club does not accept that it is in breach of the Act.
Relations between men and women in the 275-member club have been testy for almost a decade.
In 1993, women campaigned successfully to bring an end to the practice of not allowing women to become full members. However, very few vacancies for full membership for women have arisen since and only 11 have attained this status, they say.
The nine-hole club, which was founded in 1897, is scheduled to move next year from its position in the centre of the town of Bray to Bray Head. As part of a €64 million land swap, the old course will have houses and other facilities built on it.
The club will have an 18-hole course at its new home.