Green Fees at Top UK Golf Courses Have DOUBLED

Everyday tennis players are unlikely to ever play at Wimbledon and keen footballers will probably never step foot on the famous turf of Wembley (or Hampden for Scottish readers), but one of the unique qualities of golf in the UK was that everyone - within reason - had the chance to play a legendary course that has staged the Open Championship and the game's greatest figures.

That remains the case, thankfully, but the rising cost of green fees has made this increasingly prohibitive for those without the deepest pockets. 

(Image Credit: Kevin Diss Photography)

Anecdotally, we've long been aware of how prices have risen - especially since the pandemic - but now a study by industry expert David Jones has shown just how dramatic this level of inflation has been.

Gullane-based Jones, who runs his own trips for golf enthusiasts around the world and goes under the online moniker of UK Golf Guy, has studied the peak season green fees at the UK's top 20 golf courses and compared the cost from 2015 to 2025.

Staggeringly, on average, the required fees to play these iconic venues have jumped up by 105%, more than doubling the price in a decade, which is well above what they would have been had costs risen in line with UK inflation.

(https://www.ukgolfguy.com/)

It's worth mentioning that these are the peak green fees in the height of summer as lower rates are available at other times of the year, with twilight deals and member guest concessions also being an option at some locations should you wish to tick one of them from your golfing bucket list.

However, the insights from David showcase a trend that has made these destinations inaccessible to a larger swathe of the population. 

But why has this happened? Here are some more trends that David has assessed on his X account.

Last year, we surveyed golfers online, asking the question: How much would you be realistically willing to pay for a single round of golf?

64.4% of you wouldn't pay more than £100, with just 23% willing to go that extra level beyond £150. That said, we're unsure about how many of them would be open to shelling out £374 for a round of golf, even one that they had long dreamt about.

We love that these courses are open to the public, and perhaps there is an economic and business reality to the situation that we don't fully appreciate, but it's dispiriting to see the fees that are now demanded to play these cathedrals of golf.

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