Golf holiday in Germany

Why you play in Germany in summer

My book is mainly about golfers who escape the cold in Germany in winter. In summer it is the other way round, because then the main season is running at the German golf facilities. Golfers from Germany like to stay at home in these months. The reason for that is obvious. Membership of the home golf club costs money and club life largely takes place in summer.

Golfers are still on the move in the summer months too. These are mostly shorter trips, though, which last from Monday to Thursday or from Friday to Sunday and rarely lead far away. Germany is a good choice for a trip like this because you reach the golf facilities by car. Golf groups from Sweden and Denmark even often travel to northern Germany by coach.

Added to that is a travel trend called coolcation. The word is made up of “cool” and “vacation” and stands for trips to cooler regions. The idea of stepping onto a golf course in scorching heat in high summer makes even ambitious golfers break into a sweat. Mild temperatures, fresh breezes and green landscapes are tempting instead.

• Main season in summerAt the German golf facilities the main season runs in summer. The low season mostly lasts from October to Easter.
• Short tripsIn summer golf trips often last from Monday to Thursday or from Friday to Sunday.
• Arrival by carYou reach the golf facilities by car and therefore have your own equipment with you.
• Club lifeClub life largely takes place in summer. As a guest you see quite a bit of it in the clubhouse.

Golf in Germany in figures

For a long time golf was regarded as elitist in Germany. The sport is now changing, however, and is slowly developing into a more open sport. The figures of the German Golf Association show that too. In 1970 the association counted 100 golf clubs with 21,000 golfers. Twenty years later there were already 313 golf clubs with 141,885 golfers.

At the end of 2025 the association listed 721 golf facilities and 695,617 golfers. That was 8,909 golfers more than in the year before. In the statistics of the German Olympic Sports Confederation the German Golf Association ranked 8th among the Olympic associations in 2024.

Of the 721 golf facilities 437 have a golf course with 18 holes. A further 143 are smaller facilities with 6 to 12 holes and the association lists 141 in the group with 27 holes. For 2021 the association also named 395 public golf courses. On 200 of them you could play without a golf licence at that time.

Golf will probably never reach the popularity of football, but the sport is growing in its very own way. There are only a few top tournaments in Germany, however. In recent years the Porsche European Open near Hamburg and the BMW International Open were among the outstanding tournaments.

Where the golf facilities lie

If you are planning your golf trip in Germany, an overview of the federal states with the most golf helps you. The golf clubs are organised in regional golf associations and some of these associations combine two federal states. The table shows the situation at the end of 2025.

You have the biggest choice in Bavaria and in North Rhine-Westphalia, because together 328 of the 721 golf facilities lie there. Measured against the number of inhabitants, by contrast, Schleswig-Holstein is the state with the most golf. There are 18.4 golfers per 1,000 inhabitants there, which is more than twice the figure for the whole country.

In Bavaria you find 171 golf facilities. In Saxony-Anhalt there are 5.

Incidentally, the sum of the regional golf associations does not give the total number of golfers. That is because 32,698 golfers are registered through the association of golfers without a club, the Vereinigung clubfreier Golfspieler, and therefore belong to no regional golf association.

What a round of golf costs in Germany

In Germany every golf facility sets its green fee itself. So that you still get an idea of the prices, I give you the middle price here. That is the value at which one half of the golf facilities is cheaper and the other half more expensive. The basis is the price lists of 616 golf facilities as of August 2026.

The range is wide, however. The cheapest round over 18 holes costs 25 euros on weekdays and the most expensive 180 euros. At the middle half of the golf facilities the green fee lies between 60 and 85 euros on weekdays and between 70 and 95 euros at the weekend. At the upper end stands Golfclub München Eichenried, which quotes 180 euros for guests at the weekend.

The prices differ depending on the federal state. The table names the federal states from which price lists of at least ten golf facilities are available.

In Bavaria and in Baden-Württemberg the middle price at the weekend is therefore 90 euros, while in Lower Saxony and in Saxony it is 75 euros.

Mirco’s tip

If you are flexible about the days, I would put the round on a weekday. There are 15 euros between the middle price on weekdays and the one at the weekend.

Buggy, trolley and rental clubs

Depending on the round, a few extra costs are added to the green fee. If you arrive by car, you have your own equipment with you and need only little of this. For all other cases the table shows you what the golf facilities quote.

The prices come from the same price lists as the green fee and are as of August 2026. How your golf baggage fits into the car is explained in the guide on the golf trip by car.

What you show at reception

The membership card of the German Golf Association is the official proof that you are a member of a golf club and have a handicap. Depending on the facility, golf courses ask for this card as identification before they let guests onto the course. As a guest from abroad the card of your own national association serves the same purpose. If you arrive without the card, you therefore risk being refused access. That can even happen when your tee times are already booked and paid for.

The first golf licence, called Platzreife, is usually required in Germany as well. Whether and how a golf facility checks it is something it decides itself, though. In practice it is the valid membership card that counts at reception, because depending on the golf course the certificate of the licence is not asked for at all.

The German card can also carry a golden “R”. This mark shows that the home of the player lies near their golf facility. For you as a guest that is important because some of the golf facilities make the green fee depend on it. 23 golf facilities quote both prices in their price list. There you pay between 10 and 50 euros more for 18 holes without the golden “R”, with the middle surcharge at 20 euros.

With the golden “R” you pay the normal green fee. Without the “R” it is 10 to 50 euros more, depending on the golf facility.

Mirco’s tip

I would put the membership card of your golf club with the documents for the trip. Before booking you can also ask whether the green fee depends on the golden “R”. Then there is no surprise for you at reception.

Learning golf on holiday

If someone is travelling with you who does not play golf yet, getting started can be combined well with the holiday. The first big step is the golf licence. During my time at German golf facilities I was responsible for selling the licence courses for a long time and these courses were our flagship.

At 483 golf facilities a licence course is in the price list. The middle price is 299 euros and the middle half of the golf facilities charges between 219.50 and 389 euros. For a single lesson of around 60 minutes with the golf teacher the middle price is 70 euros.

After the licence one more step is missing, however. You only get the membership card with membership of a golf club. For beginners an inexpensive distance membership can therefore be the way to play various golf courses for a green fee.

How I would plan the trip

A golf trip in Germany is quickly planned if you arrive by car, because flight and transfer drop out. There are still a few things I would settle in this order.

1. AreaFirst I would choose an area in which several golf facilities lie close together. The choice is biggest in Bavaria and in North Rhine-Westphalia.
2. Tee timesI would book the tee times before settling on the hotel. How that works is explained in the guide on the preferred tee time.
3. Condition of the golf coursesHeavy rain, thunderstorms or maintenance work can mean that a golf course is closed for a time. In Germany wild boar are sometimes even the reason. You learn more in the guide on course maintenance.
4. Getting thereBy car you are flexible and can play a different golf course every day. If you would rather stay overnight right at the golf facility, the guide on the golf trip by motorhome helps you.

The low season in Germany mostly lasts from October to Easter. In these months golfers are drawn to the south, for example to Portugal, to Morocco or to Egypt.