Top 15 Public Golf Courses in London | J-UK Golf

“London”

We define “London” as the area inside the M25 London orbital motorway. This includes London proper as well as those parts of Buckinghamshire, Hertfordshire, Essex, Kent and Surrey that reach inside the M25.

Course Ratings

Each course’s rating is in comparison to other public courses in London. All the courses on this page are fun to play and worth the journey from central London as long as expectations are suitably managed in regard to conditions and pace-of-play.

Conditions at a public course can vary greatly from month-to-month because of the large number of players and limited maintenance budgets, and there is no guarantee of 4-hour rounds or manicured fairways. At the height of the golf season (May-September in the UK), conditions should be good while pace-of-play may be slow, occasionally glacial. During the winter months, pace-of-play should be much quicker but conditions will often be poor, especially after rain. If you plan to play in winter, you should assume that every course on this page will be heavy underfoot and muddy between November and March.

Tee Time Bookings

Generally speaking, public courses allow visitors to make reservations up to 7 days in advance. If you wish to play on a Saturday or Sunday morning, you should aim to secure a tee time as early as possible. Many pay-and-play courses have a membership base that can book ahead of casual visitors, and so it is possible that some peak times may not be available for visitors. If you plan to play during the week or in the afternoon, there should be no difficulty in getting tee times even at the last minute.