How Many Golf Courses Are There in the UK?

The UK had 3,101 golf courses at the end of 2020, according to The R&A. That figure comes from its Golf Around the World report, which uses facility data from the National Golf Foundation. England accounts for most of the total, with 2,213 courses. Scotland follows with 594, then Wales with 181 and Northern Ireland with 113.

One caveat matters before anything else. A “course” and a “club” are not the same thing, because some clubs run two or more courses. So this article keeps the two measures apart throughout.

Golf courses by UK nation

The R&A figures use one method across all four nations. That is why they anchor the table. Where a governing body gives a separate club count, we show it as its own row rather than mixing the two.

England

England is by far the largest golfing nation in the UK. The R&A counted 2,213 courses there at the end of 2020, more than the other three nations combined.

A National Club Golfer article from May 2025, citing a more recent R&A report, put England at 2,423 courses. It said 1,735 of those were affiliated to England Golf. However, no matching UK-wide total has been published, so we keep the 2020 figure as the headline.

England’s golf is defined by variety as much as size. For example, it has links in Lancashire, heathland in Surrey and moorland in Yorkshire. Our England golf guide covers each region, or you can browse every course we list in England.

Scotland

Scotland is the home of golf. The R&A counted 594 courses there at the end of 2020. Meanwhile, Scottish Golf said in December 2021 that it had 568 affiliated clubs.

The gap between the two figures reflects the club-versus-course point, since some Scottish clubs run more than one course. For a country of its size, Scotland has a very high number of courses per person. Our Scotland golf guide covers where to play, or you can browse every course we list in Scotland.

Wales

The R&A counted 181 courses in Wales at the end of 2020. They range from championship links such as Royal Porthcawl to small nine-hole courses in the valleys.

We could not find a current club count published by Wales Golf that we could check directly. So the R&A figure is the most reliable number available. Our Wales golf guide covers the main regions, or you can browse every course we list in Wales.

Northern Ireland

The R&A counted 113 courses in Northern Ireland at the end of 2020. Although it is the smallest of the four nations by course count, it has some of the most famous links in the world. For example, Royal Portrush hosted the Open in 1951, 2019 and 2025.

Golf Ireland runs the amateur game across the whole island. It reported 236,384 club members at the end of October 2025, but it does not publish a separate course count for Northern Ireland. Our guide to golf in Northern Ireland covers the courses, and our county-by-county guide breaks them down further. Our guide to golf in Ireland sets them in the context of the whole island. You can also browse every course we list in Northern Ireland.

Why the numbers differ

Ask how many golf courses the UK has, and you will find a wide range of answers. A few reasons explain most of the spread.

Clubs are not the same as courses. A club is a members’ organisation, while a course is a place to play. Since some clubs run several courses, club counts usually sit below course counts.

Nine-hole courses complicate things. Some counts treat every nine- or 18-hole layout as a separate course. Others count a site with two loops of nine as one.

Governing bodies count their own members. Club counts from Scottish Golf or England Golf cover affiliated clubs. As a result, some pay and play and resort courses fall outside them.

Courses open and close. A count from 2020 will not match one taken today, because some courses have closed and others have opened.

None of this makes the figures unreliable. Instead, it means the answer depends on what you count.

How many courses are listed on GeoGolf Course?

The figures above come from the R&A and the governing bodies. Our own directory is a separate, smaller list, since we only add courses we can confirm are open. You can see the courses we list for each nation on the region pages linked above, or browse them all by type on our categories page. To find courses close to a city, try the directory pages for golf courses near London, golf courses near Glasgow and golf courses near Cardiff.

For the live count of courses listed on GeoGolf, nation by nation and county by county, see our UK golf course statistics, which are updated from the directory each day.

If you want affordable golf rather than statistics, our guide to municipal golf courses covers council-run and public courses. Many of them sit outside the club affiliation figures above.

Sources

• The R&A, Golf Around the World 2021 (fourth edition), National Golf Foundation data at year-end 2020: PDF report
• National Club Golfer, How many golf clubs are there in England? (May 2025), citing a later R&A report: nationalclubgolfer.com
• The Golf Business, Membership of Scottish golf clubs jumps above 200,000 (December 2021), quoting Scottish Golf on 568 affiliated clubs: thegolfbusiness.co.uk
• Golf Ireland membership of 236,384 at the end of October 2025, via The Golf Business: thegolfbusiness.co.uk

Figures reflect the most recent data we could check for each nation as of October 2026. Where no checkable figure exists, we say so rather than estimate.