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18 September 2026 · 9 min read

Golf without a course permit and without a membership: what really works in Switzerland

Most people who want to try golf fail not at the sport but at the requirements. Here is what you may play today without a course permit, what works without a club membership, and where the line really is.

Golf without a course permit and without a membership: what really works in Switzerland — post image

Golf has two doors that look locked from the outside: the course permit and the membership. Both are less absolute than they sound. There is more golf without the one, and more golf without the other, than most people think. Here is the list as it stands in September 2026.

Without a permit: what you may play

You need the permit for the golf course. For everything else you do not.

The simulator. No venue in our directory asks for a course permit, a licence or a membership. You book a bay, you go, you play. 110 indoor venues across 21 cantons, many with rental clubs, the hour a median CHF 50 per bay. If you want to try golf without proving anything first, this is where you start.

The driving range. On the range you practise, you do not play a course. That is why it is generally open to everyone: buy balls, find a bay, hit. Many ranges have rental clubs and a restaurant. 16 of them in Switzerland track every ball with Toptracer or TrackMan Range and show you carry and curve on a screen; they are on the technology page.

Pitch and putt, FunGolf, FootGolf. Short par-3 layouts where the permit is expressly not required. Migros Golfpark Oberkirch names its 9-hole pitch and putt as an example: nine par-3 holes, FunGolf and FootGolf for everyone, clubs and balls on site (migrosgolf.ch). Swiss Golf counts 11 short courses in the country; whether one of them is playable without a permit is for each operator to say, so call ahead.

The taster lesson. With a professional you may go onto the course even without a permit, because they accompany you. That is what the path looks like for most people who later take the permit.

Without a permit: what does not work

Playing a 9- or 18-hole course on your own. That is what the permit is for: proof that you know the rules, endanger nobody and play at the pace of the others. What it asks and what it costs is in our post The Swiss course permit.

Without a membership: how you get onto the course

For the course you need a Swiss Golf licence with a handicap. You get it through a club, but not only. Two organisations keep it for independent golfers:

  • Migros GolfCard: CHF 300 per calendar year for adults from 26, the CHF 80 Swiss Golf contribution included; CHF 150 from 19 to 25, free under 18. With it you play more than half of Swiss courses without a green-fee surcharge, and the six Migros Golfparks (Holzhäusern, Moossee, Oberkirch, Otelfingen, Signal de Bougy, Waldkirch) with CHF 10 off 18 holes (migrosgolf.ch).
  • ASGI: the Association Suisse des Golfeurs Indépendants keeps the handicap of 19,761 members (end of 2025). The annual membership is around CHF 380 at the regular rate, CHF 320 from August, and juniors under 18 play for free (asgi.ch).

Both give you the Swiss Golf Card with your ID, what that card actually is is in The golf licence in Switzerland, and which of the three routes adds up is in ASGI, Migros GolfCard or a club, which you book tee times with, and both administer your handicap. What you pay on top is the green fee per round, as each course publishes it. What that adds up to in the first year is worked out in What does golf cost in Switzerland.

The fastest way in: a bay tonight

Trying golf does not take a plan, it takes a free hour. The way there has four steps and no precondition.

  1. Find a venue. The map shows every venue with its address and opening hours. If you want to go at short notice, look at Open now: the venues that are open at this moment.
  2. Book. Almost all of them rent the bay by the hour, many through an online form, some only by phone. Say when you book that you need rental clubs, and a set will be waiting.
  3. Turn up. Trainers with a clean sole are enough. Nobody needs golf shoes indoors, and spikes are not allowed on many mats. Glove and balls come from the venue.
  4. Play. The hour belongs to the bay, not to the person: two of you or four of you share the same room and the same price.

What you see in that hour is why the simulator is the best first evening: after every shot the carry, the flight and the dispersion are on the screen. You do not have to know what you are doing wrong, you can see it. A 7-iron and half an hour of shots from the same spot are enough to start; the round on a rebuilt course follows by itself. What else a first evening needs is in the beginners' guide.

The requirements side by side

Four ways lead to a ball without a permit, one does not. In a table:

WhereCourse permitLicenceMembershipWhat you pay
Golf simulatornononoa median CHF 50 per hour per bay
Driving rangenononoballs by basket size
Pitch and putt, FunGolfgenerally nononogreen fee of the short course
Taster lesson with a prono, the pro is with younonothe pro's fee
9- or 18-hole courseyesyes, Swiss Golf Card with a handicapno, if the GolfCard or the ASGI keeps the licencegreen fee per round plus the annual fee

The table is the whole truth about the two doors: the permit stands in front of the big course only, and the club membership in front of nothing. The venues that publish a tariff are listed with it on the price overview; the rest name it on request.

What they actually ask at the first tee

If you do want to play a course later, the procedure is more sober than its reputation. You reserve a tee time, show your card at the office, pay the green fee and walk to the first tee. They ask for the licence number and the handicap, not for a club. A few courses set a maximum handicap or keep tee times for their members, and both are on their website.

The rest is pace. Eighteen holes take around four hours, and anyone who falls behind waves the group behind them through. That is the real content of the course permit: not playing well, but holding nobody up and endangering nobody. Which is exactly why the simulator before it is so useful, because there a bad shot costs no time.

Children, teenagers and anyone who only wants a look

Under 18 the licence costs nothing at either organisation: free with the Migros GolfCard, free with the ASGI. From 19 to 25 the GolfCard is CHF 150 instead of CHF 300. That is the cheapest route to a handicap in Switzerland, and it asks for no club.

The simulator has no age limit at all. Because the bay is rented rather than the place, a family of four costs what one person costs, and nobody has to last a whole round. An hour is a few dozen shots each, and anyone who has had enough by then has subscribed to nothing.

Three sentences that are not true

  • “Nothing works without a club.” 19,761 people keep their handicap with the ASGI, and the Migros GolfCard holders come on top of that. Being clubless is not a special case in Switzerland, it is an ordinary route.
  • “Without a permit you may not play at all.” Simulator, range, short course and taster lesson do not ask for one. It stands in front of the 9- and the 18-hole course, nowhere else.
  • “You need your own clubs for a simulator.” Many venues put a set out. If the listing does not say so, ask when you book; a 7-iron and a putter are enough for a first evening anyway.

More on this: Platzreife courses compared, Indoor golf trial hour and taster hour, Swin Golf in Switzerland, Pitch and putt and par-3 courses in Switzerland.

The honest order

Anyone who has never held a club needs neither a licence nor a permit, but an hour in a simulator or a bucket of balls on the range. If you like it, five to ten lessons with a professional follow, happily in winter and happily indoors, because the launch monitor shows what the ball does. Then the permit. Then the licence through the Migros GolfCard or the ASGI. The club comes last, if at all.

So the doors are open. They just stand in a certain order. The first of them is on the map.

Frequently asked questions

May I use a driving range without a course permit?

As a rule, yes. On the range you practise and do not play a course, so it is usually open to everyone, often with rental clubs. You need the permit only for a 9- or 18-hole course.

Do I need a licence for a golf simulator?

No. None of the 110 indoor venues in Switzerland asks for a permit, a licence or a membership. You book a bay and play; the hour costs a median CHF 50 for up to four people.

How do I play golf in Switzerland without a club membership?

With a licence from the Migros GolfCard (CHF 300 a year) or the ASGI (around CHF 380). Both administer your handicap and give you the Swiss Golf Card; on the course you then pay that venue's green fee.

Does a golf simulator cost more for two or four people?

No. What is rented is the bay, not a place in it. An hour is a median CHF 50, and whether one person hits or four take turns changes nothing. You only need to ask if you need more than one rental set.

Migros GolfCard or ASGI: which is cheaper?

On the base price the GolfCard: CHF 300 a year against around CHF 380 at the ASGI, CHF 320 from August. Both keep your handicap and give you the Swiss Golf Card. Which one pays off depends on where you play, because the green-fee advantages apply to different courses depending on the organisation.

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