A golf taster course in Switzerland: what it costs, what to bring and the first hour in a simulator as the alternative

A golf taster course lets you try the sport before you put money and weekends into it. A few hours with a pro, clubs and balls provided, and at the end you know whether it suits you. In Switzerland it comes in three forms: paid, at a club or a golf school, free at an Open Door, and for a few years now as an hour in a simulator with a coach. Which one suits you depends on what you want to see and when you have time.

What a taster course is and what it is not

A taster course is a taste. A pro shows you the grip, the stance and the swing, you hit balls on the range, putt a few holes and see the course. There is no exam, no grade and no licence. Afterwards you still may not go onto a golf course on your own. That takes the course permit, a course of its own with theory and a practical exam; how it works is in The Swiss course permit. The taster is the step before it. It answers a single question: whether you want the effort at all.

What a golf taster course costs

There is no one price for the whole of Switzerland. Every club and every golf school sets its own. One published price that applies at six places is Migros Golf's: the taster course at the Migros Golfparks costs CHF 90, everything included. That buys three lessons of 150 minutes in total, the equipment is provided, and the course runs from four participants. On the programme are the basics of the swing, a putting contest, a guided tour of the course and an apéro. The six Golfparks are Holzhäusern, Moossee, Oberkirch, Otelfingen, Signal de Bougy and Waldkirch.

The clubs run their own taster courses at their own prices. Some charge something, some nothing, because the course is a Swiss Golf Open Door. The price is on the club's website, and so is whether the course runs on one afternoon or over three evenings. What comes after the taster, from the course permit to the green fee, is worked out in What golf costs in Switzerland.

Open Doors: the clubs' free day in figures

Open Doors is the programme through which Swiss Golf has supported the clubs' taster courses since 2021. The courses are free, a qualified golf teacher leads them, and you register directly with the club. Swiss Golf supports the courses financially and gives every participant a small gift, as its taster course page says. The dates are in the Swiss Golf tournament calendar via the Open Doors button. How big the programme is, the Swiss Golf annual report 2025 shows on page 30:

• 42 golf clubs, pitch and putts and driving ranges took part.
• 139 Open Doors were held.
• A good 2,550 people took part.
• More than 310 hours of teaching by Swiss PGA teaching pros went into them.
• More than 200 people went on to a course permit course afterwards.

What to bring: no clubs, no golf clothing

For a taster course you need nothing you do not already own. The organiser provides clubs and balls. Migros Golf asks for clothing suited to the weather and sports shoes for its course, nothing else; as prerequisites the page names an interest in golf and no golf experience. At ASVZ in Zurich the basic courses include a set of five clubs. You buy golf clothing if you stay with it, not before.

• Clothing: comfortable and suited to the weather, you are outside for a few hours.
• Shoes: trainers. You do not need golf shoes.
• Clubs and balls: provided.
• Glove: not needed on the first day.
• Prior knowledge: none. Anyone who has played before is in the wrong course.

For an hour in a simulator the list is shorter still; it is in What to bring to your first simulator hour.

Taster course in Zurich: clubs, Golfpark and ASVZ

In Zurich you have three doors. The clubs around the city with their Open Doors and their own courses, the Migros Golfpark Otelfingen with the CHF 90 course, and for students ASVZ. It offers taster trainings and beginner courses, at the Sport Center Fluntern, at Golfpark Otelfingen or in the golf simulator in Dübendorf; the covered tee area in Fluntern is open from April to mid-November. The courses are led by experienced players, not pros. For the course permit course at Golfpark Otelfingen, students get a CHF 350 reduction with their matriculation number, and ASVZ members pay 20 percent less in the simulator. For a first hour indoors, the canton of Zurich has 29 venues in the directory, more than any other canton. How many venues are within reach in Zurich, Bern, Basel and Lucerne is in Learning golf in Zurich, Bern, Basel and Lucerne.

The other first hour: a bay with a coach

The taster course is not the only way in. The second is an hour in a golf simulator with a coach. 81 of the 110 indoor venues in Switzerland offer coaching, 87 take group bookings. 80 venues publish an hourly price: between CHF 25 and CHF 99 per bay, a median of CHF 50. Up to four people usually share the bay. The coach's time comes on top, and what a pro charges each venue says itself. As a reference point: the golf school FIT4PAR in the Basel region quotes CHF 160 for a single session of 50 minutes.

What the bay has over the taster course is the numbers. After every shot the launch monitor shows how fast the ball left, how high it started and which way it curved. You see that the ball went right because the face was open, not because you were unlucky. What the numbers mean is explained in Understanding launch monitor numbers. What the bay lacks is the course: no grass, no wind, no view down the fairway. And you need neither a course permit nor a licence nor a membership for it, which is the point of Golf without a course permit.

• Taster course: if you want to see the course, like learning in a group and a fixed date suits you. Outdoors, in season, a few hours.
• Bay with a coach: if you come alone or as a pair, want a slot after work and want to know what your ball is doing. Indoors, all year, one hour.
• Bay without a coach: if you simply want to hit a few. As a four, the hour costs a median CHF 50 per bay, so CHF 12.50 a person, and nobody is watching.

Taster course in winter: where it runs indoors

Open Doors and the Golfpark courses run in season, when the course is open. In November it is over outdoors; what still works then is in Golf in winter in Switzerland. Anyone who wants to start in December goes indoors. A beginner lesson in a simulator is the same thing as a taster course, only without the tour of the course and without weather: grip, stance, swing, a few dozen balls, and the coach sees on the screen what you are doing. Venues with coaching are in the Indoor golf training guide, and which ones are open right now is under Open now.

More on this: What a golf lesson costs and Platzreife courses compared, Renting golf clubs in Switzerland, Indoor golf trial hour and taster hour.

What comes next: the course permit or just playing for now

After the taster course there are two honest answers. One: it was fun, but not enough for the effort. Then the simulator is your golf, an hour now and then, with no licence and no course. The other: you want to get onto the course. Then comes the course permit How long that takes is in How long it takes to learn golf., which means the theory, lessons with a pro and the exam. FIT4PAR reckons with five to fifteen lessons, depending on where you start and how often you practise in between. How the exam runs is in the post on the course permit, and you can build the swing for it in the simulator over winter. Of the good 2,550 people at the 2025 Open Doors, according to the annual report, more than 200 went that way. The others still got something: an answer.

The next step is a date. Look in the Swiss Golf calendar for an Open Door in your region, or ask the club near you about its taster course. If no date suits or it is winter, book an hour with a coach: Golf simulator near me shows the venues around you, Venues all 126 in Switzerland. What you need to know for that first hour is in the beginners' guide.

Frequently asked questions

What does a golf taster course cost?

At Migros Golf CHF 90 for three lessons of 150 minutes in total, equipment included. The clubs set their own prices, and Swiss Golf's Open Doors are free; in 2025 there were 139 of them at 42 clubs, pitch and putts and driving ranges.

What does a golf lesson with a pro cost?

Every pro sets that themselves. The golf school FIT4PAR in the Basel region quotes CHF 160 for a single session of 50 minutes. In a simulator the bay comes on top, a median of CHF 50 an hour, which up to four people share.

Can I try golf in a simulator instead?

Yes. 81 of the 110 indoor venues in Switzerland offer coaching, with no course permit, licence or membership. An hour costs between CHF 25 and 99 per bay, plus the coach's time, and it works in winter too.

What is Swiss Golf's Open Doors?

The day on which clubs, pitch and putts and driving ranges open for free. 42 facilities took part and organised 139 open doors, a good 2,550 people came, and the Swiss PGA teaching pros gave more than 310 hours of instruction.

What do I bring to a taster course?

Comfortable clothes for a few hours outdoors and trainers. Clubs and balls come from the venue, you do not need golf shoes, and you do not need a glove on day one either. Everything else people buy can wait, or never happen.

Sources

• Migros Golf: Schnupperkurs (CHF 90 alles inklusive, 3 Lektionen (150 Minuten), ab 4 Personen, Ausrüstung wird gestellt; Stand 18. September 2026)
• Swiss Golf: Jahresbericht 2025 (PDF) (Seite 30: 42 Clubs, Pitch&Putts und Driving Ranges, 139 Open Doors, gut 2'550 Interessierte, mehr als 310 Stunden, mehr als 200 danach in einem Platzreifekurs)
• Swiss Golf: Schnupperkurse (Open Doors) (kostenlos, qualifizierte Golflehrperson, Anmeldung beim Club, finanzielle Unterstützung und ein kleines Geschenk, Programm seit 2021; die Seite nennt 2'545 Teilnehmende 2025, der Jahresbericht gut 2'550)
• Swiss Golf: Turnierkalender mit Filter Open Doors (Termine der Open Doors über den Knopf Open Doors)
• FIT4PAR: Platzreife (Golfschule in Lausen BL, Unterricht in der Region Basel und in Luzern; CHF 160 für eine Einzel-Session von 50 Minuten, fünf bis fünfzehn Lektionen; Stand 18. September 2026)
• ASVZ: Golf (Schnuppertrainings und Einsteigerkurse in Fluntern, Otelfingen oder im Simulator Dübendorf, gedeckter Abschlagplatz April bis Mitte November, 5er-Set in den Basis-Kursen, CHF 350 Reduktion für Studierende auf den Platzreifekurs im Golfpark Otelfingen, 20 Prozent im Simulator; Stand 18. September 2026)
• golfsimulators.ch, Verzeichnis am 18. September 2026 (126 publizierte Anlagen)