17 September 2026 · 9 min read
The Swiss course permit: the process, the exam, the cost and what the simulator can do for it
The course permit is the entry ticket to golf. What Swiss Golf requires, how the exam runs, what it costs, and which parts of it you can get done in the simulator over winter.
Anyone who wants to play a golf course alone in Switzerland needs the Platzreife, the course permit. It is not a certificate of talent; it is proof that you know the rules, endanger nobody and play the course at a reasonable pace. Swiss Golf sets it out in its own regulations. Here is what they say, and the fastest way to get there.
The theory
40 questions on rules and etiquette, 28 of which must be right; the exam is taken by a person the club appoints for it. Many clubs and golf schools offer the theory part online, where access costs CHF 99 and stays valid for several months. The questions are not hard, but some rules cannot be guessed: where you may drop, when a ball is out of bounds, what counts as slow play. A weekend with the rule book is enough.
The exam on the practice ground
Between the theory and the course lies the part fewest people know about, although it is the only one with clear numbers. A Swiss PGA professional tests you on the practice ground, that is the driving range and the chipping and putting greens, and writes the results on an exam card. That can happen in one hour or over several sessions. Six disciplines, six balls each:
| Discipline | Task | Target |
|---|---|---|
| Tee shots | 6 balls from the tee | 3 of 6 carrying 80 m (men) or 70 m (women) |
| Long game | 6 balls with a wood, hybrid or mid-iron | 3 of 6 carrying 60 m |
| Pitching | 6 balls from 15 to 18 m | 2 of 6 inside a circle of 6 m radius |
| Chipping | 6 balls from 10 to 12 m | 2 of 6 inside a circle of 4 m radius |
| Bunker | 6 balls from the sand | 2 of 6 stay on the green |
| Putting | 9 holes: 3 × 3 m, 3 × 6 m, 3 × 9 m | 21 strokes at most, with one ball |
That is the whole hurdle, and it is lower than the respect for it suggests: 80 metres of carry with a driver is within reach after a few lessons, and 21 strokes over nine holes is a comfortable two a hole. What makes the numbers valuable is something else: they are measurable, and measuring is exactly what a simulator does.
The exam on the course
The part on the course is normally signed off by a Swiss PGA professional. What is assessed is etiquette, meaning safety, consideration, pace of play, priority and care of the course, then the play itself with tee shots, long game, pitching, chipping, bunker and putting, and whether you fill in the scorecard correctly and convert it into Stableford points. The examiner compares your behaviour with those objectives and decides. It is played on a course homologated by Swiss Golf, on a 6- to 9-hole course or on a pitch and putt; individual clubs add conditions of their own, and those are on their website.
After that comes the playing standard for your first handicap: a result of 36 Stableford points over 18 holes, or 18 over 9, is enough. That sounds like more than it is. It is calculated against handicap 54, three strokes on every hole. 36 points means a triple bogey per hole on average, and Stableford forgives the bad holes: anything worse than a net double bogey simply scores zero and takes nothing away. A round in which you move the ball forward and avoid three-putts is enough.
36 points, worked out
Stableford counts points per hole rather than strokes, measured against your net score after the strokes you are given:
| Net score | Points | On a par 4 off handicap 54 |
|---|---|---|
| Net double bogey or worse | 0 | 9 strokes or more |
| Net bogey | 1 | 8 strokes |
| Net par | 2 | 7 strokes |
| Net birdie | 3 | 6 strokes |
| Net eagle | 4 | 5 strokes |
Off handicap 54 you get three strokes on every hole. Two points a hole, eighteen times, is the 36 required, and two points on a par 4 simply means seven strokes. A hole that goes entirely wrong costs you zero points, but it takes nothing away. That is why the qualifying round is not a fight over every stroke but an exercise in walking on.
What it costs
The theory, CHF 99. The lessons are the big item: a 50-minute private lesson is around CHF 160, a package of twelve around CHF 1,680; most people need five to fifteen. The figures are from the Zurich golf school FIT4PAR; group courses at clubs and golf parks are cheaper. Add the club's exam fee, the green fees for practice rounds and, later, the licence. What that adds up to is in our post What does golf cost in Switzerland.
Where the simulator helps
Four of the six disciplines on the practice ground can be trained indoors: tee shot, long game, pitching and chipping. Etiquette you only learn on the course. But the swing is the part that takes months, and the simulator shortens it for three reasons.
First, the numbers. A launch monitor shows after every shot what the ball did and why: club speed, attack angle, face angle, spin. With that a professional sees in one lesson what takes three to guess at on the range. Second, repetition. You can hit 60 seven-irons under identical conditions without collecting balls. Third, winter. The permit takes weeks; start in November and you stand on the course in April with a finished swing, needing only the round.
81 of the 110 indoor venues in Switzerland offer coaching, many with Swiss PGA professionals who are allowed to take the exam. Which ones are near you is on the training page.
Measuring the exam targets yourself
Four of the six disciplines on the practice ground are numbers every launch monitor prints. So you can know before the exam whether you pass them instead of hoping. An hour in a bay is enough:
- Tee shot. Six balls with the driver or a wood, and the carry of each one is on the screen. Three have to fly over 80 metres, 70 for women. Watch the carry column, not the total distance.
- Long game. The same six balls with a mid-iron, three of them over 60 metres of carry.
- Pitching. Set a target at 15 to 18 metres and hit six balls. The software shows the distance from the target; two balls have to finish within 6 metres.
- Chipping. The same from 10 to 12 metres, two balls within 4 metres.
Manage that on three evenings out of three and you will pass this part in front of a professional too. Bunker and putting stay outside: sand has no bay, and a 9-metre putt on a mat says nothing about a real green. A venue near you is on the map, and the hour is a median CHF 50 for the whole bay.
What the simulator cannot do
It cannot teach you how a ball sits in the rough, what a bunker feels like and what you do when the group behind you is waiting. The bunker is a discipline of its own in the exam, and etiquette is the first criterion of all. So plan at least two or three rounds on a short course with an experienced player before you go to the exam. The permit tests golf, not the swing. The rules in sand and the exam target are in Out of the bunker.
After the exam: licence and first handicap
Passing the permit gives you a certificate, not yet a handicap. The first one comes from a signed scorecard: if the exam was played over 9 or 18 holes on a course homologated by Swiss Golf, that card itself counts. Otherwise you write an EDS card or play a tournament, and whoever signs as your marker needs an EGA handicap of 36 or better themselves.
The result is recognised as soon as you hold a Swiss Golf licence, through a club or through one of the two public golf organisations, the ASGI and the Migros GolfCard. What each costs is in Golf without a course permit and without a membership. The first handicap is calculated from the net Stableford points, and it is 54 or better.
More on this: Platzreife courses compared, Failed the Platzreife?.
The way there in five steps
- Buy the theory and work through it over two weekends: 40 questions, 28 have to be right.
- Five to ten lessons with a professional, in winter happily in the simulator.
- Practise alone in between: one hour a week, with a goal, and once a month run through the four measurable exam targets.
- Practise bunkers and long putts at a real facility, two or three times.
- Two or three practice rounds on a 9-hole or short course with company.
- The exam on the practice ground and on the course, then the licence through a club, the Migros GolfCard or the ASGI.
The handicap of 54 you get afterwards is the starting line, not the goal. But it opens every course in the country.
Frequently asked questions
How many Stableford points do I need for the course permit?
36 points over 18 holes or 18 over 9, calculated against handicap 54. That works out to a triple bogey per hole on average.
Can I do the course permit in a simulator?
The swing and five of the ten criteria, yes; the exam itself, no: etiquette, pace of play and play on the course are assessed outdoors by a Swiss PGA professional.
How long is the online theory valid?
With the usual providers access stays valid for several months, six at FIT4PAR, and the exam has 40 questions of which 28 must be right.
What do I have to manage on the practice ground?
Six disciplines of six balls each: 3 of 6 tee shots carrying 80 m (women 70 m), 3 of 6 with a wood or mid-iron over 60 m, 2 of 6 pitches from 15 to 18 m inside a 6-metre circle, 2 of 6 chips from 10 to 12 m inside a 4-metre circle, 2 of 6 bunker shots staying on the green, and nine putts from 3, 6 and 9 metres in 21 strokes or fewer.
Where may the course-permit exam take place?
After the theory and the practice-ground part, on a course homologated by Swiss Golf, on a 6- to 9-hole course or on a pitch and putt. If it was played over 9 or 18 holes on a homologated course, the signed scorecard counts straight away as your first handicap result.
Sources
- Swiss Golf: Reglement Platzreife (PDF) (Theorie 40 Fragen, 28 richtig; zehn Kriterien, acht erfüllt; 36 Stableford-Punkte über 18 Loch oder 18 über 9)
- FIT4PAR: Platzreife in der Schweiz (Preise für Theorie und Unterricht, Stand 2026)
- golfsimulators.ch: Indoor-Golf-Training (81 Anlagen mit Coaching, Stand 17. September 2026)