A visitor round of golf in Bath costs anywhere from £10 on the short course in Royal Victoria Park to £80 at Bath Golf Club under Sham Castle, and we checked every one of those figures against the operators' own price lists in August 2026. What nobody tells you is that Bath barely has any golf left inside the city: Entry Hill, the only full-length public course, closed in 2020 and never reopened.
So "a round of golf in Bath" now really means one of two things. Either you play the cheerful little approach course in Royal Victoria Park for the price of two coffees, or you go up. Both of the proper 18-hole clubs sit on the plateaus above the city, Bath Golf Club on Bathampton Down and Lansdown Golf Club on the Lansdown plateau by the racecourse, and at both of them the view back over the World Heritage skyline is honestly half of what your green fee is buying. That's not a complaint. On a clear evening it's a very good deal.
What happened to Bath's public golf
Entry Hill golf course, the council-owned 9-holer south of the city, shut in 2020 after years of losing money. You'll still read everywhere that it "became a bike park". It didn't. Bath & North East Somerset Council picked Pedal Progression to build a family cycle centre on the site, then cancelled the whole project in December 2022 when supply costs jumped around 20 per cent and a British Cycling funding bid failed. The council confirmed the cancellation on its own newsroom, so treat any listing that sends you to Entry Hill for golf or bikes as fiction.
What the site actually hosts now is the Forest of Imagination festival, which filled the old greens with art installations in autumn 2025 and returns in 2026, with a longer-term ambition to make it a permanent art and nature park. Lovely, but you can't play golf on it.
The other pandemic casualty half-recovered. The old Approach Golf Course beside Royal Victoria Park closed during Covid, sat shut until 2023, and came back under a new operator. More on that below, because it's the best-value golf in the city and it has a deadline attached.
The £10 round in Royal Victoria Park
RVP Golf and Footgolf, run by Future Golf Ventures on the old approach course off Weston Road, is the only place you can hit a golf ball inside Bath right now. It's an 18-hole short course, pitch-and-putt in spirit, and a round costs £10 for adults booked online or £12 if you walk up, with concessions at £8 and £6 respectively. There's a 12-hole footgolf course alongside (£8 online), club hire on site, and no dress code. It's a fifteen-minute flat walk from the city centre, which none of the other courses here can claim.
Two catches, and they matter. First, the season: the operator's published 2026 hours run through late September, and from 1 October the site is listed as closed. Second, the council is tendering for a new operator to take the site from November 2026, with bids closing on 21 August 2026. So the £10 price is real today, but whoever runs it next year may charge something else. If you want the cheap round, take it before the end of September.
If you're travelling with kids who'd rather putt through a waterfall than chip to a green, Victoria Falls Adventure Golf is in the same park.
The four options compared
| Course | Holes | Visitor green fee (weekday / weekend) | From city centre | Worth it for |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| RVP Golf and Footgolf, Royal Victoria Park | 18 (short approach course) | £10 online, £12 walk-up, any day | 15-min walk | Cheapest golf in Bath, zero formality |
| Bath Golf Club (Sham Castle) | 18 | £70 Mon–Thu / £80 Fri–Sun, £50 after 3pm | 1.5 miles, ~10 min by car | The view and the Harry Colt pedigree |
| Lansdown Golf Club | 18 | £40–£45 from 11am / £45–£50 Sun, no Sat visitors | ~4 miles, ~15 min by car | Best-value full-length round |
| Cumberwell Park, Bradford-on-Avon | 45 (five 9-hole loops) | Not confirmed this run — see below | ~8 miles, ~20–25 min by car | Conditioning and a full day out |
All fees are adult rates from each operator's own website, August 2026, except Cumberwell Park's (see note below). Twilight, junior and winter rates are cheaper everywhere.
Bath Golf Club: paying for the position
Photo: bathgolfclub.org.uk
Bath Golf Club sits on Bathampton Down next to Sham Castle, the fake castle folly Ralph Allen built so he'd have something pretty to look at from town. Summer visitor fees are £70 Monday to Thursday and £80 Friday to Sunday, dropping to £50 after 3pm, and to a flat £50 through the winter from November. You can book online up to seven days ahead, though Saturdays are tight around club competitions.
Is £80 a lot for a course that isn't a championship name? Yes. But this is downland turf redesigned by Harry Colt, it drains so well that winter golf here is genuinely playable, and Golf Monthly called it a hidden gem in 2022. The club's own line is that it sits "on a hilltop overlooking the historic city of Bath", and for once the marketing undersells it. The Bath skyline walk runs right past the course, so non-playing partners have one of the best free afternoons in the city while you play.
The evening twilight rate is the smart buy. £50 after 3pm in summer gets you the same course with the light going gold over the city.
Lansdown: the value round
Photo: lansdowngolfclub.co.uk
Lansdown Golf Club, up on the plateau next to Bath Racecourse, is where we'd send anyone who just wants a proper full-length 18 without ceremony. Visitors pay £40 Monday to Thursday from 11am, £45 on Fridays, and £45–£50 on Sundays, with a twilight rate of £25 after 3pm. Buggies are £30. The one hard rule: no visitor play on Saturdays at all, so don't build a Saturday itinerary around it.
The course is flatter than you'd expect for somewhere 700-odd feet up, which makes it the easiest walking of the three full courses here. The trade is that the views are of rolling Cotswold edge rather than the city itself. Racedays at the neighbouring course can make the drive up Lansdown Hill slow, so check the racing calendar before you set off.
Cumberwell Park: check the green fees page before you go
Photo: cumberwellpark.com
Cumberwell Park, just outside Bradford-on-Avon, is the biggest golf operation anywhere near Bath: five contrasting 9-hole loops, 45 holes in all. We could not confirm its current 18-hole visitor rate against the operator's own green fees page this run (the site wasn't reachable for us on the day we checked), and third-party listings we found disagree with each other, so we won't print a number we can't stand behind. Check cumberwellpark.com/golf/green-fees or call 01225 862332 before you book; it's worth asking whether registering as a visitor on their site unlocks a lower rate, as it has at some clubs in this group.
It's 20 to 25 minutes from Bath by car, and Bradford-on-Avon itself is one of the better excursions in our day trips guide, so a morning round plus an afternoon by the town bridge makes a proper day of it.
One thing we couldn't find you: a driving range in Bath itself. Combe Grove, which used to run an 18-bay range and practice holes above the Limpley Stoke valley, is now a metabolic health retreat and advertises no golf at all, whatever old directories claim. Your nearest practice facilities are at the clubs above, and if golf turns out not to be your thing, the rest of our things to do in Bath guide is played at street level.
FAQs
Is there any public golf course left in Bath?
One. RVP Golf and Footgolf in Royal Victoria Park, an 18-hole short course at £10 online (£12 walk-up), open through late September 2026. Entry Hill, the city's last full-length public course, closed in 2020 and has not reopened.
Did Entry Hill golf course become a bike park?
No. The council approved a bike park and picked an operator, then cancelled the project in December 2022 over rising costs and a failed funding bid. The site now hosts the Forest of Imagination art festival and is being shaped into an art and nature park. There is no golf and no bike park there.
How much are visitor green fees at Bath Golf Club?
Summer 2026 rates on the club's own site: £70 Monday to Thursday, £80 Friday to Sunday, £50 after 3pm, and £50 all winter from November. Booking opens seven days ahead.
What's the cheapest full-length round near Bath?
Lansdown Golf Club: £40 for visitors Monday to Thursday from 11am, or £25 twilight after 3pm. Note there's no visitor play on Saturdays.
Is Cumberwell Park worth the drive from Bath?
For a full day, yes. It has 45 holes across five 9-hole courses about 25 minutes away. We couldn't confirm its current 18-hole visitor fee against the operator's own page this run, so check cumberwellpark.com/golf/green-fees or call 01225 862332 for the live price before booking.
Can I play golf in Bath without a car?
Only RVP Golf and Footgolf, a 15-minute walk from the centre. Bath Golf Club is a steep 35 to 40 minute walk up North Road or a short taxi ride; Lansdown and Cumberwell realistically need a car or taxi.