Best Value Golf Courses UK: 40+ courses under £150 everyone should play

What defines 'affordable' in golf? As any ardent golfer will tell you, this is a question to which the answer has changed considerably in the last few years.

Playing a ‘Top 100’ course is one of life’s great joys but now more than ever has come to be synonymous with often exorbitant green fees. Among a multitude of reasons for these increases, courses can trade off the fact that they’re part of an elite list, there is obviously a huge slant on where you are located and what your neighbours are pricing their green fees at and, in recent times, green fees at many clubs have seen a huge uplift.

If you don't believe us, consider this: according to UK Golf Guy, the average green fee at a Top 100 course in the UK in 2024 was £237: a rise of 10.7% year on year and, perhaps even more scarily, £70 more than what you would have expected to pay in 2021.

With demand higher than ever, some green fees now approaching the thousand-pound mark (thanks Turnberry) and other top 10 courses now routinely charging in excess of £400 for a round, this doesn't seem like a trend that's set to abate any time soon.

There are, of course plenty of methods to make paying a cheaper green fee possible. The dream is to be invited by a member or you can join a group where you might be able to offer a reciprocal in return. Or just make the most of playing these incredible courses at a non-peak time of year.

If this isn't an option, however, thankfully there are more than 3,100 golf courses dotting the UK, leaving hundreds of courses where you can have serious fun without leaving a considerable dent in your wallet. And here at GolfMagic, we've made it our mission to put together a list of the best places in the UK to play an affordable round, starting with the cheapest highly-rated tracks we can find and topping out at around the £150 mark for those who want to splurge without truly breaking the bank.

For the purposes of providing some form of clarity, we've decided to group this list in a loose order according to price bracket and alphabetical order, giving you a simple one-stop guide to finding great affordable golf. 

All that's left to consider is this: which one are you going to visit first?

The best UK golf courses under £50

London Airlinks

Location: Hounslow, London

Green fees (weekday): £27

London Airlinks existed in relative obscurity for much of its history, but in recent years has embraced a new identity as a growing hotspot for young golfers wanting an accessible, historic place to play true links golf in the heart of London.

Remarkably open given its setting, London Airlinks rolls peacefully over a patch of land formerly occupied by Heston Aerodrome (hence the name): once London's main airport before the opening of nearby Heathrow. A links course was laid out over the land before its closure in 2014, however Glendale Golf stepped in to renovate the course in an eight-year project. 

Extra drainage and USGA standard greens and bunkers were installed, meaning London Airlinks is now one of the only places in the city you can truly play year-round. 

Whether in summer or winter, it's easily one of the most unique golf experiences to be found anywhere in the city, with a true rolling links that, at its most elevated points, offer panoramic views over the entire city. And as a bonus, it costs less than £30 to play.

Visit London Airlinks

London Scottish

Location: Wimbledon, London

Green fees (weekday): £35

While Royal Wimbledon has since moved on to new pastures, the strip of Wimbledon Common on which it used to play golf is still used by the members and guests of London Scottish. Indeed, records suggest that the London Scottish Rifle Volunteer Corps, who founded the club, might have actually played here first.

True to its 150-year-old roots, golf at London Scottish is short and sweet, ambling over a flat patch of rolling heathland that blends naturally into the rest of the common. It's just 5,500 yards long and plays to a Par 68, but tight routing, some very long par 3s and small greens mean that you still need to be on your A-game to post a good score here.

Either way, London Scottish is a mighty fun test of golf and, with green fees starting at £35 for casual visitors, one of the most accessible clubs in the area. In a fun quirk, all golfers must play in a plain red upper garment of some description – so dress accordingly.

 Visit London Scottish

Seascale

Location: Seascale, Cumbria

Green fees (weekday): £30-60

An unheralded gem of the Cumbrian coast, our most recent round at Seascale, which cost £40, was as much fun as anywhere we've played recently, with the conditioning of the course particularly phenomenal and the time of year. A traditional links designed by Willie Campbell and George Lowe in the late 1890s, it's a remarkably pure place to play golf and easily one of the best value links experiences in England.

Visit Seascale Golf Club

Shiskine

Location: Shiskine, Arran, Scotland

Green fees (weekday): £37

What's not to love about a course like Shiskine? A 12-hole gem on one of the beautiful of the Scottish Islands, you can jump on at Shiskine for less than £40 year round, be back in the clubhouse in around two hours and have an absolute whale of a time the entire way. A peaceful links track playing along one of the beautiful stretches of coastline in the UK, this is affordable golf at its purest.

Visit Shiskine Golf Club

Sunningdale Heath

Location: Sunningdale, Surrey

Green fees (weekday): £35-£50

While its next-door neighbour naturally gets all the plaudits, Sunningdale Heath is truly one of the most charming courses in the legendary Surrey sandbelt, beloved as much for its welcoming, inclusive nature as it is incredibly fun layout designed by the legendary Harry Colt. Formerly a ladies-oriented golf club and famously patroned by the Queen herself, Sunningdale Heath is short but remarkably tough, with fourteen par three holes and four par fours configured in a way that'll represent a true challenge to just about any golfer.

Make no mistake, however, Sunningdale Heath still delivers all the hallmarks of idyllic Surrey heathland golf, with an open layout, beautiful flora and devilishly tricky greens – made all the harder by the deluge of long par 3s, many of which play well over 200 yards. If you can play well here, you can play well just about anywhere.

Visit Shiskine Golf Club

The best UK golf courses under £100

Ashburnham

Location: Burry Port, Carmarthenshire, Wales

Green fees (weekday): £55-£75

Another stellar layout in South Wales, less than an hour from Porthcawl, and another elite links. A traditional out-and-back routing which has been laid out by JH Taylor, Fred Hawtree and Ashburnham member Ken Cotton.

We begin with something different in a downhill par 3, from a fraction less than 180 yards, where out of bounds can play an early part if you shove one right. From the 3rd to the 16th it is all links, the beginning and end offer more of a parkland feel.

The 16th is the club's most spectacular hole, with an elevated tee, the Gower Peninsula in the distance and a railway line beyond the putting surface.

There's nothing very stuffy about the world-class Welsh links and this is another where you should make a day of your visit here.

Visit Ashburnham Golf Club

Canterbury Golf Club

Location: Canterbury, Kent

Green fees (weekday): £35-£65

Built on land leased from the War Office, Canterbury is one of the lesser-known works of Harry Colt (of Sunningdale and Portrush fame), and a fitting golfing accoutrement to this most historic of cities.

Adam Lawrence, editor of Golf Course Architecture, said this of the signature hole and another course that features inside England's Top 200 layouts: "Hole 12 is the best on the course, and frankly almost made me fall over with surprise when I saw it. The hole plays along a valley, with a ditch all the way up the favoured left side. But it is the terrain that astonishes. Canterbury was truly the most pleasant surprise I have had on a British golf course in a long time."

Canterbury begins and ends with a par 5 and, in between is 6200 yards of undulating and varied terrain, and there is also a TopTracer range on site.

Visit Canterbury Golf Club

Copt Heath 

Location: Solihull, West Midlands

Green fees: £95

Copt Heath will be a familiar name to many golfers, thanks to its hosting of Open qualifying and being the traditional curtain-raiser to the junior golfing season with the Peter McEvoy Trophy. 

The former Walker Cup skipper and one of the greatest brains in the game joined Copt Heath at the age of 13 and put his name to the trophy in 1981 – Justin Rose and Lee Westwood are former winners.

This is the work of Harry Vardon and Colt, but more so Colt and his bunkering – there are 101 still in place – remain a feature of this part heathland and parkland layout. More recently the Hawtree family have helped tweak this into the challenge that sits here today.

The three short holes are all excellent and, although it is a flat site, there is plenty of interest with an emphasis on restoring width to the course and it is generally regarded as being in exceptional condition.

Visit Copt Heath

Dulwich and Sydenham

Location: Dulwich, London

Green fees (weekday): £90

The leafy, affluent South London village of Dulwich feels like a natural spot for a great course, and it's just so at Dulwich & Sydenham. Laid out by Harry Colt in 1911, D&S winds its way through picturesque parkland, ambling up and down Sydenham hill while overlooking the grounds of the prestigious Dulwich College just nearby.

The golf is, as with any Colt course, excellent, but the views at the top of Sydenham Hill, which span Canary Wharf in the east all the way across to Wembley in the west, are even better.

Visit Dulwich & Sydenham

Ealing

Location: Greenford, London

Green fees (weekday): £70-£100

Widely held as one of London's best-kept golfing secrets, Ealing Golf Club lies just a short stroll from the Perivale tube station, yet harbours a genuine James Braid design, with further modifications carried out by Harry Colt for good measure.

Built on flats beside the River Brent, the river's waters provide some of the toughest obstacles on this otherwise classic parkland course. Further work has been carried out to make Ealing a surprisingly stern course to play, and its difficulty and conditioning have actually led England Golf to designate it as a Championship venue, the club hosting the prestigious English Champion Club Tournament each year.

Visit Ealing

Fulwell

Location: Hampton Hill, London

Green fees (weekday): £100

Sat on Hampton Hill just south of Twickenham, Fulwell is perhaps the only course in Greater London to boast design input from both Harry Colt and Augusta National architect Dr Alistair Mackenzie, both of whom worked to expand the course in the 1920s from the original JH Taylor layout.

Most of the modern design, however, is down to former Colt partner John Morrison, who laid out the foundations for the re-opening of the course after part of the land was requisitioned during World War II.

Classic parkland golf is the main offering at Fulwell, with tight tree-lined fairways, an abundance of handsome oaks and one of the area's prettiest clubhouses awaiting players at the end of play.

Visit Fulwell

The Manor House

Location: Castle Combe, Wiltshire

Green fees (weekday): £65-£95

Set amidst the truly idyllic surrounds of the Cotswolds village of Castle Combe, The Manor House is known first and foremost for its palatial five-star hotel, but its adjoining golf club is a surprising treat and one of the most underrated courses in this part of England. Starting as a fairly conventional parkland track, The Manor House truly turns it on when you pass the turn, snaking its way through some of the Cotswolds' most dramatic valleys in a scene akin to something you'd find in Middle Earth. 

Add in the charming pubs and rooms that await you down the hill at the other end, and it's fair to say there aren't many more picturesque places in England for a stay and play.

Visit The Manor House

Muswell Hill

Location: Muswell Hill, London

Green fees (weekday): £80

Originally built as a 12 hole course overhauled by by James Braid in the years following World War 1, Muswell Hill is an underrated gem just a short walk from the charming suburb that lends it its name.

Not overly expensive to play and easily walkable, Muswell Hill prides itself on its welcoming atmosphere and sense of inclusivity. It's also just a short amble from not one but two prominent North London train stations, making it perfect for a post-work summer nine.

Visit Muswell Hill

North Foreland

Location: Broadstairs, Kent

Green fees (weekday): £40-£80

Tucked away in the far north east of Kent just north of Ramsgate, Herbert Fowler and Tom Simpson laid out the 18 holes that make up North Foreland and, while the order has changed over the years – the tough 9th is still called 'Home' – it still has the feel of something very natural.

You would be hard pressed to find a course that is perched more on top of the Kent coastline. The clifftop setting makes for a dramatic round in places and the short 5th, right next to the white cliffs, is a spectacular short hole at the far end of the course.

Otherwise it's pleasantly bouncy, the greens can be fiddly if you get in the wrong spots and the downhill par-5 16th is probably the pick of the holes coming home and the par-3 18th, something is often hard to pull off, is a great finish.

Visit North Foreland

Prestbury

Location: Macclesfield, Cheshire

Green fees (weekday): From £80

An unheralded parkland gem sat in the picturesque Cheshire countryside, Prestbury is the work of Harry Colt and is a thing of rare beauty given how little land it uses. Three greens sit alongside one another, four holes depart from one large teeing area but you would hardly spot either in the playing of them. Sat over less than 100 acres, Prestbury nonetheless ranks as one of the best inland courses in England and a great example of affordable golf in an underrated region.

Visit Prestbury Golf Club

Royal North Devon

Location: Westward Ho!, Devon

Green fees (weekday): £90-100

The idea of playing a round on any Royal-titled golf club for less than £100 feels like fantasy in 2025, but at Royal North Devon, England's oldest golf course and the oldest links course anywhere outside of Scotland, this is very much the reality. A remarkably flat, open course that, even by links standards, seems to simply melt into the surrounding land, Royal North Devon stretches across 160 acres of common grazing land in the Northam Burrows AONB, and is a must-play as much for its sense of history as it is the unique, almost eerily natural surroundings.

Visit Royal North Devon Golf Club

Seacroft

Location: Seacroft, Lincolnshire

Green fees (weekday): £60-£90

Rated by Golf World as the best round you can play anywhere in the UK for under £70, Seacroft is a beloved coastal links not all that far from the Lincolnshire home of England Golf, which incidentally has designated Seacroft as a Championship venue. Starting life as a small nine-hole course on the southern tip of the holiday town of Skegness, Seacroft was extended in the '20s to encompass a sprawling links that stretches south over picturesque coastline.

Visit Seacroft Golf Club

Southerndown Golf Club

Location: Ogmore by Sea, Bridgend, Wales

Green fees (weekday): £89-£95

A bit like Pennard in terms of its elevated positioning, not quite as dramatic but equally a very memorable 18 holes.

We probably obsess too much about defining courses and Southerndown is a tricky one to put into a single category. Uniquely the club describes its 18 holes as a 'limestone-heathland-links'. There is a massive limestone outcrop, which rises over 70 metres from the sea, and, like Pennard, this is very different to much else.

Gorse plays its part too and many of the great designers – Willie Fernie, Herbert Fowler, Willie Park, Harry Colt and Donald Steel – have all added to its challenge. The Duncan Putter is a leading 72-hole amateur event and is played here every April – former Walker Cup skipper Nigel Edwards has won this four times.

'The breezes blow cool and fresh here, and on a still and stifling August day, when the golfer is almost too limp to crawl round Porthcawl, he will be wise to refresh himself by a round on the heights of Southerndown," writes Darwin.

Visit Southerndown Golf Club

Tenby

Location: Tenby, Pembrokeshire, Wales

Green fees (weekday): £85-£100

Wales' oldest course, dating back to 1888, and it remains one of the country’s most charming tests. For a change we open with a par 5, one of only two, and the 1st is a cracking hole, reachable and rising into a distant corner. James Braid was the brains behind Tenby where incredible views, blind shots, neat dunes and great greens all make up a fun and challenging layout.

The 4th is a lovely par 4 while the short 12th is most likely the signature hole, played adjacent to the coast, and the best stuff all comes alongside the water. The view from the 17th tee is where the course opens up before your eyes and you appreciate how brilliantly everything has been fitted in.

Tenby is Wales' party town and makes for a stunning spot if you're lucky to make a few days of a trip here – it takes a bit of getting to but it's well worth it.

Visit Tenby Golf Club

Whittington Heath 

Location: Lichfield, Staffordshire

Green fees: £90

Back in the day this was a nine-holer next to Whittington Barracks and this was the original name of the club. Next year the club will celebrate the centenary of Harry Colt's extending the course to 18 holes and this routing stayed the same for next to 100 years, a brilliant heathland course that was always underrated and interesting.

Then the HS2 rail link happened, the routing of which went through the old clubhouse as well as the 9th and 18th. Others – 2, 3, 6, 7 and 10 – also had to be tweaked and new land purchased. So these days, under the stewardship of Jonathan Gaunt, the first five holes are all new, then you have the Colt green sites thereafter and you cross over the HS2 work after the 8th.  

All the bunkers have also been rebuilt, the green surrounds remodelled but the year-round turf remains and this is an excellent test that will benefit from the new holes maturing.

“We’re looking to bring back a much more open, heathland character to the golf course, with wider views of the landscape, as it would have been when Harry Colt was working here in the 1920s,” said Gaunt. “We expect that when the golf course establishes, it will begin to take on that ‘Golden Age’ look – broad expanses of hinterland with rolling features and dramatic areas of wilderness edging into the playing areas.”

Visit Whittington Heath

The best UK golf courses under £150

Aberdovey

Location: Aberdovey, Gwynedd, Wales

Green fees (weekday): £85-£125

I’ve long been an admirer of Aberdovey. Again, the journey here plays a huge part and this one is different as hopefully you won’t need your car. This is Bernard Darwin’s one-time playground and it’s a fabulous course and one of the great Welsh jewels.

If anywhere deserves a country membership it’s here, for all manner of reasons. A spectacular part of the world and an even better golf course.

Visit Aberdovey

READ OUR FULL ABERDOVEY GOLF CLUB REVIEW

Beau Desert 

Location: Cannock, West Midlands

Green fees: £130

Played host to this year's English Amateur, won by Jamie Van Wyk, which speaks volumes about the quality of the course. This is a Herbert Fowler creation, he of Walton Heath, Aberdovey, Cruden Bay and Lytham fame, and this is quite different from many tests around the UK.

The greens are decorated by lots of dramatic pits in their surrounds and this is not a course to merrily whale away at the driver, instead it is a positional course with plenty of doglegs in both directions. The 12th offers a bit of both, playing as a double dogleg and the 1st and 18th also offer something different.

The opening hole is an uphill par 4, which for the bigger hitters, can be taken on while the final hole leaves you possibly making another decision whether to take on the green in two, mindful of the swathes of heather that sit short of the putting surface.

Highly regarded Beau Desert – Beautiful Wilderness – is in or around the fringes of most GB&I Top 100 rankings.

Visit Beau Desert

Blackwell 

Location: Blackwell, Worcestershire

Green fees: £140

The club dates back to 1893 but the course that is now played today, just outside the village of Blackwell, is a couple of miles away – there is actually a fascinating film of the club's original 9-hole course.

Tom Simpson and Herbert Fowler are credited with the new design though it is Simpson who did the majority of the work and it's a masterpiece in routing, covering an extremely small acreage and featuring some eccentric green contours. The 18th is an example of this where a short par 4 culminates in some style in front of the clubhouse.

Blackwell remains the quintessential English gem with plenty of history and tradition. The day after his Open victory at Hoylake in 1930, the year of his Grand Slam, Bobby Jones played here. Interestingly, there is also the chance that he based the iconic 12th at Augusta on the 13th at Blackwelll.

In more recent times work by Frank Pont has seen full bunker renovation, huge clearance of trees and the subsequent width with more closely mown areas and fairway expansions. If you're considering a visit here in the summer the club still insist on long socks being worn with shorts.

Visit Blackwell

Caldy

Location: Birkenhead, Merseyside

Green fees: £130

If you've not played Caldy, you'll be amazed that such a fun course exists so close to its world-class neighbours on the Wirral. This is really good fun golf and is slowly appearing on more golfers' radars in recent times – Rick Shiels has twice gone through Regional Qualifying at Caldy in the past couple of years.

Old Tom Morris' nephew, Jack, introduced the first nine holes and James Braid added in the rest 25 years later in 1931. It offers a mix of holes and the really stunning run of holes begins with the 3rd which takes you down to the River Dee and the next three holes are very impressive. The inland holes are no less as strong, with some exceptional turf, and variety of challenges.

Caldy doesn't make it into the next 100 courses in England's Top 100 which seems quite harsh given the quality of the holes and setting here.

Visit Caldy

Chart Hills

Location: Biddenden, Kent

Green fees (weekday): £90-£130

Sir Nick Faldo's first and only design in England, Chart Hills opened in 1993. A grand parkland track land with lots of sand, Chart Hill felt tailor-made for tour stops in the early part of this millennium – indeed the Ladies European Tour visited here several times.

The problem was that the drainage meant that the course struggled for a third of the year. In 2019 it was bought out and is now controlled by the McGuirk family, who also own Prince’s, and it's now back inside England's Top 100 courses.

The fairways are undulating and there is still plenty of sand and water. The 5th, Anaconda, features one of the longest bunkers in Europe and the 17th has an island green though is only a short iron to try and locate it.

More recently a six-hole par-3, dubbed The Loop, was added, while its new luxury Barn sleeps up to eight guests.

Visit Chart Hills

Conwy

Location: Conwy, Caernarvonshire, Wales

Green fees (weekday): £85-£125

Conwy has held many prestigious events and staged the Curtis Cup as recently as 2020 when Great Britain & Ireland claimed a rare victory. It was also the first Welsh club to host qualifying for The Open at Royal Liverpool in 2006.

This is another fantastic Welsh links on the north coast and, while it is consistently flat, the two nines offer something a bit different. It's never boring, there are some very attractive angles to holes and the backdrop of the mountains and Great Orme make for a fabulous backdrop as you begin the back nine after a front nine where the estuary often adds plenty. Here the 7th is an absolute peach of a par 4, one of many on the property.

Another unpretentious club which boasts a course that is special and certainly one of the best five layouts in the Principality.

Visit Conwy Golf Club

Edgbaston 

Location: Birmingham 

Green fees: £110

This is another Harry Colt composition that sits in a remarkable location, just a couple of miles from the city centre and beside Edgbaston Pool, an 11-acre lake and stunning nature reserve.

This is a classic parkland which boasts a brilliant front nine and a par of 33. There is a need for accuracy rather than brute strength and you will have to wait until the penultimate hole to get your teeth into a par 5. The final par is a 69 and, while the better golfing terrain comes on the front nine, the club have made great strides to bring the back nine up to a similar standard.

The fairways are wide and the greens on the small side and the clubhouse is a magnificent Grade II Georgian listed building. It has been suggested that this parcel of Birmingham land was landscaped by Capability Brown and it's a fairly unique setting given its proximity to one of the UK's most bustling city centres.

Visit Edgbaston

Enville 

Location: Stourbridge, West Midlands

Green fees: £120

There are not one but two excellent courses on offer at Enville and more golfers are thankfully becoming aware of this excellent Open Regional Qualifying venue.

The club began life less than 100 years ago in 1935 and the future Open champion Alf Padgham consulted and construction foreman Arthur Wrigglesworth, who had never played the game, not only designed the first nine holes as well as become the club's first professional.

A further nine holes were added, Frank Pennink turned it into 27 holes in 1972 and Enville's long-standing professional made it 36 in 1983. 

These days the Highgate and the Lodge make up the two 18s, with the former more highly thought of, but both layouts offer a mix of heathland and tree-lined holes on some great golfing sandy terrain.

The short par-4 4th is a pick of the front nine and the 7th is the last of the initial heathland holes which return for the last two holes.

This is a remarkable spot, and a composite course would be something else.

Visit Enville

Goswick Links

Location: Goswick, Northumberland

Green fees (weekday): £130-£150

Set amidst one of England's most historic and mystical stretches of coastline, Goswick Links is flanked by the ruins of Bamburgh Castle and looks out on the North Sea towards Lindisfarne's Holy Island, making for a truly magical space to play the game. The Links at Goswick, in keeping with this spirit, are excellent, winding their way through hills and dunes towards the sea.

Visit Goswick Links

Highgate

Location: Highgate, London

Green fees (weekday): £140

The leafy enclave of Highgate has plenty going for it, but few know about the golf course, which sits perched just between the northern reaches of Hampstead Heath and the neighbouring Highgate Wood. 

Highgate Golf Club doesn't present as a particularly stern test on paper, measuring just over 6,000 yards and ambling over relatively flat land. But it's mighty pretty all the same, and one of the most accessible courses in the area.

Visit Highgate

Knole Park

Location: Sevenoaks, central Kent

Green fees (weekday): £75-£125

Away from the coastal links classic sits Knole Park, which JF Abercromby routed through Kent's only medieval deer park. You can expect fantastic draining soil, generous and undulating fairways, raised greens, half a dozen par 3s and all the better for knowing or playing with a member.

Very highly thought of, James Braid was up against Abercromby in the initial design. Braid chose to lay out the holes in a clockwise direction around the parkland, Abercromby ant-clockwise and they would go with the latter who is known for his work at The Addington, Worplesdon and Coombe Hill.

With a par of 70 there are a host of great and varied par 3s with the 8th touted as one of the most scenic – here the landscape nearby was used by the Beatles to shoot part of their Penny Lane video.

Visit Knole Park

Pennard

Location: Southgate, Swansea, Wales

Green fees (weekday): £70-£110

It’s been far too long since I’ve been to Pennard and, while it is very much on the up, it’s probably still not too well known in some circles. Even so, the so-called The Links In The Sky is a genuine Welsh classic, serenely floating along picturesque clifftop to make for one of the UK's most unique links golf experiences. 

Visit Pennard

READ OUR FULL PENNARD GOLF CLUB REVIEW

Pyle & Kenfig

Location: Kenfig, Bridgend, Wales

Green fees (weekday): £50-£110

If you do take on a golf trip to Wales, then you should absolutely add Pyle & Kenfig in to your itinerary. This is a sprawling and undulating links with towering dunes and interesting valleys. Two very different loops make up this challenge and, while the front nine is more than interesting and is the work of Harry Colt, the back nine is the star of the show.

This is immediately apparent from the testing 10th onwards and these nine holes, designed by P. Mackenzie Ross, really make the most of the dramatic terrain. The views around 13 and 14 are spectacular and you'll hit all kinds of different shots over the closing holes.

The last three make for a fitting finish and first-time visitors will come off the course amazed that they've never considered such a great test before.

Visit Pyle & Kenfig

Royal Blackheath

Location: Eltham, London

Green fees (weekday): £130

Few golf clubs boast quite the heritage and drama of Royal Blackheath, and indeed the club has a claim to being one of the oldest in the world, tracing its lineage back to the Society of Blackheath Golfers, thought to have been founded in 1608. The course itself is younger, having been laid out in its current form by James Braid in the late 1920s.

History bleeds through every aspect of the experience at Royal Blackheath, which opens as a fairly open, straight forward parkland track before taking in some of South East London's best untouched heathland.

The true highlight, of course, is the 17th century clubhouse, which is one of the best in the world and houses one of the game's best club museums. It also serves as the backdrop to one of however English golf's most memorable closing holes, where the green sits between its outer walls and a strategic hedge you quite literally need to hit over. 

Visit Royal Blackheath

Royal County Down (Annesley Links)

Location: Newcastle, County Down, Northern Ireland

Green fees (weekday): £120

While its sibling gets all the plaudits, it's hard to imagine any golfer worth listening to walk away from Royal County Down's secondary Annesley course and not think they've had one of the best golf experiences money can buy.

Immaculately kept in the same manner as the Championship links and flanked by the same incredible combination of mountains, sea and dunes that separates RCD as such a unique jewel in golf's crown, the only thing holding it back in attaining its own place in the conversation of the world's best courses is its length.

In our opinion, however this makes the Annesley links all the more fun to play. The bounty of par 3s and 4s keep you on your toes, provide variety, and make things a bit more manageable if County Down's notorious winds are proving a little too punishing. And at less than £150 for a round, it's one of the best value golfing propositions in the UK.

Visit Royal County Down

Royal St. David’s

Location: Harlech, Gwynedd, Wales

Green fees (weekday): £80-£145

Sitting underneath the magnificent Harlech Castle, Royal St David's is one of the most enjoyable spots to play golf, as well as maybe the most testing par-69 anywhere. This course is regularly ranked among the best in the UK, and its scenic beauty adds an extra layer of enjoyment to any round.

Known for its traditional links design and stunning views of both the Snowdonia mountains and the Cardigan Bay coastline, this course is a must-play for serious golf enthusiasts.

Royal St. David’s is a challenging, yet fair course that stays true to its traditional links roots. The layout offers a series of strategic holes, with deep bunkers and fast greens that require accurate shot-making. It offers a routing which means the wind comes from all angles and the course really comes to life from the 12th tee.

From here you have five 4s and two 3s, which include 13, a  sweeping two-shotter before a short hole where a par requires a proper long iron. There then follows another fantastic par 4 to complete a run of three holes which will stand up to anything. The stunning views of the mountains and coastline only add to the allure of this incredible course.

You can't really go wrong with a trip to St David's, it offers brilliant value for money and has to be one of the most relaxed and down-to-earth Royal clubs. You can locate both Aberdovey and Royal St David's by train which adds to the romantic nature of two incredible courses.

Visit Royal St David's

The Shire London

Location: Barnet, London

Green fees (weekday): £110

One of London's most unique layouts, The Shire London is a comparatively modern course, having first opened for play in 2007. 

Its key claim to fame is, of course, having the only Seve Ballesteros design in the UK, and this links-meets-stadium layout features all the unpredictable challenges you'd expect from the mercurial Spaniard. Routed around a giant 'S'-shaped lake (yes really), no two consecutive holes here have the same par score, while water hazards are a near-constant threat.

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Silloth on Solway

Location: Silloth, Cumbria

Green fees (weekday): £70-£110

Another bona fide top 50 UK course that you can play for well under a hundred quid when the time is right, the only thing holding Silloth back from true legendary status is its remote Cumbria location – which might explain why it remains so affordable to play. Even so, it remains one of England's greatest, toughest and most celebrated links, and a course that would be well worth travelling to even if the price were significantly higher.

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Southerness

Location: Southerness, Dumfries and Galloway, Scotland

Green fees (weekday): £95-£115

One of Scottish Golf's true underrated gems, Southerness is in a part of the northern nation not routinely singled out for its great golf, but is perhaps all the better for it.

Don’t be fooled by the talk of this being one of the toughest courses in the UK – it’s so playable and it’s sensationally good. The turf, routing and overall experience is so enjoyable, forming an experience we're eager to relive as soon as possible. 

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READ OUR FULL SOUTHERNESS GOLF CLUB REVIEW

Sutton Coldfield 

Location: Sutton Coldfield, Birmingham

Green fees: £110

The club was founded in 1893 but Dr Alister MacKenzie's work here in the 1920s was pivotal in its development and restore its popularity.

When he first came here in 1919 he commented: “The land on which the present course is situated is almost the best heathland I know for golf. If the suggested alterations are done, there is no reason why it should not compare favourably with the best inland course in Britain, and be vastly superior to many seaside ones."

A fire delayed matters considerably – a bunker renovation in 2015 actually uncovered a layer of ash – and MacKenzie's redesign finally came to light in 1934 and other than the recent bunker work, some welcome tree removal and some lengthening, the course remains very similar.

Sutton Coldfield is a firm fixture in the best 100 courses in England and it continues to make great strides with brilliant heathland turf and the unlikely run of three straight par 5s from the 5th to the 7th. The 11th and 12th are the pick of a tighter back nine.

Other interesting features are that electric fences surround the greens and the clubhouse and course sit in two different counties (Staffs and Warwickshire).

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Wildernesse

Location: Sevenoaks, Kent

Green fees (weekday): £100-£150

One of the oldest clubs in the county, dating back as far as 1890, and Wildernesse is also well regarded as being one of the nation's best parkland layouts.

You need to be straight here, with trees lining the fairways, and there are seven par 4s to tackle on the front nine before the back nine begins 3-5-5-3.

“This is a parkland course well-known for its natural beauty. It has many trees, which makes your long shots feel tighter than they really are. There is relief, however, on the 10th and 14th holes, which are more open. There are several short to medium-length par 4s which may yield birdie opportunities, and three of the par 3s, in still air, are no more than mid-iron shots,” explained Peter Alliss.

Another that sits comfortably inside England's Top 200 courses, Wildernesse is a regular host of Regional Open Qualifying which is always a decent gauge of a course's merit.

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