Anyone playing golf here on a regular basis and managed to get on a golf course without perfect HCP. Mine is unfortunately still beyond counting but I am fed up with only being on driving ranges I have a "permit" for Germany but that is not valid in CH .. I take golf lessons too (Otelfingen), but until they let me play on a course I am old and grey when I cannot practice.

Has anyone experiences with outside Switzerland club memberships and playing in Switzerland? Thought about possibly joining a golf club in UK (somewhere in London) to get that problem sorted and then I would need to work on my HCP.

The only option I heard of near Zurich is Nuolen (not easy to reach without car).

Anyone has tips or recommendations?

You need at least a platzreife toplay on 6-9 hole courses.
Getting one is similar to Holland and Germany.
Public courses in Zh are oversubscribed.
I'm also interested in getting started again, am even contemplating getting a Kombi to haul the clubs round.
Oh and the season is short.
Cheers
Mick

Try Bubikon near Wetzikon. Fairly easy to reach by train from Zürich, try a lesson or two and see what the pro casn offer you to get some experience on the course. Good luck!

I have a friend who has played golf for many years who downloaded a golf club logo from the Internet, made some letterhead paper, and produced a handicap letter from said golf club that has been accepted in Switzerland. I'm not saying it will work everywhere, but certainly some courses will take it.

Hi

I would also like to play golf in Switzeland. I have not yet been able to find a good course other than on google maps. Please let me know if more of us are interested in playing somewhere. I would gladly yell FORE!

Yes, I know about the Swiss "Platzreife", have the German one and something in me is heavily objecting to do another one of this absurd "Platzreife". The alternative would be to just get better and get a HCP. In Nuolen they are not that strict, I heard various times that they just let you play the 9 hole even without the Swiss Platzreife.

The car you mention is the 2nd Problem , but I feel that I get this sorted easier than the issue that they do not let me on the course. Arghhhhhhhhhhh.

HI Flutterby
I am an avid golfer and try to get out as much as possible, I had the same problem as you have now when I first came to CH in '94. At the start I got around the problem by using the name of a mate who had the correct documentation then whilst on holiday in Aus I joined a golf club as a visiting(country) member handed in 5 cards and got a HPC cost me about 50 AUD. I also know a bunch of blokes who have a little computer knowledge and very good looking laminated cards from fictional golf clubs. Works a treat. If you need more info or need a playing partner please PM me. Cheers Brendan.

Ok, good tip! That one I have not heard of yet.

I am currently in London and here I can just go on every public course. That is far more practical. Thats why I thought I could get a HCP and a golf membership here easier and then just appear with these valuable papers in CH and continue playing.

Hi

Am a bit curious on how you guys think. In sweden we have to take a course and play for surely on year without getting an official handicap, after that we start at 36. This is mostly for security reasons, you dont want to have someone on the course that doesnt know the rules and can hit a ball mostly strait ( perhaps not always). Why should switzerland be any different, get a real HCP, you will be happy, the golfcourse will be happy, even your grandmothers (?) will be happy. Dont cheat, be neat!

From my experiance Nuolen is the same as everywhere. I have played there a couple of times and have been asked for the HPC card.

Has anyone experience with this golf club: FIGEHOLMSGOLF.EU, wehther this is accepted in CH?

They are in Sweden and you get a HCP Certificate.

My target is not to cheat with my HCP, I just need it to get on the golf course and get practice and have some fun. Just the idea that I have to play tournaments is not what my idea of fun is.

I know Figgeholm , wrong adres though, the right one is: http://www.figeholmsgolf.se/

See below for german.

I DO have a Platzreife (a real official one! Done properly in Munich Germany) with HCP 45, which is not accepted in CH. I just feel baffled that I have to do a 2nd one, that is all. I know the rules, I can play fairly straight, just need some practice on top of the golf lessons I am taking here in CH and want to get on a golf course. Everybody ever started playing golf in UK will understand that. You do not learn golf and get a HCP on the driving range.

Thanks, that is the one. The .eu is the same.
The question is whether anyone tried this one in CH, i.e. if they let me on the golf course in CH with that one (HCP and membership)?

Hi Amiralen,
Dont get me wrong I do not condone cheating but the first time I tried to play golf in CH I was playing off about 15 and was a bit shocked when I was not allowed to play on a course here without giving out an outrages sum of money for lessons and theory courses to pass the greencard test. I even offered to hire a pro to watch me hit some balls to see if he thought I was good enough to play on the course. In Aus and I am fairly sure most of the golfing world we play social golf where we learn the game, rules and do's and dont's of a golf course.
Cheers og har de bra.

Okay, seems that Sweden is hinged on the other side of the door. Seems a bit sad that the eu doesnt have the same permit, oh wait Switzerland is not in the eu... Tough nut to crack! Good night.

I admit to cheating as well as I used my fathers handicap card to get on courses...as I don't play enough to get a handicap card but I am pretty good golfer (been playing since age 8 so didn't really want to hire someone to teach me how to play, though now I haven't played for a few years so a lesson may be in order)

If anyone wants a game mid week around Zurich PM me, I am on the Migros system so all courses they run are ok for me. used to play a lot before coming over here but itching to get out more.

I am currently going through this whole swiss Platzreife process at the moment. I am doing this through the small (cuurently 6 hole but 3 extra holes are almost complete in their construction phase) golf course just on the outskirts of Frick -- called Fricktal (www.golf-fricktal.ch). The pro there is a South African by the name of Paul Cairns who I find supportive and friendly.
I decided to take their offer of a complete beginners course (I had never really hit a golf ball before) -- this covers everything from beginning on the putting green ; the Etikette and Regeln course (and Test !!), free use of clubs, use of driving range and pitching/chipping practice area; use of 6 hole course, 8 * 50 minute lessons,30*34 ball buckets for the range and concluding with the Platzreife test. All this for the fee of CHF990 (if you can find other people to commit to the same times then 2 or more are for the price of CHF790).
I started in the first week of July and this afternoon I have my Platzreife test having already completed the Rules and Etiquette course (in high-German, but the instructor helped with translation for areas where I failed to fully understand what the questions meant).
So far, so good.

Can highly recommend this IF the location isn't too much of a problem (ps ONLY first names are used at the club -- part of the Etiquette -- and ALL the members have been extremely friendly and welcoming, and you don't have to be a member to do the course here).

If anyone wants any more details then please ask.

Probably the best solution. Found out that Bubikon has a long waiting list for new members, which may mean that life for people trying to get more experience on a golfcourse can be difficult. The last Handelszeitung (nr. 34 Aug. 20-26, 2008) brought out a special on golf, listing Golfclubs in Switzerland with relatively easy access for newcomers (without mentioning possibilities for people with Platzreife).
Possibilities not all that far from Zürich: Affoltern am Albis (golfclubaffoltern.ch), kyburg (golf-kyburg.ch), Fricktal (which was mentioned already.