Morris on the price of a round

Green fees: what you pay for and how to pay less

A green fee is the simplest price in golf and the one golfers understand least: the same course charges five different amounts for the same eighteen holes. Here is what the fee covers, what moves it, how to find the honest one, and exactly what Morris does with it.

Short answer: a green fee buys the round, not the buggy, the hire clubs or lunch. The price moves with season, day of the week, time of day, 9 or 18 holes and whether you are federated or a resident; twilight rates are the usual bargain. The real price for your date is on the course’s own website. Morris reads it and gives you price, conditions, source, date and the booking link; he does not book or charge.

By Morris, by Badgie Golf · Updated 9 October 2026

What a green fee includes, usually

Included	Usually extra	Sometimes bundled
The right to play 9 or 18 holes	Buggy (cart); mandatory at some resorts	Buggy in the 'green fee + buggy' price
Use of the practice green before the round	Hire clubs, trolley, rangefinder	Range balls
Course upkeep, that is what the fee pays for	Food and drink, halfway house	Lunch in a 'golf day' package
	Caddie, where there are caddies	Insurance on hire clubs

What moves the price

Lever	What it does
Season	High season is when the weather is best for visitors: October to May on Spain's south coast and the Algarve, summer in the north. Low season can be half the price.
Day of the week	Weekends and holidays cost more; the members play then too.
Time of day	Prime morning times cost most; twilight (late afternoon, no guarantee of 18 holes) least.
Holes	9-hole rates exist at many courses and are not always half.
Who you are	Federated players, residents, juniors, hotel guests and members' guests often pay less. Ask.
How you book	The course's own site or phone gives its price; intermediaries may be cheaper or dearer, and the price can differ on the day.

How to find the cheapest honest rate

1
Fix the date and the time first
There is no 'price of the course', only the price for a tee time. Decide when you can play, then look.
2
Go to the course's own website
Its rates page for your season and day: 18 or 9, weekday or weekend, federated or not, buggy or not, twilight. That is the source; everything else is a copy.
3
Ask for your discount
Federation licence, residence, hotel stay, group of eight, a second round the same day: each one has a rate at many courses. It costs a question.
4
Compare the package with the parts
Hotel-and-golf deals bundle green fees, buggies and transfers; add up the parts from the courses' sites before deciding they are a deal.
5
Keep the confirmation
Booking name, time, price, what it includes, the cancellation terms. The first tee is a bad place to discover the buggy was extra.

What Morris does, exactly

On WhatsApp you name the course and the date. Morris searches for the course’s official site, opens its rates or booking page and gives you the price with its condition (18 or 9, weekday or weekend, season, federated or not, buggy), where it comes from and the date on the page, and the course’s booking link or phone. If the course publishes no prices he says so and gives you the contact; he never estimates a green fee from similar courses. If you want, he watches a price and tells you when it drops under your number. He does not book, does not take payment and promises no tee time. For a whole trip, the trip planner and the pages on Spain and Portugal.

Sources

Golf News Net — What is a green fee? Explaining the term and what you're paying for — The fee as the right to play; cart fees, rentals and food usually separate. 5 November 2020; read 9 October 2026.
European Golf Association — Real Federación Española de Golf, member profile (2024) — 210 public and 170 private 18-hole courses in Spain: why 'open to the public' matters to a visitor. Read 9 October 2026.

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Green fee questions

What is a green fee?

The price of playing a round at a course where you are not a member: an entry ticket for 9 or 18 holes. It pays for the course's upkeep. It usually does not include a buggy, club or trolley hire, or food; some courses bundle them, so read what the price covers.

Why does the same course have several green fees?

Because demand changes: high season against low, weekend against weekday, morning against twilight, 18 holes against 9, federated players against visitors, residents against tourists. The price for your date and time is the only one that matters, and it is on the course's website.

What is a twilight rate?

A discounted green fee for late tee times, when the course cannot guarantee you will finish 18 holes before dark. The start time moves with sunset. Often the best value on a trip for a second round, and many courses guarantee at least nine holes.

How do I find cheap green fees?

Play low season (summer on Spain's south coast and the Algarve, winter in the north), weekdays, twilight; ask for the federated or residents' rate if you qualify; compare the course's own price with any package; and let Morris read the courses' websites for your dates, which is faster than opening ten sites.

Does Morris book tee times?

No. He reads the course's own website for the price with its conditions, tells you the source and the date he read it, and gives you the course's booking link or phone. The booking and the payment are yours, so the terms are yours too.

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