Golf in the Philippines is bigger than many people expect. There are well over a hundred courses spread across the islands, a steady calendar of club, corporate and charity tournaments, and a growing number of juniors and new players picking up the game. Here is an overview of where to play and how the local golf scene works.
How Many Golf Courses Are There?
The course list inside the VCD Golf App, built from the public list of golf courses in the Philippines, counts 133 courses that are open today. They are spread out like this:
- Central Luzon: 25 courses
- Visayas: 21 courses
- Mindanao: 20 courses, including 5 in the Davao Region
- Metro Manila: 14 courses
- Cavite: 13 courses
- Batangas and North Luzon: 9 courses each
- Laguna: 7 courses, Rizal: 6, Mindoro, Marinduque and Palawan: 5, Bicol: 4
If you are in the south, start with our guide to the golf courses in Davao City.
How Golf Is Organized
The national governing body for amateur golf is the National Golf Association of the Philippines (NGAP). Day to day, most golf happens at club level: members play regular rounds, clubs keep handicaps, and almost every club runs tournaments through the year. Alongside club events there is a busy calendar of corporate outings, charity tournaments, alumni events and community tournaments like the VCD Golf Tournament run by Vespa Club Davao.
Handicaps in a Nutshell
A handicap lets golfers of different levels compete fairly. Your handicap index reflects how you usually score. For a tournament, it becomes a course handicap: the number of strokes you receive over the round, given out hole by hole according to each hole's stroke index. Your gross score minus those strokes is your net score. Many events award both gross and net prizes, often by class, so new players can win too.
Common Tournament Formats
- Stroke play: count every shot; the lowest total wins.
- Stableford: points for each hole based on your score against par; the highest total wins. It is very popular for club events because one bad hole does not ruin your round. See Stableford scoring explained.
- Scramble: a team format where everyone hits, the team picks the best shot, and everyone plays from there, like the 2-man scramble format played in Davao this year.
When to Play
Golf is played all year in the Philippines. The drier months are the most popular for tournaments, while the rainy season, roughly June to November, brings afternoon storms, so morning tee times are the safer choice. Wherever you play, start early to avoid the midday heat.
Getting Started
Most clubs have a driving range and teaching pros, and many golfers start by borrowing clubs or buying a second-hand half set. Play a few casual rounds with friends, learn the basics of etiquette and pace of play, then enter a friendly event. Our guide to playing your first golf tournament covers what to expect on the day.
Golf and Technology
Paper scorecards and a whiteboard at the clubhouse are slowly giving way to phones. With the VCD Golf App, players can find their tee time and flight, enter scores from the course, and follow a live leaderboard from anywhere. If your club runs events, our guide on how to organize a golf tournament shows how it all fits together.
