For many people, Christmas Day is an occasion spent in the company of family, wearing garish jumpers, eating platefuls of food, drinking a little too much, and grasping despairingly to find something remotely decent to watch on TV, but could there be an alternative for golfers to embrace?
You might have never considered playing golf on Christmas Day – but it’s something that a surprising number of you have done.
When polled on social media, 35.9% of those who responded to us declared that they had played a round of Christmas golf, with 46.9% saying that they hadn’t. The remaining golfers hadn’t either – but wished that they could!
Can you play golf on Christmas Day?
(The Old Course at St Andrews – Christmas Day 2024)
It goes without saying that not everyone celebrates Christmas or indeed sticks with tradition, but if you’re someone who typically heads outdoors and enjoys a walk, could you not align that with playing a few holes?
Ultimately, for very good reason, and quite rightly, the overwhelming majority of golf clubs will be closed on Christmas Day, giving their staff a rare day off, and some courses will go further and even remove the flags to discourage members and intrepid visitors from taking advantage of the situation and sneaking in a round.
However, if you’re a fully-paid up member of a venue and the course isn’t locked away behind gates, what harm are you doing by stretching your legs and hitting a few crisp iron shots on Christmas morning?
Commenting on Facebook, one keen Golfshake follower, Chris Barnes, said: “(I’ve played on Christmas Day) regularly for 10 years, loved it, enjoyed the golf, came home, cooked dinner, drank wine, relaxed, great day!”
That does sound like a dream day to us.
Paul Farrugia added: “Yes, I go and play nine holes at my club whilst my wife gets ready for the day ahead. Lovely to drive into an empty car park and have the course to yourself! Sets you up for all that food you are about to consume day and night.”
You can’t argue with that logic of making room for the ample portions to come.
Richie Gavaghen commented: “Private club so I didn’t feel like I was going to get arrested for trespassing. But there were no flags so I had to shoot for the middle of every green – best thing that I ever did because my GIR are way up ever since.”
Well, that’s one way to improve your stats!
Several other golfers also shared their tales of playing on Christmas Day, including Mark Simmerson, who said that he plays every year, so it’s not as uncommon a phenomenon as you may believe.
While it’s unlikely that staffed golf courses will be officially open, there are layouts, especially in rural parts of the country, such as quiet areas of Scotland, where honesty boxes are still a regular feature. Should that place be accessible, it would seem to me that heading there, depositing your green fee, and playing a round of golf is a perfectly reasonable thing to do for those who are so inclined.
(The Old Course at St Andrews – Christmas Day 2024)
In St Andrews, the famous public links courses are regularly walked upon by families and dog walkers on Christmas, but those people are likely to spot others carrying their golf clubs.
While the facilities are closed, if you spend Christmas in the spiritual Home of Golf, you will see groups of golfers heading out in remarkably organised fashion and playing some of the greatest holes in the game.
If you’re a keen golfer, whether you’re a Christmas enthusiast or not, that seems like a hard to beat experience.
Should you play golf on Christmas Day?
This is an ethical question – in several respects. Renowned golf author and historian, Stephen Proctor, replying to our question asking golfers whether they had played on Christmas, said: “I like being married.”
Ken Smith on Facebook was of a similar mind when he responded: “Not a chance unless I want a divorce.”
Should family or relationship dynamics make disappearing for a few hours in your golf shoes highly contentious, then we wouldn’t recommend it.
Likewise, if a golf course is literally locked away for the day and the only means to access it would be scaling a fence, then that doesn’t appear to be advisable either.
Ultimately, people mark Christmas in different ways, or not at all, and the decision you make is a singular and personal one. Many of you would prefer to play before or after – and perhaps a Christmas Eve round is the best of both worlds.
Weighing up every argument, inherently, playing golf on Christmas Day, for those who can and have the opportunity, would be a rewarding way to spend a few hours.
But for the rest of us, we can happily wait until Boxing Day and beyond to head onto the golf course and work off some of those extra helpings from the day before.
Kieran Clark is the Digital Editor of Golfshake. He oversees editorial content, community engagement, forums, and social media channels. A lifelong golfer from the Isle of Bute in Scotland who has now lived in St Andrews for a decade, he began playing at the age of five and maintains a passion for exploring courses, with a particular affection for historic layouts. Kieran regularly contributes in-depth opinion pieces and features, drawing on his enthusiasm for the game and its culture.