Understand access rules

Golf access conditions vary by club, course, day and player qualification. The API represents these conditions as structured values whenever they can be determined reliably.

Access information can include:

• Public access
• Guest access
• Membership requirements
• Platzreife requirements
• Handicap requirements
• independent-player acceptance
• Registration requirements
• Day-specific restrictions

Boolean values

Many access fields are nullable booleans:

{
  "public_access": true,
  "independent_players_allowed": null
}

Interpret the values as follows:

Value	Meaning
true	The available source information explicitly confirms the condition
false	The available source information explicitly rejects the condition
null	The condition could not be determined reliably

Do not automatically interpret null as false.

For example:

{
  "independent_players_allowed": null
}

does not mean independent players are prohibited. It means the available information does not provide a reliable answer.

Club and course rules

A club can operate multiple courses with different access conditions.

A club-level value may summarize the available course information, while the detailed course record can contain more specific rules. When deciding whether a player may use a particular course, prefer the applicable course-level rule.

For example:

{
  "public_access": true,
  "courses": [
    {
      "course_id": "championship-course",
      "public_access": false
    },
    {
      "course_id": "academy-course",
      "public_access": true
    }
  ]
}

The club has some public access, but the championship course is not public.

Guest requirements

Detailed guest-access information may include:

{
  "guest_access": {
    "allowed": true,
    "availability": "anytime",
    "registration_required": true,
    "membership_required": false,
    "platzreife_required": true,
    "handicap": {
      "required": true,
      "maximum": 54,
      "proof_required": true
    }
  }
}

A handicap maximum describes the highest permitted handicap value. A lower numerical handicap therefore satisfies the requirement.

Rules can change

Access conditions can change temporarily due to club policies, events, weather, course maintenance or seasonal restrictions.

Use API data for discovery and filtering, but advise players to confirm important access conditions with the golf club before travelling or booking a tee time.