There are 7 municipal golf courses in Birmingham: Boldmere, Cocks Moors Woods, Church Farm, Hatchford Brook, Hilltop, Lickey Hills and Pype Hayes.

These courses are owned and operated by Birmingham City Council and are open to the general public on a play-and-pay basis at a comparatively low charge.

Some of these courses are designed and landscaped to extremely high standards but their facilities are generally poor and the council makes heavy losses on its golfing estate.

The council is currently exploring the possible transfer of these courses to a private partner who would be responsible for improving their facilities.

In March 2011, 4 private operators were asked to tender for the management of all Birmingham's municipal courses for a 25 year period (News Archive 12/03/11).

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Boldmere is a relatively short course with a yardage of 4474, challenging par 3's, and a standard scratch score of 63. The facilities include a 70-space car park, cafe and golf shop but no showers.

The course is next to a large municipal leisure centre with a bar, cafe, golf shop and conference facilities. There is parking for 400+ vehicles.

Some holes are fairly short so accuracy takes precedence over power, particularly as stray shots often finish in one of several well-placed bunkers or in one of the two streams that meander through the course.

The facilities include a cafe, golf shop and parking for 50 vehicles but no showers.

The course is flat and characterised by broad open fairways and large greens. It has a yardage of 6137 and a standard scratch score of 69 (medal tees).

The facilities include a clubhouse, cafe, golf shop, practice range and parking for 120 vehicles.

Hilltop is an 18-hole municipal golf course on Park Lane in Handsworth Wood. The yardage is 6114 and the standard scratch score is 69.

The course is set on an undulating hilltop plateau; a deep valley cuts across the seventh hole. The fairways are broad and open with protective mounds enclosing some of the greens. The conditions are particularly testing on a windy day.

The facilities include a cafe, clubhouse and golf shop. There is parking for 200+ vehicles with two disabled spaces.

A proposal was made in November 2009 that Hilltop Golf Course should be transformed into a cycle park with a velodrome, race circuit, BMX track and stunt areas (News Archive 6/11/09).

However, it was announced in January 2010 that despite heavy losses, the course would stay open pending negotiations for its management by private operators who would be responsible for upgrading the facilities (News Archive 23/01/10).

The course, which opened in 1921, has a yardage of 5866 and a standard scratch score of 68. There are banks of pines above the 7th and 9th holes and players have to cross a stream to reach the 6th.

The facilities include parking for 80 vehicles, a cafe, clubhouse, golf shop and family-friendly miniature Tri-Golf course with scaled-down bunkers, fairways, greens and roughs.

The course, which opened in 1933, has a yardage of 5964 and a standard scratch score of 69. It is characterised by curved tree-lined fairways and deep sandy bunkers. The contours are relatively flat and there are no water features save for a few ditches.

The facilities include a clubhouse, golf shop, café and parking for ninety vehicles.

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