Editing Golf course (section)

==Ownership and management==
{{see also|Golf course superintendent|Greenskeeper||Turf management#Golf courses|Equipment manager#Golf|Groundskeeping}}

There are three main categories of ownership and management of a golf course: private, commercial, and municipal.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.sportscotland.org.uk/Documents/Resources/Golf_Audit_Summary_Report.pdf|title = Golf Audit Summary Report|author = MW Associates, Edinburgh|date = Feb 2003|publisher = [[sportscotland]]|access-date = 25 February 2015}}</ref>

===Private===
A private course is owned and managed by a golf club on behalf of its members, on a non-profit basis. Many of the courses opened during the golf booms in the late 19th and early 20th centuries are of this type.<ref name = HTJL>{{cite web|url=http://www.historytoday.com/john-lowerson/scottish-croquet-english-golf-boom-1880-1914|author=Lowerson, John|date=5 May 1983|title=Scottish Croquet: The English Golf Boom, 1880–1914|publisher=[[History Today]]|access-date = 25 February 2015}}</ref> Some courses, such as [[Augusta National]], are highly exclusive and will only allow visitors to play at the invitation of and alongside a member of the club. Others allow visitors at certain times but may insist on advance booking and proof of golfing competency.

===Commercial===
A commercial course is owned and managed by a private organization and is operated for profit. They may be constructed to provide a core or supplementary attraction for visitors to a hotel or commercial resort, as the centrepiece to a real estate development, as an exclusive [[Country Club]], or as a "Pay and Play" course open to the general public. Notable examples include [[Pinehurst Resort|Pinehurst]] in the US and [[Gleneagles Hotel|Gleneagles]] in Scotland.

===Municipal===
A municipal course is owned and managed by a local government body for the benefit of residents and visitors. Some of the historic Scottish golf courses, including [[St Andrews Links|St Andrews]] and [[Carnoustie Golf Links|Carnoustie]] fall into this category along with [[Bethpage State Park|Bethpage]] and [[Pebble Beach Golf Links|Pebble Beach]] in the US and many others of less renown. It is increasingly common for the management of municipal courses to be contracted out to commercial or other organisations or the course to be sold or shut down completely.<ref name = GCMNH >{{cite web|url = http://www.golfclubmanagement.net/2013/06/the-decline-of-municipal-golf-clubs-during-the-economic-downturn/|title = The decline of municipal golf clubs during the economic downturn|author = Harte, Nigel|date = 24 June 2014|publisher = Golf Club Management|access-date = 25 February 2015|archive-date = 2 May 2015|url-status = usurped|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20150502024348/http://www.golfclubmanagement.net/2013/06/the-decline-of-municipal-golf-clubs-during-the-economic-downturn/}}</ref>

===Associated clubs===
Many commercial and municipal establishments have associated [[Golf Club (establishment)|golf clubs]], who arrange competitions for their members on the courses and may provide clubhouse facilities. In the UK particularly, some older private members clubs have an associated "Artisan" club, originally established to provide low-cost golf with limited playing rights in exchange for unpaid work on the course.<ref name = HTJL /> These associated clubs may be totally independent organizations from the course management, or may have various degrees of formal or informal links.