Rotherham's ten golf clubs sit across Rawmarsh, Rotherham itself, Sheffield and Worksop, and green fees start from as little as £20. The county leans heavily towards parkland golf, with seven of the ten courses falling into that category, while two heathland courses at Lindrick provide a sharper, sandier contrast. It's a compact area to explore but one with genuine architectural pedigree, thanks to some well-known names who worked on courses here in the early and middle parts of the twentieth century.
Parkland with real history
Phoenix Golf Club in Rotherham began life in 1932, established by steelworkers from the local steelmaking industry, and it grew from an original nine holes to a full eighteen in 1952. Tom Williamson and C K Cotton had a hand in shaping it, giving the club a design lineage that outlasts most of the industry that founded it. Sitwell Park Golf Club, also in Rotherham, dates back further still to 1913 and carries the signature of Dr Alister MacKenzie. The original design survives largely intact, with the fast, undulating greens and elevated targets typical of his work, set on a hillside with open countryside on three sides. The clubhouse, rebuilt in 1931 after a fire destroyed the original the year before, remains a striking piece of the club's story.
Rotherham Golf Club, laid out in the grounds of Thrybergh Park, was designed by Open Champion Sandy Herd alongside James Braid, and the course has drawn praise from Lee Westwood and 2016 Masters Champion Danny Willett. A refurbishment led by architect Jonathan Gaunt is due to finish in May 2025, and the Neo-Gothic clubhouse doubles as a wedding venue. Over in Rawmarsh, Wath Golf Club has been going since 1904, moving to its current site in 1945; it plays flat, with narrow fairways and small greens that reward accuracy over length.
Heathland at Lindrick
Lindrick Golf Club in Worksop is the standout in the county and stands apart from the parkland majority. Laid out by Willie Park Jnr and later reworked by Ken Moodie, it hosted the 1957 Ryder Cup and is ranked among England's Top 100 courses. Its 18th hole has been featured among the World's 500 Greatest Golf Holes, which gives some idea of the quality of the finish. Lindrick Artisans Golf Club, also based in Worksop and also heathland, sits alongside it, giving the town a proper concentration of this rarer course type within the county.
Newer options and everyday golf
Not everything in Rotherham is steeped in pre-war design. Rother Valley Golf Centre, next to Rother Valley Country Park on the Sheffield side of the South Yorkshire and Derbyshire border, positions itself as a progressive venue for players at any stage, with main greens kept in play throughout the year. Waterfront Golf, built across 170 acres of parkland with views over Old Moor Nature Reserve and Manvers Lake, was designed by Simon Gidman and includes a notable 223-yard par 3 fourth hole with a ten-yard uphill climb; an academy course opened there in May 2025. The Grange offers wide views of the Yorkshire countryside under recently changed management, and Roundwood Golf Sports & Social Club, founded in 1978, doubles as home to Parkgate FC and a training ground for Rotherham United, a reminder that these clubs are woven into local sporting life well beyond the fairways.
Between the heathland test at Lindrick, the MacKenzie routing at Sitwell Park and the newer, more relaxed setups at Rother Valley and Waterfront, Rotherham covers a fair spread of golfing styles for a county of its size, with entry-level fees that make trying a few of them an easy decision.