Shanghai Golf Courses: Book Tee Times & Explore China's Premier Golf City in 2026/2027

Shanghai is China’s most internationally connected city and, alongside Beijing, the strongest metropolitan golf destination in the country. Seventeen courses are listed in the GolfLux database, spread across the city’s suburban districts and the adjacent Jiangsu province corridor. The architect credentials are serious: Shanghai Agile Mickelson International Club is a Peter Thomson design at 7,610 yards with a slope of 137 in Pudong. Shanghai Tianma Country and Golf Club measures 7,073 yards with a slope of 140 in the Sheshan National Tourist Area. Shanghai Tomson Golf Club is 7,343 yards with a slope of 131 in Pudong. Shanghai Dongzhuang Beach Golf Club sits on the Yangtze River estuary near Pudong airport at 7,536 yards. And the headline tournament venue, Sheshan International Golf Club, hosts the WGC-HSBC Champions, giving Shanghai the most significant professional golf event of any mainland Chinese city.

The WGC hosting credential is what distinguishes Shanghai from Beijing in the golf conversation. The HSBC Champions, part of the DP World Tour and one of the higher-profile events on the Asian golf calendar, is played at Sheshan International each November, putting Shanghai in the same bracket as Augusta National and St Andrews in terms of hosting a named professional major-adjacent event. For golfers who follow professional golf, playing where the WGC is decided is a specific and credible draw.

Shanghai suits experienced golfers who want named-architect courses combined with a world-class city program, international visitors using Shanghai as a China entry point who want two to four rounds before traveling to Beijing or Hainan, and golfers for whom playing a WGC host venue is a specific objective.

Best golf courses in Shanghai

1. Sheshan International Golf Club

Sheshan International Golf Club is the WGC-HSBC Champions host venue, one of the most recognized golf courses in China and the strongest tournament-credential course in the metropolitan area. It is located in the Sheshan National Tourist Area in Songjiang District, within 30 minutes of Hongqiao International Airport according to publicly available course information. The tournament hosting makes it the first choice for golfers who want to play where professional golf’s biggest China event is decided.

2. Shanghai Agile Mickelson International Club

Shanghai Agile Mickelson International Club is an 18-hole, par 72 layout measuring 7,610 yards with a slope of 137, designed by Peter Thomson, located in Nanhui in Pudong according to the club. At 7,610 yards it is among the longer Peter Thomson designs in Asia and the highest yardage in the Shanghai listing. The Thomson design brings the strategic, risk-reward philosophy associated with his other courses across the region. It suits experienced low-handicap golfers who want the longest and most demanding Thomson layout in Shanghai.

3. Shanghai Tianma Country and Golf Club

Shanghai Tianma Country and Golf Club is an 18-hole, par 72 layout measuring 7,073 yards with a slope of 140, located in Songjiang in the Sheshan National Tourist Area, 30 minutes from Hongqiao Airport according to the club. The slope of 140 is the highest in the Shanghai listing and reflects a course where design creates significant difficulty rather than raw yardage. The Sheshan National Tourist Area setting, with the Sheshan Hill and the nearby observatory, gives it a more natural suburban environment than the Pudong flat courses.

4. Shanghai Tomson Golf Club

Shanghai Tomson Golf Club is an 18-hole, par 72 layout measuring 7,343 yards with a slope of 131, located on Longdong Avenue in Pudong according to the club. The 140-hectare property integrates golf with luxury villas across a large-scale development. At 7,343 yards it is one of the longer Pudong courses and the slope of 131 makes it accessible across a wider handicap range than Tianma.

Which course is better?

Sheshan International is the tournament-credential first choice. Shanghai Tianma has the highest slope for the most demanding test. Agile Mickelson delivers the longest Thomson layout. Tomson suits golfers who want large-scale Pudong parkland at a lower slope. Most Shanghai programs rotate through Sheshan, Tianma, and one Pudong course across three playing days.

Best time to play golf in Shanghai

Shanghai has four distinct seasons. The GolfLux destination page and China’s National Tourism Administration identify October and November as the best period, with spring from March to May as the second reliable window.

October to November is the most comfortable and consistent window. Temperatures are around 15 to 22 degrees Celsius, the WGC-HSBC Champions is typically played in late October or November, and the autumn foliage around the Sheshan National Tourist Area gives the courses a distinctly different visual character from the summer green. This is peak demand for the premium Shanghai courses.

March to May is the spring window. Temperatures are similar to autumn, the courses are returning from the winter dormant period, and early morning rounds are comfortable before the humidity rises in late May.

June to August is hot and humid. Temperatures exceed 35 degrees Celsius in July and August, and outdoor golf requires early morning starts before 7am. Typhoon activity in the South China Sea can send rain systems north through August and September.

December to February is cold, sometimes below freezing in January, and golf is not practical across these months.

Shanghai golf holidays and package tours

Shanghai suits four to seven day standalone programs or as the eastern leg of a Beijing and Shanghai China circuit connected by the high-speed rail in about four and a half hours. Shanghai Pudong International Airport and Hongqiao Airport together serve virtually every major Asian, European, and North American city with direct connections, making Shanghai one of the most accessible China entry points for international visitors.

Most Shanghai golf packages cover hotel accommodation in Jing’an, Xintiandi, or the Bund waterfront area, private car transfers to each course with transfer times of 30 to 60 minutes from the city center, tee times at the selected courses, and at least one non-golf afternoon in the city. The Bund waterfront and the former French Concession are within 30 to 45 minutes of all suburban courses.

Practical formats:

4 days Shanghai golf package with three rounds at Sheshan, Tianma, and one Pudong course, Bund waterfront afternoon, from contact for price

5 days Shanghai golf package with four rounds across the city’s main course zones and one French Concession and Xintiandi day

Shanghai’s non-golf program is the strongest of any mainland Chinese city for international visitors. The Bund promenade with its colonial-era financial buildings facing the Pudong skyscraper skyline, the French Concession neighborhood with its tree-lined streets and converted villa restaurants, the Yu Garden in the old city, and the contemporary art scene at M50 and West Bund all give non-golfing partners a complete independent program across any five-day Shanghai stay. Browse Shanghai golf packages or create a custom Shanghai itinerary that combines the course circuit with the city program.

Golf with Shanghai’s city experience and the WGC heritage

Sheshan International Golf Club’s WGC-HSBC Champions hosting gives Shanghai a professional tournament link that most golf destinations in Asia cannot match. The World Golf Championships event has brought the world’s top-ranked players to Sheshan’s fairways annually since 2009 according to publicly available tournament records, and playing the same course where those fields compete gives the round a professional heritage context that is specific to this venue. The course is in the Sheshan National Tourist Area, which includes the Sheshan Hill observatory, a Catholic basilica built in 1935 at the hilltop, and secondary forest that gives the area a noticeably less urban character than the Pudong courses.

The Bund is the most recognizable stretch of Shanghai’s urban landscape, a kilometer of colonial-era banking and trading headquarters from the early 20th century along the Huangpu River waterfront. China’s National Tourism Administration notes the Bund as one of Shanghai’s most visited areas, and the evening view from the Bund across the river to the Pudong skyline, including the Oriental Pearl Tower, the Shanghai Tower at 632 meters, and the Shanghai World Financial Center, is the image most associated with modern China’s economic transformation. A post-round evening walk on the Bund promenade takes about 45 minutes and requires no planning.

Book tee times in Shanghai

Sheshan International Golf Club fills fastest, particularly in October and November around the WGC-HSBC Champions tournament period and during the autumn peak travel season. Booking two to three weeks ahead for these slots is the minimum. Shanghai Tianma and Agile Mickelson fill on weekends and should be booked a week ahead during the March to May and October to November peak windows. Weekday availability at most Shanghai courses is generally open with two to three days’ advance booking.

When organizing a Shanghai golf program, confirm Sheshan as the priority booking for any preferred dates, private car transfer logistics from the city center hotel to the suburban courses with departure times before 6:30am for 7am tee times to avoid Shanghai expressway traffic, accommodation in the Jing’an or former French Concession area for the best balanced city and golf access, and how the Bund and French Concession visits align with the afternoon schedule. Start planning here or view Shanghai golf packages to find a program that covers the full Shanghai course circuit.