Golf Course Lighting Design

Are you operating or planning to invest in a golf course and want to optimize the lighting system for day-and-night operation?
We provide a professional golf course lighting design service that ensures aesthetic appeal – performance – energy efficiency

1. Why Professional Lighting Matters for Golf Courses?

A high-standard golf course requires more than just beautiful turf and perfect terrain—lighting plays a decisive role:

• Superior player experience: Clear, natural light that enhances grass color and ball visibility.

• Maximum safety: Minimized glare and shadows for accurate ball tracking.

• Flexible operation: Easily host night tournaments to increase revenue.

• Cost savings: Modern LED solutions reduce energy consumption by up to 60% compared to traditional systems.

2. Golf Course Design Standard

Holes should be separately illuminated with floodlights located and directed so as to prevent or minimise distraction and glare to adjacent playing areas. Each hole consists of a tee, fairway and green areas and each may have somewhat different lighting requirements. However, the principal lighting considerations will be:

• to enable the course features to be easily discerned;
• to minimise glare in the principal direction(s) of play;
• to provide continuous illumination of each hole and enable golfers to assess distance;
• to enable the full flight of the ball to be followed and its final resting place to be easily observed; and
• to provide uniform illumination over putting greens and tees.

The tees: These areas will require reasonable illuminance uniformity, with bi-directional lighting to ensure that golfers cannot shadow the ball. Floodlight mounting heights may be lower than usually required for the fairways since the lighting provision is generally dedicated to the tee and initial fairway area. As the speed of the ball in the initial flight zone is too high to enable the ball to be followed visually, only horizontal illuminance need be considered. Floodlights should be located so as to minimise glare to players as they tee off.

The fairways: Over these areas it is important that the flight of the ball can be followed easily; therefore adequate vertical illuminance over the ball in flight to a height of 20 m is necessary. This is usually achieved via a staggered lighting system along the edges of the rough on either side of the fairway. The floodlighting direction should be longitudinally down and across the fairway to minimise glare to golfers playing the hole. A reduced level of horizontal illuminance and overall uniformity is acceptable over the main fairway and semi-rough areas on either side, sufficient to allow balls to be played. It is generally accepted that balls played into the rough will only be illuminated by spill light and that their location and play may prove difficult.

The greens: These should be illuminated to a higher horizontal illuminance than tees or fairways to enable them to be discerned easily at a distance. Lighting of the green should be multi-directional, ensuring minimal shadowing to all areas and a high level of horizontal uniformity. Floodlight mounting height should be adequate to ensure that the ball is seen over its full, pitched height onto the green while minimising glare. To achieve this it is also acceptable for green floodlights to be aimed in the general direction of adjacent bunkers and semi-rough areas surrounding the green.

In general: Holes are located over adjacent areas and are often in close proximity, separated by rough ground or landscaped features. Where possible the floodlighting masts of one hole should be utilised to illuminate adjacent holes separately so as to minimise obstruction over the whole course.

Water features (lakes) deliberately placed as obstructions within the line of play need not be separately illuminated. However, the air space above the water must be lit so as to achieve adequate vertical illuminance to allow golfers to follow the flight of the ball.

Bunkers adjacent the greens should be illuminated from the green floodlighting system and shadowing within them reduced as much as possible. However, bunkers within fairways need only receive general illumination from the main fairway floodlighting. Strong shadowing may occasionally result and should be accepted as a feature of the obstacle, unless specified otherwise by the course designers.

International Standard for Golf Course Lighting

3. Our Services Include:

Free Survey & Consultation

• Site inspection to assess terrain, course scale, and lighting requirements.

• Tailored solutions that meet international standards (lux levels, uniformity, beam angles).

Detailed Technical Design

• 3D lighting simulations and comprehensive layout plans.

• Accurate calculations for power, pole placement, and optimal fixture selection.

Equipment Supply & Installation

• High-power LED floodlights with a 50,000-hour lifespan and CRI > 70 for true color rendering.

• Central control cabinets and smart automation

Warranty & Maintenance

• Long-term product warranty.

• Regular maintenance to keep the system running efficiently and cost-effectively.

4. Key Advantages of Our Solution

• Even, glare-free illumination – Clear ball tracking across fairways, greens, and tee boxes.

• Outstanding energy savings – Reduce electricity costs by 50–70% with advanced LED technology.

• Elegant aesthetics – Enhance the nighttime appeal and prestige of your golf course.

• Smart control – Manage lighting via mobile devices or SCADA systems.