Springfield & Champaign Golf Courses & Tee Times in Alabama

Who runs public golf in Springfield & Champaign

The Springfield Park District, founded in 1900, runs four courses. Bunn and Lincoln Greens are the 18-hole courses. Pasfield and Bergen are nines. In 2026 an adult 18 at Bunn or Lincoln Greens is $24 on weekdays and $26 on weekends. Season passes go on sale December 1 and run January 5 to December 23. The Mega Pass for all four courses is $720 for residents, and non-residents add $70. Around Champaign, the university course in Savoy is run by Rodems Golf, and Lake of the Woods belongs to the forest preserve district.

Public courses worth knowing in Springfield & Champaign

• The Rail Golf Course: Robert Trent Jones Sr. built it on a 240-acre dairy farm. It hosted the LPGA's State Farm Classic from 1976 to 2006, starting as the Jerry Lewis Muscular Dystrophy Golf Classic. Five lakes and 82 bunkers.
• Pasfield Golf Course: Golf here dates to 1898, when it was The Springfield Golf Club. The park district took it over in the early 1930s and renamed it Pasfield. A short nine with narrow fairways and small greens.
• Lincoln Greens Golf Course: Robert Bruce Harris design from 1957 on 240 acres along Lake Springfield. Par 72, up to 6,869 yards.
• Bunn Golf Course: The park district's tree-lined 18, credited to Roger B. Packard, with narrow fairways and water on several holes. The only district course that can open in winter, when the forecast reaches 50 degrees.
• University of Illinois Golf Course - Blue Course: The university opened its first 18, the Orange, in 1950 and added the Blue in 1966. Both sit in Savoy just south of Champaign-Urbana.
• Lake of the Woods Golf Course: A Robert Bruce Harris design that opened in 1951 inside the Champaign County Forest Preserve District's Lake of the Woods preserve. Par 72 with a nine-hole par 3 next door and Audubon sanctuary certification.

Booking tee times in Springfield & Champaign: the local rules

Springfield Park District books online, with one link for season pass holders and another for everyone else. The district's pages don't say how many days ahead each group can book. Only Bunn plays in winter, and only when the forecast reaches 50 degrees; those days are first come, first served.

Why tee times in Springfield & Champaign are hard to get

Spring and fall are peak season in Springfield & Champaign. In summer the heat pushes everyone toward early morning, so the first few hours of the day fill before anything else.

Each course releases its tee times on its own schedule, commonly a week or two out, with residents of town and county courses often booking first. Leagues, outings and members claim chunks of the sheet in advance, and whatever prime weekend times are left tend to go on release day.

When tee time cancellations happen

A full tee sheet rarely stays full. Many courses let you cancel without a fee up to 24 or 48 hours before your time, so spots tend to reappear in the last couple of days. A bad forecast shakes more loose, and a foursome that drops to three opens a single. None of it is announced. The time just shows up again on the booking page, and whoever looks first gets it.

How to get a tee time in Springfield & Champaign

Doing it by hand? Here's what works.

1. Know the booking window. Find out how many days ahead each course releases times, and whether residents get an earlier window. Be ready the morning it opens.
2. Look again 24 to 48 hours out. That's when most cancellation deadlines pass and spots come back.
3. Be flexible on group size. Singles and twosomes fit into gaps a foursome can't.
4. Try twilight and weekday afternoons. They're the last to fill and often cheaper.

Read the full guide to getting a tee time when everything's booked