Boulder & Northern Colorado Golf Courses & Tee Times

Who runs public golf in Boulder & Northern Colorado

Most public golf here belongs to the cities. Boulder Parks and Recreation has run Flatirons as a municipal course since 1986, and it sees more than 50,000 rounds a year. Fort Collins runs Collindale, Southridge and the City Park Nine. Its 2026 Annual Pass gets fixed, reduced rates at any time of day, and non-residents can buy one. Longmont runs Sunset, a nine in the old part of town, plus Twin Peaks and Ute Creek, a Robert Trent Jones II Group design from 1997. Greeley runs Highland Hills, a Frank Hummel design, and Boomerang Links, which opened in 1991.

Public courses worth knowing in Boulder & Northern Colorado

• Flatirons Golf Course: Willie Tucker design built in 1938 with WPA help. City-run since 1986, with over a million rounds played since then.
• Collindale Golf Course: Fort Collins city 18 on 160 acres and the home of a local U.S. Open qualifier.
• Ute Creek Golf Course: Longmont's Robert Trent Jones II Group course from 1997, par 72, up to 7,167 yards.
• Highland Hills Golf Course: Frank Hummel design in Greeley that has hosted the men's and women's State Stroke Play and high school state finals.
• Boomerang Links: Greeley's 1991 links-style 18 with more than 50 bunkers; has hosted a local U.S. Open qualifier and a USGA Junior Amateur qualifier.
• Coal Creek Golf Course: Dick Phelps design from 1990 in Louisville, rebuilt after the 2013 flood and reopened in 2015. Runner-up in Golf Inc.'s 2016 Best Golf Course Redevelopment in the World.

Booking tee times in Boulder & Northern Colorado: the local rules

Each city sets its own rules. In Longmont, Ute Creek takes online tee times 14 days ahead but only 7 days by phone or in person, and changes must be made by phone 24 hours out. Longmont and Fort Collins both use flexible pricing, and from September 1, 2026, Fort Collins requires a credit or debit card for every tee time. At Flatirons, walkers prepay online or in the app, carts can't be reserved, and cancelling 24 hours ahead gets a full refund.

Why tee times in Boulder & Northern Colorado are hard to get

Golf in Boulder & Northern Colorado follows the seasons: spring openers and fall weekends are the busiest stretches, and summer mornings fill before afternoons.

Most public courses open their tee sheet a set number of days ahead, often 7 to 14, and many municipal courses give residents or card holders an earlier window. The best weekend-morning times usually go the day they're released. Leagues and outings take blocks of the sheet before the public ever sees them.

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 Boulder & Northern Colorado

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.
5. Keep a quicker course in your back pocket. Nine-hole and executive courses are easier to get on and play faster. Around here that includes Bella Rosa Golf Course, City Park Nine Golf Course and Sunset Golf Course.

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