Delaware
Philadelphia Golf Courses & Tee Times in Delaware
Philadelphia is where organized American golf got its start. The Golf Association of Philadelphia was founded on February 5, 1897, and calls itself the oldest regional or state golf association in the country. The public side has its own history. Cobbs Creek in West Philadelphia opened in 1916 on a Hugh Wilson design, the same Wilson who built Merion, and the city says it quickly earned a name as the best public course in the country. It welcomed golfers of all backgrounds, and Charlie Sifford called it home. The market runs well past the city line into the Pennsylvania suburbs, South Jersey and northern Delaware.
Good weekend tee times in Philadelphia go fast, and the ones that come back later (cancellations, groups that shrink) aren't announced. Yoink watches the tee sheets at 8 public courses here in Wilmington and Middletown, and tells you the moment a time you want opens up.
The longest layout here is White Clay Creek Country Club at 7,007 yards.
Who runs public golf in Philadelphia
Inside the city, the public courses sit on Fairmount Park land. Juniata, along Tacony Creek, opened nine holes on July 14, 1927 and all 18 by Memorial Day 1930, laid out by park engineer Alan D. Corson. Walnut Lane in Roxborough is a par-62 Alex Findlay course built with WPA labor and opened in May 1940. Cobbs Creek closed in 2019 and is being rebuilt by the Cobbs Creek Foundation on a 70-year lease, with Troon running the campus. Its 9-hole Q School short course is open now and the restored Olde Course, by Gil Hanse and Jim Wagner, is slated for summer 2027. In the suburbs, townships run some of the best public golf: Lower Makefield owns Makefield Highlands in Bucks County, and West Norriton owns Jeffersonville, a 1931 Donald Ross course it bought in 1972. The state gets involved too: Skippack Golf Course sits inside Evansburg State Park. Since 1996, public courses can be GAP member clubs, and juniors 6 to 18 can join Youth on Course for $5 rounds at participating courses.
Public courses worth knowing in Philadelphia
- Walnut Lane Golf Club: Alex Findlay's par-62 layout in Roxborough, built with WPA labor from 1935 and opened in May 1940.
- Juniata Golf Course: Fairmount Park course along Tacony Creek, nine holes opened in 1927 and 18 by 1930, laid out by park engineer Alan D. Corson.
- Jeffersonville Golf Club: West Norriton Township's Donald Ross course from 1931, built on an old steeplechase track. In May 2026 it became the first public course to host a GAP major, the Middle-Amateur.
- Makefield Highlands Golf Club: Lower Makefield Township's Rick Jacobson links-style course from 2004, up to 7,058 yards; Golfweek's #9 course you can play in Pennsylvania in 2013.
- Skippack Golf Club: 18 holes, par 70, 6,007 yards inside Evansburg State Park.
- Kimberton Golf Club: The first course George Fazio designed, in Phoenixville.
- Cobbs Creek: Hugh Wilson's 1916 public course, host of the 1928 U.S. Public Links. Hanse and Wagner's restored Olde Course is slated for summer 2027.
8 courses in Philadelphia
Middletown
Wilmington
Delcastle Golf Club
Ed Ault's 1971 county course on the old Delcastle Prison Farm, where inmates once ran a dairy: rolling hills, wide fairways and big bentgrass greens.
Ed Oliver Golf Club
The old Wilmington Country Club grounds, where its namesake caddied. Reid laid it out, Ault reshaped it in 1971; a century-old chimney stands on 18.
Rock Manor Golf Course
A 1921 Wilmington city course that Lester George rebuilt and stretched by more than 600 yards; the stone clubhouse dates to about 1921 too.
White Clay Creek Country Club
Eleven of the eighteen bend, and water borders fifteen of the eighteen.
Why tee times in Philadelphia are hard to get
Golf in Philadelphia 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
Booked-up doesn't mean gone. Plans change: groups cancel ahead of the course's cancellation deadline (often 24 to 48 hours out), players drop when the forecast turns, and a group that shrinks leaves an open spot. Those times quietly come back on the booking page, usually for minutes, not hours.
How to get a tee time in Philadelphia
Yoink
Every course in Philadelphia on one watchlist: all 8 of them
Pick the courses you'd play and Yoink keeps an eye on all 8 courses in Philadelphia. You see what's open in one place, and you hear about it the moment a time that fits your day, window and group turns up, cancellations included.
Doing it by hand? Here's what works.
- 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.
- Look again 24 to 48 hours out. That's when most cancellation deadlines pass and spots come back.
- Be flexible on group size. Singles and twosomes fit into gaps a foursome can't.
- Try twilight and weekday afternoons. They're the last to fill and often cheaper.
- Widen the map. If your first choice is full, check the next town over. Wilmington has 4 courses on Yoink and Middletown has 2.
Read the full guide to getting a tee time when everything's booked
Tee times in Philadelphia: questions
How do I get notified when a tee time opens up in Philadelphia?
Set a watch in Yoink for the courses you want, the days you can play, a time window and the number of players. Yoink checks those tee sheets every few minutes and sends a notification as soon as a matching time appears, cancellations included. You book it directly with the course.
When do tee time cancellations usually show up?
Mostly in the 24 to 48 hours before the tee time, as golfers cancel ahead of the course's cancellation deadline, and whenever the weather forecast changes. They appear without notice and tend to be rebooked quickly.
How far in advance can you book a tee time in Philadelphia?
It depends on the course. Many public courses open bookings 7 to 14 days ahead, and town or county courses often give residents an earlier window. Each course's own booking page has its policy.
When is golf busiest in Philadelphia?
Demand is highest on spring and fall weekends. Weekend mornings are always the hardest tee times to get.
Does Yoink book the tee time for me?
No. Yoink tells you when a time opens; you book it with the course on its own booking page, at the course's price, with no extra fee.
More golf in Delaware
- Delmarva Beaches — OC & Rehoboth · 14 courses
Just across the state line
Markets with courses within 25 miles of a course here.
- Philadelphia, PA · 49 courses
- Philadelphia, MD · 3 courses
- Philadelphia, NJ · 26 courses
- Washington DC & Baltimore, MD · 52 courses
- Poconos & Lehigh Valley, PA · 59 courses
Sources
Facts on this page come from these pages, checked 2026-09-28. Rates and booking rules change, so confirm with the course.
- phila.gov · government
- en.wikipedia.org · media
- spotlightpa.org · media
- cobbscreekgolf.org · official
- cobbscreekgolf.org · official
- pprarchives.libraryhost.com · government
- phillymag.com · media
- juniatagolfcourse.com · official
- lmt.org · government
- golf.com · media
- gapgolf.org · association
- pa.gov · government
- gapgolf.org · association
- en.wikipedia.org · media
- youthoncourse.org · association
- gapgolf.org · association
Tee times in Philadelphia, without the refreshing
Watch as many courses as you like. When a time opens that fits your day, window and group, Yoink tells you first.