Gulf Shores & Pensacola Golf Courses & Tee Times in Florida

Who runs public golf in Gulf Shores & Pensacola

Two cities run golf here. The City of Mobile owns and operates Azalea City in Langan Park, an 18-hole Robert Bruce Harris design from 1957. The City of Pensacola runs Osceola, a Florida Historic Golf Trail partner course renovated in 2011. There is no state-park golf on this stretch of coast: Gulf State Park closed its 18-hole course in 2018, and Alabama's three state-park courses are all farther north. The RTJ Trail Card is sold to Alabama residents and to anyone living within 100 miles of a Trail site, which takes in the Pensacola side too.

Public courses worth knowing in Gulf Shores & Pensacola

• Magnolia Grove (RTJ Golf Trail): 54 holes in Mobile. The Crossings has hosted the LPGA Tour and the Korn Ferry Tour Championship, and the Falls reopened in 2010 as the Trail's only par 71.
• Lakewood Club (RTJ Golf Trail): Perry Maxwell's 1947 course at the Grand Hotel, now 36 holes on Mobile Bay. The Dogwood hosted the 59th U.S. Women's Senior Amateur.
• Azalea City Golf Course: Mobile's city course since 1957. It hosted the first Mobile Sertoma Open, and Arnold Palmer won the second.
• Osceola Golf Course, FL: Pensacola's 1926 municipal course, designed by Bill Mehlhorn and used by Pensacola Open players from 1929.
• Kiva Dunes Golf Club: Links-style course on the Fort Morgan peninsula laid out with Jerry Pate. Golf Advisor ranked it Alabama's top public course in 2017.
• Perdido Bay Golf Club: Public course in Pensacola that hosted the Pensacola Open for 10 years.
• Lost Key Golf Club: Arnold Palmer Design Group redesign from 2006 near Perdido Key, and the first Florida course certified as an Audubon Silver Signature Sanctuary.

Booking tee times in Gulf Shores & Pensacola: the local rules

On the RTJ Trail, public golfers can book 7 days out and Trail Card holders 11, and since June 1, 2026 tee times are online only. At Osceola, the city's page says to call the pro shop at 850-453-7599 for a tee time.

Why tee times in Gulf Shores & Pensacola are hard to get

Gulf Shores & Pensacola is a winter golf destination. The months other places shut down are the busiest here, so November-through-April mornings go first, weekdays included.

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 Gulf Shores & Pensacola

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. Widen the map. If your first choice is full, check the next town over. Pensacola has 1 courses on Yoink and Pace has 1.

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