Springfield & Champaign Golf Courses & Tee Times

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

Golf in Springfield & Champaign 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 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.
5. Widen the map. If your first choice is full, check the next town over. Springfield has 4 courses on Yoink and Charleston has 1.

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