South Bend & Michiana Golf Courses & Tee Times

Who runs public golf in South Bend & Michiana

The City of South Bend's Venues, Parks and Arts Division runs three municipal courses. Erskine Park, opened in 1925 on land donated by Studebaker president Albert Erskine and his family, was the city's first 18-hole public course and plays par 70 at 6,100 yards. Elbel Park is the longest, par 72 and up to 6,885 yards around Mud Lake. Studebaker, built in 1919, is the oldest: nine holes, par 29, 1,900 yards, and home of the city's junior golf program. An Erskine season pass also gets you on Elbel and Studebaker. Next door, the City of Mishawaka's Eberhart-Petro course dates to the late 1920s, with a back nine added in Petro Park in the late 1940s.

Public courses worth knowing in South Bend & Michiana

• Warren Golf Course at Notre Dame: Public, links-style Bill Coore and Ben Crenshaw design on 250 wooded acres at the north edge of campus. Hosted the 2010 U.S. Women's Amateur Public Links and the 2019 U.S. Senior Open, won by Steve Stricker, the first major played at a collegiate venue.
• Erskine Park Golf Course: South Bend's first 18-hole public course, opened June 27, 1925, on land the Erskine family gave to stay a golf course forever; the family horse barn became the clubhouse. Turned 100 in 2025.
• Elbel Park Golf Course: The city's longest course, par 72 at up to 6,885 yards, routed around Mud Lake.
• Studebaker Golf Course: South Bend's oldest course, built in 1919. Nine holes, par 29, home of the city's junior golf program.
• Blackthorn Golf Club: Michael Hurdzan design, opened in August 1994, par 72 at 7,136 yards with 94 bunkers. Golfweek named it Indiana's No. 1 municipal course in 2013; it has not been municipal since 2015.
• Eberhart-Petro Municipal Golf Course: Mishawaka's city course, started in the late 1920s across the river from Petro Park; the back nine was added in Petro Park in the late 1940s.

Booking tee times in South Bend & Michiana: the local rules

Studebaker takes calls for tee times and fees at 574-287-6634, and its season runs March 15 to November 30 with the pro shop opening at 6:00 a.m. The city golf site links a tee-time page for each of its three courses, but the pages we could read give no resident booking window or advance-booking rule, so call the course before planning around one.

Why tee times in South Bend & Michiana are hard to get

Golf in South Bend & Michiana 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 South Bend & Michiana

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 Studebaker Golf Course and Wawasee Golf Club - 9 Holes.

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