Eastern Iowa & Quad Cities Golf Courses & Tee Times

Who runs public golf in Eastern Iowa & Quad Cities

Cities run much of the public golf here. Davenport Parks and Recreation has three courses: Emeis (18 holes, par 72), Duck Creek (18 holes, par 70, on a former arboretum) and Red Hawk, a nine-holer built with the First Tee Quad Cities chapter. A Davenport season pass good at all three runs $1,500 for a single adult or $1,950 for a household, plus tax. Bettendorf owns Palmer Hills, a William J. Spear design that the Iowa Golf Association named its 2024 18-Hole Golf Course of the Year. Muscatine runs an 18-hole municipal course a mile north of town.

Public courses worth knowing in Eastern Iowa & Quad Cities

• Emeis Golf Course: Opened in 1961 with a Palmer-Player exhibition. On Golf Digest's America's Toughest list 1966-1968 and home of the Quad Cities Amateur.
• Duck Creek: Davenport's 1930s public-works course, 5,759 yards and par 70 on the grounds of a former private arboretum.
• Palmer Hills Golf Course: Bettendorf's city course, a William J. Spear design, named the Iowa Golf Association's 2024 18-Hole Golf Course of the Year.
• Spirit Hollow: Rick Jacobson design on a former cattle ranch. Golfweek's #1 course you can play in Iowa each year 2018-2024, per the course. Hosted the 2002 and 2012 Iowa Amateur.
• Muscatine Municipal Golf Course: Muscatine's 18-hole city course, just north of town off Highway 38.

Booking tee times in Eastern Iowa & Quad Cities: the local rules

Davenport takes online tee times at Emeis and Duck Creek, and Duck Creek sells standing weekend-morning times for the season. Red Hawk is first come, first served. In Muscatine you can book six days ahead by phone or online, or seven days ahead in person at the course.

Why tee times in Eastern Iowa & Quad Cities are hard to get

Golf in Eastern Iowa & Quad Cities follows the seasons: spring openers and fall weekends are the busiest stretches, and summer mornings fill before afternoons.

Each course releases its tee times on its own schedule, commonly a week or two out, with residents of town and county courses often booking first. Leagues, outings and members claim chunks of the sheet in advance, and whatever prime weekend times are left tend to go on release day.

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 Eastern Iowa & Quad Cities

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 Red Hawk Golf Course.

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