Kansas City Golf Courses & Tee Times

Who runs public golf in Kansas City

In Kansas City, Missouri, Orion Management Solutions manages Swope Memorial, Minor Park and the two nines at Heart of America in Swope Park. Minor Park, from 1966, is an easy-walking municipal 18 in south Kansas City. In Johnson County, the Park & Recreation District runs Heritage Park in Olathe and Tomahawk Hills in Shawnee, built in 1910. A JCPRD patron card covers both; 2024 fees were $110 for an individual, $170 with a dependent and $60 for seniors 60 and up. The City of Overland Park owns Sykes/Lady, with 27 holes plus a par-3 nine, and St. Andrews. Its patron card is $45, or $35 for seniors, sold at the pro shop or by phone. Its first course came out of a 1967 bond vote that passed by 80 votes and opened in 1971.

Public courses worth knowing in Kansas City

• Swope Memorial: Tillinghast redesign from 1934, restored in 2025. Kansas City's only PGA Tour host (1949 Kansas City Open), site of the 1953 UGA national championship and the 2005 Women's Amateur Public Links. Swope lists a top-6 spot on Golfweek's 2024 Best Public Access Courses in Missouri.
• Minor Park Golf Course: City municipal course from 1966 in south Kansas City, known for being easy to walk.
• Tomahawk Hills Golf Course: Johnson County course in Shawnee built in 1910. Par 70 at just over 6,000 yards, tree-lined and tight.
• Heritage Park Golf Course (KS): Johnson County's Olathe course, par 71 at nearly 7,000 yards. Three lakes and Coffee Creek bring water into 11 holes.
• Sykes/Lady Overland Park Golf Course: Overland Park's first city course, from 1971, named for the two council members who pushed it through. 27 holes plus a par-3 nine; the city calls it the metro's most-played course.
• St. Andrews Golf Course: Overland Park's tree-lined 18 on 135th Street, on land the council bought by a single vote. Five sets of tees.
• Tiffany Greens Golf Club: Robert Trent Jones II design near the airport that was once a Champions Tour stop.

Booking tee times in Kansas City: the local rules

Overland Park patron card holders book seven days out, starting at 3:00 p.m.; everyone else gets six days. Johnson County patron cards also get seven days online, one tee time per member. Swope Memorial requires prepayment for every tee time. Visit KC says Shoal Creek tee times go fast, so book early.

Why tee times in Kansas City are hard to get

The season in Kansas City runs roughly from spring to late fall. The first warm weekends in spring and the cool, dry weekends of fall are the hardest to book.

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 Kansas City

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 Copper Hill Golf Club and Teetering Rocks Golf Course.

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