Lake of the Ozarks & Columbia Golf Courses & Tee Times

Who runs public golf in Lake of the Ozarks & Columbia

Columbia Parks and Recreation runs two municipal courses, L.A. Nickell in Cosmo Park in northwest Columbia and Lake of the Woods on 145 acres in east Columbia. An annual pass covers both, and all city golf lessons are held at L.A. Nickell. Lake of the Woods stays open year round, weather permitting, and has a solo rider cart for golfers with limited mobility. Mizzou's Gustin Golf Course, a third of a mile west of Faurot Field, is open to the public, though its main job is serving students, faculty, staff and alumni. At the lake, golf is resort and daily-fee: Old Kinderhook says it is open to the public year-round.

Public courses worth knowing in Lake of the Ozarks & Columbia

• L.A. Nickell Golf Course: Columbia's city course in the 533-acre Cosmo Park, with zoysia fairways, bentgrass greens and three sets of tees. Home of the city's golf lessons.
• Lake of the Woods Golf Course: City course on 145 acres east of Columbia, sharing the recreation area with a pool and fishing lake. Open year round, weather permitting.
• A.L. Gustin Golf Course: University of Missouri course opened in 1959 and the first college course in the U.S. certified by Audubon International. Has hosted the Missouri State Open and the Show Me State Games.
• Old Kinderhook: Tom Weiskopf design, par 71 and 6,726 yards, with zoysia fairways and bentgrass greens, three miles west of Camdenton. Open to the public year-round.
• Osage National: Three nines, Links, River and Mountain, with the River and Mountain from a 1992 Palmer design. River and Mountain were renovated in 2025 and 2026, and the Links nine is set to reopen in April 2027.
• The Cove Course at The Lodge: Robert Trent Jones Sr. course at The Lodge of Four Seasons. Par 71 with 72 bunkers and water on nine holes.
• The Ridge Course at The Lodge: Ken Kavanaugh design, par 72, with rock outcroppings and lake views.
• The Oaks at Margaritaville Lake Resort: Bruce Devlin and Robert von Hagge course cut through the Ozark hills at the former Tan-Tar-A,. Tee times up to 28 days ahead.

Booking tee times in Lake of the Ozarks & Columbia: the local rules

Columbia's city courses take tee times seven days ahead, and booked times get priority over walk-ups every day. For today's leftover times, go in person or call the clubhouse at (573) 499-GOLF. The city courses open when the forecast high is at least 40 degrees, so winter golf is on the table. At the lake, The Oaks books online or by phone up to 28 days out. The Ridge at The Lodge of Four Seasons opened for the 2026 season on April 8, and Osage National is playing its River and Mountain nines while the Links nine is renovated.

Why tee times in Lake of the Ozarks & Columbia are hard to get

Golf in Lake of the Ozarks & Columbia 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

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 Lake of the Ozarks & Columbia

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. Clinton has 2 courses on Yoink and Columbia has 2.

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