Western NY — Buffalo & Rochester Golf Courses & Tee Times in New Jersey

Who runs public golf in Western NY — Buffalo & Rochester

Around Buffalo, Erie County runs Grover Cleveland in the city and Elma Meadows, a 6,700-yard par 70 from 1959 along Buffalo Creek, and sells annual unlimited passes good through December 31. The Buffalo Olmsted Parks Conservancy runs the city's park courses: 18 holes at Delaware Park and nines at Cazenovia and South Park, with 2026 season passes. New York State Parks runs Beaver Island on Grand Island, an 18-hole course from 1965; in 2026 veterans with a Liberty Pass walk free Monday through Thursday. Around Rochester, Monroe County Parks runs five courses and 81 holes at Genesee Valley (two 18s), Durand Eastman (18) and Churchville (27, open since 1932). A county permit cuts the 2026 weekday 18-hole walking rate from $20 to $13.

Public courses worth knowing in Western NY — Buffalo & Rochester

• Grover Cleveland Golf Course - Grover Cleveland: Former Country Club of Buffalo course where John McDermott won the 1912 U.S. Open. Travis and Ross designs, nine of the 1912 holes still in play, a Redan-style par-3 17th, 5,621 yards, par 69.
• Genesee Valley Golf Course: Two 18s in an Olmsted park by the Genesee River. The North, or Old Course, was built in 1899; the South is the shorter New Course.
• Durand Eastman Golf Course: A nine by 1917, the third public course in Rochester, now credited by the county to Robert Trent Jones Sr. The park runs along Lake Ontario. Par 70, up to 6,033 yards.
• Elma Meadows Golf Course: Erie County's 6,700-yard par 70, opened 1959 on some of the highest ground of any county course, with a 495-yard par-4 finishing hole from the back.
• Churchville Park Golf Course: 27 flat holes west of Rochester, open since 1932: an 18-hole par-72 East up to 6,566 yards and a 9-hole West.
• Beaver Island State Park: State Parks course from 1965 on Grand Island in the Niagara River, 6,633 yards, with wide fairways running alongside ponds to large, gently sloped greens.

Booking tee times in Western NY — Buffalo & Rochester: the local rules

At Monroe County's courses you can book up to seven days ahead, one time per day, on ForeUp online or by phone or in person, and you must cancel 24 hours out for a refund. No resident head start was listed. Erie County requires a tee time for every golfer at Grover Cleveland and Elma Meadows; book on Chronogolf or call 716-858-8355, and make changes at least four hours ahead. Buffalo's Olmsted courses also book on Chronogolf, go off every eight minutes and take cards only. Beaver Island takes walk-ups, but tee times are encouraged.

Why tee times in Western NY — Buffalo & Rochester are hard to get

Golfers in Western NY — Buffalo & Rochester get maybe six months of good weather, and they all want the same weekend mornings. Demand bunches up from May to September.

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 Western NY — Buffalo & Rochester

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 Latona Country Club.

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