Rhode Island
Southern New England Golf Courses & Tee Times
This stretch runs from the Berkshires and the Pioneer Valley down through central Connecticut to Providence and the Rhode Island shore. The public golf has real history: Triggs Memorial in Providence opened in 1932 and is the only true public Ross course in Rhode Island, by the course's own account. Springfield's Franconia dates to 1929. Newer public tracks carry big names too, with Arnold Palmer's Gillette Ridge near Hartford, Robert Trent Jones and Gary Player courses at Lyman Orchards in Connecticut, and Roger Rulewich's Crumpin-Fox, which opened in 1990.
Good weekend tee times in Southern New England go fast, and the ones that come back later (cancellations, groups that shrink) aren't announced. Yoink watches the tee sheets at 8 public courses here, from Hope Valley, Foster, South Kingstown and Providence, and tells you the moment a time you want opens up.
The longest layout here is Triggs Memorial Golf Course at 6,522 yards.
Who runs public golf in Southern New England
There is no big county or state parks golf system here. Cities and towns carry the municipal load. Springfield's Parks, Buildings and Recreation Management department runs Franconia and Veterans Memorial, 18 holes each, and the pair took in a record $2.3 million in 2025. Providence owns Triggs Memorial and leases it to FCG Associates, which has run it since 1990 and restored it toward Ross's original plans. Rhode Island's state parks run a 9-hole, par-36 course at Goddard State Park in Warwick. The rest of the public golf in this list is privately owned daily-fee play.
Public courses worth knowing in Southern New England
- Triggs Memorial Golf Course: Donald Ross design that opened in 1932 on the old Obadiah Brown Farm.
- Franconia Golf Course: Springfield's older muni, opened in 1929. John Van Kleek, Wayne Stiles and Geoffrey Cornish are credited; 6,213 yards from the tips.
- Veterans Memorial Golf Course: Geoffrey Cornish design from 1964. Par 72, 6,350 yards, and the longer of Springfield's two city courses.
- Crumpin-Fox Golf Club: Roger Rulewich of Robert Trent Jones, Inc. built the front nine and reworked the back; opened June 1990.
- Gillette Ridge Golf Club: Arnold Palmer design near Hartford, listed #4 Best Public Golf in Connecticut in Golfers Choice 2026.
- Lyman Orchards Golf Club - Jones Course: Robert Trent Jones layout at a Connecticut orchard that also has a Gary Player course; CSGA Distinguished Club in 2019.
- The Ranch Golf Club: Southwick course voted into the top 50 public courses in Golf World's 2010 Readers' Choice Awards, one of two from New England.
- Connecticut National Golf Club: Putnam course that hosted the 91st Rhode Island Open in 2023.
Booking tee times in Southern New England: the local rules
Springfield's courses open around mid-April (April 15 in 2026) for a season that usually runs about nine months. Book on the courses' website; the city lists no separate resident window. Weekdays take tee times and walk-ons all day, while weekend mornings from 6:30 to noon require a tee time. Goddard State Park books by phone only, up to two days ahead, per the state tourism listing. Private daily-fee courses set their own windows.
Yoink
Know the rules. Let Yoink do the waiting.
Booking windows decide who gets first pick. After that, times come back one at a time as plans change. Yoink watches all 8 courses in Southern New England and tells you when a time that fits comes back, so you're not refreshing the page all week.
8 courses in Southern New England
Foster
Other
Country View Golf Club
Country View Golf Club, an 18-hole regulation course in Rhode Island. You'll carry water off the tee or into the green on 3 holes.
Laurel Lane Country Club
One hole moves 30 feet from tee to green. Eight of the eighteen bend.
Winnapaug Country Club
Winnapaug Country Club is an 18-hole regulation course in Rhode Island, playing to par 72 across 6,361 yards.
Why tee times in Southern New England are hard to get
Golf in Southern New England 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 Southern New England
Yoink
Every course in Southern New England on one watchlist: all 8 of them
Yoink checks all 8 courses in Southern New England every few minutes, so every open time is in one place and you're the first to know when one that fits your day, window and group appears, cancellations included.
Doing it by hand? Here's what works.
- 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.
- Look again 24 to 48 hours out. That's when most cancellation deadlines pass and spots come back.
- Be flexible on group size. Singles and twosomes fit into gaps a foursome can't.
- Try twilight and weekday afternoons. They're the last to fill and often cheaper.
- Widen the map. If your first choice is full, check the next town over. Hope Valley has 2 courses on Yoink and Foster has 1.
Read the full guide to getting a tee time when everything's booked
Tee times in Southern New England: questions
How do I get notified when a tee time opens up in Southern New England?
Set a watch in Yoink for the courses you want, the days you can play, a time window and the number of players. Yoink checks those tee sheets every few minutes and sends a notification as soon as a matching time appears, cancellations included. You book it directly with the course.
When do tee time cancellations usually show up?
Mostly in the 24 to 48 hours before the tee time, as golfers cancel ahead of the course's cancellation deadline, and whenever the weather forecast changes. They appear without notice and tend to be rebooked quickly.
How far in advance can you book a tee time in Southern New England?
It depends on the course. Many public courses open bookings 7 to 14 days ahead, and town or county courses often give residents an earlier window. Each course's own booking page has its policy.
When is golf busiest in Southern New England?
Demand is highest on spring and fall weekends. Weekend mornings are always the hardest tee times to get.
Does Yoink book the tee time for me?
No. Yoink tells you when a time opens; you book it with the course on its own booking page, at the course's price, with no extra fee.
More golf in Rhode Island
- New England · 11 courses
Just across the state line
Markets with courses within 25 miles of a course here.
- New England, MA · 97 courses
- Connecticut, CT · 51 courses
- Southern New England, MA · 31 courses
- Southern New England, CT · 12 courses
- New England, CT · 2 courses
- Long Island, NY · 46 courses
Sources
Facts on this page come from these pages, checked 2026-09-28. Rates and booking rules change, so confirm with the course.
- springfield-ma.gov · government
- vets-franconia-golf.com · official
- providenceri.gov · government
- triggs.us · course
- visitrhodeisland.com · tourism
- rigalinks.org · association
- rigalinks.org · association
- crumpinfox.com · course
- theranchgolfclub.com · course
- lymangolf.com · course
- gilletteridgegolf.com · course
Tee times in Southern New England, without the refreshing
Watch as many courses as you like. When a time opens that fits your day, window and group, Yoink tells you first.