Charleston Golf Courses & Tee Times

Who runs public golf in Charleston

The City of Charleston runs the Municipal Golf Course, built on 120 acres C. Bissell Jenkins gave the city on condition it stay a municipal course. It opened with 15 holes on July 8, 1929, and was integrated in 1961. City residents get discounted green fees once they register a household in the city's Rectrac system and show a license with a city address, and registered juniors play free year-round. Most other public golf in the area is daily-fee or resort golf, including Wild Dunes on Isle of Palms, where one of the two Tom Fazio courses is open to the public each day.

Public courses worth knowing in Charleston

• Charleston Municipal Golf Course: The city course on James Island since 1929, laid out by Johnny Adams and renovated by Troy Miller with Friends of the Muni.
• The Ocean Course at Kiawah Island: Pete Dye's course, raised on Alice Dye's suggestion, with ten holes along the Atlantic. It hosted the 1991 Ryder Cup and the 2012 and 2021 PGA Championships.
• Wild Dunes Resort - Links Course: One of Tom Fazio's earliest designs, finishing along the Atlantic on Isle of Palms.
• Wild Dunes Resort - The Harbor Course: Fazio's marsh-and-lagoon course, redone in an $8 million renovation.
• Charleston National Golf Club: A Rees Jones design in Mount Pleasant, open to the public year round.
• Patriots Point Golf Links: Harbor-side course in Mount Pleasant at the foot of the Ravenel Bridge, with views of downtown and Fort Sumter.

Booking tee times in Charleston: the local rules

At the Muni you can book online, by phone or in person up to 7 days out. Cancel at least 24 hours ahead, per player, or pay a $10 no-show fee. Evening walk-on play starts at 5:15 p.m., first come first served. At Wild Dunes, check which of the two courses is open to the public that day.

Why tee times in Charleston are hard to get

Spring and fall are peak season in Charleston. In summer the heat pushes everyone toward early morning, so the first few hours of the day fill before anything else.

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 Charleston

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. Summerville has 4 courses on Yoink and Manning has 3.

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