Northern New England Golf Courses & Tee Times in Vermont

Who runs public golf in Northern New England

City golf here is mostly a Maine story. Portland owns Riverside, which opened in 1932 and hosted 42 Maine Opens between 1938 and 2010. Bangor runs 27 holes by Geoffrey Cornish, and Cumberland's town-owned Val Halla takes 10% off green fees for residents. In New Hampshire, Pease in Portsmouth has 27 holes. Vermont's public golf is daily-fee: Rocky Ridge and The Links at Lang Farm near Burlington, Kwiniaska in Shelburne, and resort courses like The Golf Club at Equinox.

Public courses worth knowing in Northern New England

• Riverside Municipal Golf Course: Portland's city course since 1932; 42 Maine Opens from 1938 to 2010, the most of any course.
• The Golf Club at Equinox: 1927 Walter Travis design in Manchester, redone by Rees Jones, open to public play.
• Mt. Anthony Country Club: Public course in Old Bennington, established 1897 and a founding VGA club.
• Kwiniaska Golf Club: Shelburne course redesigned by PB Dye, reopened May 2020; the only Dye course in Vermont.
• Sunday River Golf Club: Robert Trent Jones Jr. 18 in the western Maine mountains; Maine residents save on Wednesdays.
• Omni Mount Washington Resort: Donald Ross 18 plus the hotel's original A.H. Findlay nine, at the site of the 1944 Bretton Woods Conference.
• Val Halla Golf Course: Town of Cumberland course with a resident green-fee discount.

Booking tee times in Northern New England: the local rules

The season is short: Kwiniaska, for one, says it typically runs May through October. Booking is set course by course. Pease takes tee times online or by phone up to seven days ahead. Sugarbush members book up to 30 days out. Resident deals are local: 10% off at Val Halla for Cumberland residents, and Maine-resident Wednesdays at Sunday River.

Why tee times in Northern New England are hard to get

Golfers in Northern New England 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

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 Northern New England

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 Arrowhead Golf Course, Blush Hill Country Club and John P. Larkin Country Club.

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