Muirfield

Diary for next year opens mid-February

Muirfield is one of the most sought after tee times, due to its unique experience. You are treated as a member of The Honourable Company of Edinburgh Golfers for the day. A typical day starts with a traditional 18 holes, then break, shower, change into your jacket & tie for a sumptuous lunch, then return for a second 18 holes as foursomes (alternate shot).

That said, barring fantastic luck, getting onto Muirfield takes planning. There are limited tee times for guest tee times only offered for Tuesdays and Thursdays.

Royal Troon

Diary opens in Late-April

Given that guest tee times at Royal Troon are only available on Monday, Tuesday and Thursday, foursome tee times typically start to get sparse in October of the previous year.

Carnoustie

Diary opens in August

The good news when you’re looking to book a round at Carnoustie is that they have very few tee time restrictions.

The “bad” news, is that it is an incredible, and immensely popular course. As a result, tee times tend to book up quickly. We highly recommend getting ahead of the crowd.

The Old Course

Tee Time are ... well, complicated…

See our How to get a Tee Time at the Old Course tips page.

It is worth noting that The Open Championship returned to the Old Course in 2022, so expect a big bump in demand for the next couple of years.

North Berwick

Diary opens beginning of April, but waitlist has begun.

We love North Berwick, we will always put it on your itinerary if it makes sense.

Visitor hours are every day, except Saturday, but now only three hours a day. (Was four hours).

Royal County Down

Diary opens In mid-April

Being one of the best courses in the world, it’s typically difficult to score a guest tee time at RCD after October of the previous year.

Availability is made more scarce by the fact that visitor tee times are only possible on Mondays, Tuesdays and Fridays as well as limited times on Thursdays and Sundays.

Royal Portrush

Diary opens First Monday in May

Unlike many others on this list - especially the private member’s Clubs - Royal Portrush has visitor tee time availability seven days a week. That said, it may be for a window shorter than 1hr30, or exclusively after 3:00pm.

In lockstep with RCD, but they’ll take waitlist requests, so we can get started now.

Portmarnock

Diary opens First Monday in May

Portmarnock is the most highly rated course in Dublin County, and therefore attracts a significant amount of both local players and golf travellers.

While they have tee time availability throughout the week, it’s in limited periods - usually early morning or late afternoon - and even more limited for visiting foursomes.

Ballybunion

Diary opens First Monday in May

There is good reason for Ballybunion being the highest ranked course in the golf-rich Republic of Ireland.

It’s popularity, and the fact that exclusively morning tee times are made available to visitors during the week (with weekends reserved for member play only), make Ballybunion fit comfortably under the category of “book early"!

Lahinch

Diary opens in August

Lahinch is one of our favourite courses in the world. It’s scenically beautiful, incredibly represented of its setting in the southwest of Ireland, and has some of the most quirky and fun you’ll see.

Unfortunately, however, the secret is out.

Lahinch has tee visitor tee times available throughout the week, albeit only in the early morning and late afternoon on weekend. Book early if you can.

Old Head

Diary opens in June

The stunning Old Head is thankfully largely wide open for visitor tee times. It is, however (like all courses on this list!), very popular, so availability does tend to fade quickly.

A complication of playing Old Head is that a deposit is required to make a booking. This means that we’ll need to have your itinerary in good order before we book you, or work around the tee time at Old Head.

Royal St. George’s

Diary opens in Mid-April

Getting a tee time at Royal St. George’s takes advanced planning, without question.

But getting a foursome tee time at Royal St. George’s takes super advanced planning, as they are only offered on Tuesdays.

Given that Royal St. George’s is hosting The Open Championship in 2020, we recommend being ready to book as close as possible to when the 2021 tee sheet opens.

The Royals of Lancashire

Diary opens beginning of May.

The next recipient of the Open bump is Liverpool, the 2023 host.

Royal Birkdale, Royal Lytham and Royal Liverpool are all within an hour’s drive of each other, any trip to England’s Golf Coast will be sure to include a round at each. Happily they coordinate their dairies to open at the same time in May.

Pebble Beach

Tee Time Booking opens In: 18 months in advance

Pebble Beach and the courses that make up the Pebble Beach Resorts, like Spyglass Hill and the Links at Spanish Bay, are known widely as some of the best public golf courses in the world. While this means that anyone can get on the course, it also means that anyone can get on the course - that is, the supply is matched with the sky high demand.

Supply is also limited by the fact that a tee time at Pebble Beach requires a stay at one of the Pebble Beach resorts. It is possible to get a tee time without a stay at the resort, but only 24hrs in advance.