Top 15 Golf Courses Near Seattle
What better time to get outside and enjoy a round or two of golf than summer?
Whether you’re an amateur, a pro, or somewhere in between, there are some really great golf courses around town just for you. Seattle Southside is conveniently located to make it the ideal starting point for any golfer's getaway, with tons of great courses easily accessible from the area. But how to pick a spot? We’ve broken it down into three categories: Quick Fixes, Local Favorites, and Worth the Drive.
Quick Fixes are nine-hole courses to keep you going when you just need a little golf in your life. Local Favorites have the full 18 holes and are all within fifteen to twenty minutes of Seattle-Tacoma International Airport. Worth the Drive are the courses that are a little farther away but still worth making a day trip for. Nothing is more than an hour and a half away, so it’s easy to keep Seattle Southside as your home base no matter where you go to play.
Quick Fixes - 9-hole Courses
Glen Acres Golf & Country Club
Glen Acres is your premier golf, family and country club, with affordable prices and an amazing location with a view of the Seattle skyline! Golf lovers, families, students, seniors and anyone else of all ages and demographics are welcomed. Note that this is a members-only club; contact the club for more information.
Interbay Golf Center
If you want to sneak away to play a little golf, Interbay Golf Center is the perfect place! The center houses facilities for driving, pitching, chipping, putting and sand-play and heated driving range stalls, as well as PGA and LPGA certified instructors. Want to play with your family? The center also offers a miniature golf course.
Local Favorites - Golf Within 30 Minutes of Seattle-Tacoma International Airport
Foster Golf Links
Conveniently located in Seattle Southside, Foster Golf Links in Tukwila provides 18 holes on just less than 5,000 acres. The course, which was founded in 1925, is easy to walk and is adjacent to the meandering Duwamish River, which surrounds 65 percent of the course. With beautiful views of landscape and wildlife, it's easy to forget that you're so close to the airport. After your day on the links, kick back at Billy Baroo's for delicious food and a cold beer.
Jefferson Park Golf Club
In the Beacon Hill neighborhood you'll find the 6,200 yard Jefferson Park Golf Club. Built in 1915 by one of America’s pioneer golf architects, Scotsman Thomas Bendelow, the course features sweeping views of downtown and Mt. Rainier. Jefferson Park offers an 18-hole championship course, a nine-hole executive course, a driving range featuring Toptracer and opportunities for instruction.
Maplewood Golf Course
As one of the busiest courses in the area, Maplewood Golf Course boasts a par 72 course to more than 6,100 yards from the back tees. The beloved course was voted “Best Public Golf Course” four years in a row from the “Reader’s Choice Award” of the South County Journal. Here you'll find fun for all skill and age levels with ponds, traps, creeks, tree-lined fairways and firm fast greens. Note that as of the time of writing there are some restrictions in place on group size: the maximum group size is a foursome, and no non-golfers or spectators are permitted.
Riverbend Golf Complex
The City of Kent’s Riverbend Golf Complex includes an 18-hole course with options for 9-hole play, a driving range with instruction center, a discount pro-shop and an 18-hole miniature golf course. The course is relatively flat and easy to walk, making it very accessible to folks with mobility concerns. This busy complex hosts over 65,000 rounds of golf annually!
West Seattle Golf Club
Located just nine miles from the airport, the West Seattle Golf Club offers challenges to the best players. The first nine holes lie along Longfellow Creek on a flat terrain, but the back nine plays more difficult as it’s very hilly and most affected when the afternoon winds pick up. Designed by famed architect H. Chandler Egan, who also redesigned Pebble Beach. If you're in a hurry, they also offer "Fast Lane" golfing Monday through Friday mornings, with a guaranteed sub-3.75 hour round of golf!
Worth the Drive - Day Trip-worthy Golf near Seattle Southside
Auburn Golf Course
With just a 30 minute drive from Seattle-Tacoma International Airport, you can visit the Auburn Golf Course situated on 150 acres of scenic hillside. A full-service 18-hole facility, the fair but challenging par 71 course hosts more than 50,000 rounds of golf a year! Golf cart and equipment rentals are available on-site, and professional instruction is also available. The clubhouse also features a pub to refresh and unwind after your round of golf.
Chambers Bay Golf
Want to play where the pros do? Head to Chambers Bay Golf course in University Place, home to the 2015 U.S. Open and 2010 U.S. Amateur Championships. This 18 hole championship course provides a traditional, links-style layout featuring some of the most impressive scenery of any course. Chambers Bay was the first course in the state to be certified by Audubon International as a Silver Signature Sanctuary – a distinction given only to new developments which are designed, constructed and maintained to enhance the valuable natural areas and wildlife habitats that golf courses provide. Just a 45 minute drive south of Seattle Southside, you'll be treated to stunning views of Puget Sound and its islands.
Druids Glen Golf Club
In the shadow of Mt. Rainier, the 7,146-acre Druids Glen Golf Club offers challenges to all skill levels. With more than 60 strategically placed sand bunkers and nine lakes, this course is rated one of the top 10 most difficult courses in the state. Just a 40-minute drive from Seattle-Tacoma International Airport, you will feel transported to another world with the stunning natural views on offer, with Mt. Rainier feeling close enough to touch and eerie but hauntingly beautiful mists rising out of the lakes.
The Golf Club at Newcastle
The Golf Club at Newcastle features two courses just over 35 minutes away to the east of Seattle Southside. With stunning city and mountain views, the Coal Creek course is a Robert E. Cupp and Fred Couples-designed course playing more than 7,024 yards from the back tees which features five par 3’s, eight par 4’s, and five par 5’s. The China Creek course also offers incredible views of the surrounding terrain over the 6,632-yard course which encompasses five par 3’s, nine par 4’s, and four par 5’s.
Golf Club at Hawks Prairie
Just over an hour south of Seattle-Tacoma International Airport, the Golf Club at Hawks Prairie offers both The Woodlands and The Links courses. These two completely separate 18-hole courses offer very different experiences. The Woodlands is carved out of dense Northwest forest and stretches from 5,600 to 7,170 yards depending on your skill level. The Links features expansive fairways and beautiful views of Mt. Rainier with five sets of tees for golfers of all playing abilities.
North Shore Golf Course
Located about 35 minutes south of Seattle Southside is the 18-hole North Shore Golf Course in Tacoma. It features 6,305 yards of golf from the longest tees for a par of 71. The course rating is 70.3 and has a slope rating of 129 on blue grass. The public course has more than 55 years of history, and is open from dawn to dusk daily. The atmosphere is fairly casual, with no formal dress code, though golf attire is preferred.
Trophy Lake
Voted “Best Public Golf Course” by Seattle Magazine readers in 2009, Trophy Lake offers a daring, risk-reward golf experience with sloping fairways, expansive greens and more than 80 deep-faced, white sand bunkers throughout the 7,206 yards. While it does take a bit over an hour to drive there from Seattle-Tacoma International Airport, you also have the option of taking the Fauntleroy Ferry across the Puget Sound to the Kitsap Peninsula where the course is located. It technically takes about a half hour longer, but what it costs you in time it will more than make up for in scenic views.
The Washington National Golf Club
Now here's a course that's really gone to the Dawgs...by which, of course, I mean the men's and women's golf teams from the University of Washington! The Washington National Golf Club is home to both teams and was designed by award-winning architect John Fought. The whole course is decked out in purple and gold to help bring out your Husky pride, and it features tee options ranging from "Freshman" at 5,117 yards to "Husky" at 7,304. Located just over 30 minutes south and east of Seattle Southside, you'll find you're just far enough away from the hustle and bustle to enjoy the beautiful Pacific Northwest landscape without sacrificing your entire day to getting there.
Fore! When you set out from Seattle Southside, a wealth of golfing options open themselves up to you. Hope to see you out on the green!
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