Destin tee times: how and how far ahead to book every course

Destin tee times book through four routes. Sandestin's four courses use their own tee sheet, with a six-month window for resort guests against 14 days for the public. Kelly Plantation, Regatta Bay and most Destin public courses sell through GolfNow. The Fort Walton Beach city courses use Teesnap. The private St. Joe courses on 30A are booked only by their inns.

Knowing which route a course uses tells you how early you can lock a time, whether the price is prepaid, and what a late cancellation costs. Here is every course open to visitors, with the system and window as published in October 2026.

Quick facts

• Longest windows: Sandestin packages and groups, 13 months; Sandestin resort guests, 6 months.
• Public at Sandestin: 14 days; the online tee sheet shows 45 days.
• GolfNow courses: Kelly Plantation, Regatta Bay, Emerald Bay, Seascape, Bluewater Bay, Windswept Dunes, Origins.
• Teesnap: Fort Walton Beach Golf Club and Shalimar Pointe.
• Phone only: Burnt Pine (850-267-6500).
• Inn only: Camp Creek, Shark's Tooth, The Third.

Destin tee times by course

Sandestin: the longest windows

Sandestin is the one place on the Emerald Coast where booking early is built into the rules. Resort guests can book up to six months ahead, while non-staying golfers and club members get 14 days. Stay-and-play packages and groups can book up to 13 months ahead. The online tee sheet shows only the next 45 days, so anything further out goes through reservations or the course phones (Raven and Baytowne 850-267-8155, The Links 850-267-8144).

Burnt Pine has no online booking. Once you hold a Sandestin reservation, call the pro shop. Guest times are after 1 PM only, which in November means asking for the first slot to finish before dark. Golf packages must be booked through a reservation agent before arrival, not the pro shop. See the Raven course guide and Sandestin golf packages.

GolfNow courses in Destin

Most Destin tee times for the public courses run through GolfNow. Kelly Plantation's own button opens the GolfNow search, and Regatta Bay's tee-time page is GolfNow-powered. Emerald Bay and Seascape also sell through TeeItUp, and Seascape notes that online rates may be lower than phone rates.

Two things to know about GolfNow Hot Deals. They are prepaid, and at courses such as Bluewater Bay and Windswept Dunes they are refundable only with 24 or more hours' notice. And groups under four may be paired with other prepaid golfers, as Shalimar Pointe and Bluewater Bay note. The upside is price: late-October 2026 deals ran about $90-$119 at Kelly Plantation against $170-$180 for early-September mornings. See the Kelly Plantation course guide.

Teesnap: the city courses and Shalimar Pointe

Fort Walton Beach Golf Club (Pines and Oaks) books on Teesnap. The club says rates lock when you book, which matters because its pricing is dynamic and can change "often hourly". The catch is the no-show rule: a no-show or a cancellation inside 24 hours costs 50% of the booking. Shalimar Pointe sells on its own Teesnap site and on GolfNow; its members and snowbird members book four weeks out. See Fort Walton Beach golf.

Phone and club-site courses

Rocky Bayou has a separate public booking link on its site, or you can call extension 1. Indian Bayou welcomes visitors every day with an advance tee time, and its range is for members and booked players only. Signal Hill in Panama City Beach is walk-on friendly and books by phone. Blackwater in Crestview says its lowest prices, the "Daily Steals", are only on its own website, with changes allowed up to 24 hours ahead.

Base golf: Gator Lakes

Gator Lakes on Hurlburt Field needs two steps before your first tee time. First the base pass: fill in the affidavit on myhurlburt.com, take it to the Visitor Control Center at the main gate for a background check, and get a pass valid six months. Then the booking login: visit or call the pro shop for a Club Prophet account. Times open 10 days ahead and you pay at the pro shop before you play. Get the pass on a non-golf day.

The St. Joe courses: book the room first

Camp Creek, Shark's Tooth and The Third have no outside public tee times. Book a room at Camp Creek Inn or Watersound Inn, then ask the concierge or front desk for times. The inns advise booking ahead, especially in peak season and around tournaments. Each course closes one day a week (Camp Creek Monday, Shark's Tooth Tuesday, The Third Wednesday), and Campfest takes courses off the guest sheet November 12-14, 2026. After Hurricane Isaias, Camp Creek reopened as nine holes on October 17, 2026 and Shark's Tooth was closed until further notice. The public Origins short course books on GolfNow or by phone. See Watersound Club golf.

Booking for a group

Groups have more options than they might expect. Sandestin takes group bookings up to 13 months ahead, the longest window on the coast, and a multi-bedroom Sandestin unit plus a group booking covers four courses. Regatta Bay sends groups of nine or more to its sales office (850-337-8080) for packages. Emerald Bay's 8-bedroom Guesthouse, $600-$1,300 for the whole house and sleeping 16, comes with golf discounts at Emerald Bay and Seascape. For a St. Joe trip, one inn stay is the cheapest legitimate route onto all three private courses, and Camp Creek Inn lists group golf packages.

On GolfNow, book in fours. Prepaid groups under four can be paired with strangers, and splitting a group of eight into two prepaid bookings means two sets of refund terms to manage. For the city courses, remember the 50% no-show fee applies per booking, so cancel unused spots more than 24 hours out.

When to book Destin tee times

• March and April: book as early as your window allows. Spring is peak golf, and spring break fills the area through March.
• October: the second peak. Book early mornings ahead, and watch for overseed closures in early November.
• Summer: dawn times go first; afternoons bring storms on 10 to 12 days a month.
• Winter: weekday mornings at local favourites fill with snowbirds and senior leagues.

Read the best time to golf in Destin for the month-by-month picture and Destin golf rates for prices.

Plan it on the map

Open the Destin golf map to see every course with its booking system and the drive from your base. The $30 plan sequences your Destin tee times day by day.