A Yuma golf weekend: three rounds in two days from Phoenix or San Diego

A Yuma golf weekend from Phoenix or San Diego fits three 18-hole rounds and a night nine between Friday afternoon and Sunday. From Phoenix, play Coyote Wash on the way in and base in the Foothills. From San Diego, start at Desert Hills and stay downtown. Three 18s cost about $150 to $190 per golfer at October 2026 rates.

The drive is the whole trick. Yuma sits about 3 hours from either city on I-8, and the courses are spread across 35 miles from the west side of town to Wellton. Starting from the right end saves backtracking across town.

Quick facts

• Phoenix to Yuma: 189 miles, 3 hr 14 min by Google Maps (Friday traffic); same Arizona clock all year.
• San Diego airport to Yuma: 177 miles, 2 hr 50 min; Yuma is one hour ahead from Nov 1, 2026 to Mar 14, 2027.
• Three rounds: about $150 to $190 per golfer at rates seen October 2026.
• Night golf: Foothills Par 3, Tuesday to Saturday from 6 PM, $20.
• Book first: Mesa del Sol and Coyote Wash open about 14 days out online (Coyote Wash 7 days by phone or GolfNow, per the town).
• Avoid: overseed season (late September to late October) and big March event weekends.

Yuma golf weekend from Phoenix

Coming from Phoenix you join I-8 at Gila Bend and reach Wellton, then the Fortuna Foothills, before Yuma itself. So play east to west.

Coyote Wash sits about 40 minutes east of downtown Yuma on I-8 (about 25 from the Foothills), so a morning departure gets you there for an afternoon tee time. Fuel up in Gila Bend: the I-8 stretch to Yuma has few services. Coyote Wash is short (6,089 yards, men's par 70) with undulating greens. Its online engine releases times 14 days out, though the town's brochure says up to 7 days by phone or GolfNow. The Coyote Wash course guide has the tee ratings.

On Saturday, Las Barrancas is the longest and hilliest of the Foothills courses, and Saturday mornings carry no league. Its tee sheet opens only 7 days out, so set a reminder. Check the live sheet for late-day prices too: on Saturday, Oct 24, 2026 it showed $35 from 3 PM. The Las Barrancas course guide has the details.

On Sunday, Mesa del Sol's weekend rates in late October 2026 were $55 or $50 in the morning and $40 from about 12:30 PM, cart included. Online times are prepaid and need 48 hours' notice to cancel. Play early and you are home in Phoenix by late afternoon.

Where to stay: Comfort Inn & Suites Yuma I-8 is 5 minutes from Mesa del Sol, 12 from Las Barrancas and 25 from Coyote Wash, with free breakfast; choicehotels.com showed $156 ($135 member) for Wednesday, Feb 17, 2027. Best Western Plus Yuma Foothills showed $131 with breakfast on Kayak for the same night. Weekend rates weren't checked, so expect them to differ.

For more on the road itself, read the Phoenix to Yuma drive. If you want to add Valley rounds and make a longer trip of it, see our Phoenix and Yuma golf trip plan.

Yuma golf weekend from San Diego

From San Diego, I-8 climbs over the mountains, crosses the Imperial Valley and the Algodones Dunes and enters Yuma from the west, close to the city courses. So play west to east.

The clock. From Nov 1, 2026 to Mar 14, 2027, Yuma is one hour ahead of San Diego. A 2 hr 50 min drive leaving at 8 AM Pacific puts you in Yuma at about 10:50 AM Pacific, which is 11:50 AM on Yuma's clock, so book Desert Hills for 1 PM or later. Going home on Sunday you get the hour back. The Yuma time zone guide explains the rules, and San Diego to Yuma covers the drive.

Desert Hills' after-1 PM rate on the January-to-March table is $49 with a cart or $40 walking, and online times open at midnight eight days ahead. See the Desert Hills course guide. Saturday's 36 holes in the Foothills is a long day; if your group would rather not, swap the afternoon round for Saturday night golf at the Foothills Par 3.

Where to stay: downtown, where the Pivot Point hotels are about 2 blocks from Main Street's restaurants and bars. Hilton Garden Inn Yuma Pivot Point showed from $189 and Home2 Suites from $159 on hilton.com for Feb 17, 2027, before tax. Both are 13 minutes from Desert Hills and about 27 from Las Barrancas.

Green fees for a Yuma golf weekend

These are the rates seen in October 2026. Mesa del Sol's winter public rates and Desert Hills' November-December 2026 table had not been posted, and Coyote Wash's figure is a maximum, so treat the totals as a guide. Walking Desert Hills after 1 PM cuts the San Diego plan's Friday round to $40.

Booking order and timing

1. About 14 days out: Mesa del Sol (prepaid) and Coyote Wash online (7 days by phone or GolfNow).
2. 8 days out, at midnight: Desert Hills.
3. 7 days out: Las Barrancas, with a maximum of four per booking.
4. On the day: Foothills Par 3 takes walk-ins.

Winter weekends from January to March are the busiest. Our Yuma tee times in winter guide covers how visitors still get good times. In March, check the event calendar in Yuma golf in March: Midnight at the Oasis (Mar 5-7, 2027) fills hotels and the MCAS Yuma Airshow (Mar 13, 2027) snarls traffic near the airport.

Skip late September to late October, when most courses close in turn for overseed. Mesa del Sol does not close, but the rest of a weekend would be thin. See Yuma golf overseed dates.

Weather and what to pack for a winter weekend

NOAA normals at the Yuma airfield give afternoon highs of 77.7F in November, 67.8F in December, 69.8F in January, 73.4F in February and 80.2F in March. Mornings are the cool part: lows run from 46.8F in December to 55.0F in March, so a 7 AM tee time in winter calls for a layer you can shed by the turn. Rain is rare, with 2.6 or fewer rain days a month on average. Short December days push tee sheets toward late morning and midday, so on a December weekend book the Saturday 36 early. Summer is a different trip: July averages 106.7F, and golf becomes a first-light activity.

Holiday weekends add pressure too. Thanksgiving (Nov 26, 2026) and the Christmas-New Year weeks bring family visitors on top of arriving snowbirds, and the Silver Spur Rodeo makes one February weekend busy at the fairgrounds (2027 dates not yet published). On those weekends, book every tee time the day its window opens.

Should you fly in for the weekend?

From Phoenix, almost never: American Eagle's hop takes about an hour but round trips were about $470 to $520 in January, and you still need a car in Yuma. Greyhound and FlixBus run downtown Phoenix to Yuma in about 3 hours for about $27 to $45 one way on sample July 2026 dates, but the courses are spread over about 35 miles, so a car is the practical choice. For a longer stay, our 4-day Yuma golf trip itinerary adds a fourth round and a rest day.

Plan it on the map

Every course and hotel in this Yuma golf weekend plan is on the Yuma 3D map, with routed drive times so you can see the east-to-west order for yourself. The $30 plan turns your dates and home city into a day-by-day schedule with tee times matched to each course's booking window.