The 10 Oldest Golf Courses in Washington State

Washington’s golf history runs deeper than most people realize. By the time Pebble Beach opened in 1919, Washington already had multiple courses with active clubs, dedicated members, and busy fairways. Below is a list of the 10 oldest golf courses in Washington that are still operating today.

10. Jefferson Park Golf Course (Bill Wright Golf Complex)

Jefferson Golf Course in 1966

Location: Seattle, WA

First Course Opened: 1915

Jefferson Park opened in 1915 as Seattle’s first municipal golf course and quickly became one of the busiest in the Northwest. Located on Beacon Hill, it offered affordable access to the game and produced notable players — including a young Tiger Woods, who practiced there as a kid while visiting Seattle. Today it’s named the Bill Wright Golf Complex in honor of the first African American to win a USGA championship.

9. Bellingham Golf & Country Club

Bellingham GC Historical Photo

Location: Bellingham, WA

First Course Opened: 1913

Established in 1912, Bellingham Golf & Country Club opened its first course the following year in 1913. It began as a 9-hole layout before expanding to 18 and has remained one of the premier clubs in the northern part of the state.

8. Grays Harbor Country Club

Location: Aberdeen, WA

First Course Opened: 1912

Opened in 1912, Grays Harbor Country Club is recognized by several regional golf historians as the 8th oldest course in the state. The club remains on its original grounds with a nine-hole layout that has served local golfers for over a century.

7. Touchet Valley Golf Course

Location: Dayton, WA

First Course Opened: 1910

Touchet Valley is one of the oldest public golf courses in Washington. Built in 1910 on what was then a dairy farm, the course still retains much of its original routing. Two holes famously sit inside the infield of the Columbia County Fairgrounds racetrack — one of the most unique quirks in Washington golf.

6. Everett Golf & Country Club

Everett Golf Club Original Club House

Location: Everett, WA

First Course Opened: 1910

Founded in 1910, Everett Golf & Country Club opened its original 9-hole course on a hillside overlooking the city. The club expanded to 18 holes over the years and has continuous operation dating back more than a century. It remains one of the most established golf institutions in Snohomish County.

5. Wing Point Golf & Country Club

Location: Bainbridge Island, WA

First Course Opened: 1903

Wing Point’s origins go back to 1903, when a few Bainbridge Island residents laid out three handmade holes on open land. Over time, the course was expanded into a full club and eventually an 18-hole layout. Though not as widely known as Tacoma or Seattle GC, it quietly sits among the oldest active golf sites in the state.

4. Seattle Golf Club

Seattle GC original location in Laurelhurst

Location: Shoreline, WA

First Course Opened: 1900

Seattle Golf Club opened its first course in 1900 in the Laurelhurst neighborhood. Just a few years later, the club relocated to The Highlands, where it built a new course that opened around 1908–1909. Although it changed locations, Seattle Golf Club played a major role in shaping early Northwest golf culture and remains one of the state’s most historic clubs.

3. Spokane Country Club → Kalispel Golf & Country Club

Spokane CC Original Clubhouse

Location: Spokane, WA

First Course Opened: 1898 (original course), 1911 (current site)

Founded in 1898 as Spokane Country Club, members first played a modest 9-hole course at Liberty Park. After a couple of interim moves, the club built a new 9-hole course along the Little Spokane River in 1911, which later expanded to 18. The Kalispel Tribe purchased the club in 2015, but its lineage ties back to one of Washington’s earliest golf communities.

2. Country Club of Seattle (Restoration Point)

Country Club of Seattle

Location: Bainbridge Island, WA

First Course Opened: 1896

This small, private sand-green course at Restoration Point has been around since 1896, making it the oldest golf course in Washington still on its original site. It began as a summer retreat for early Seattle families who carved out a simple layout overlooking Puget Sound. The course remains largely unchanged, which is part of its charm.

1. Tacoma Country & Golf Club

Tacoma Golf & CC Historic Photo

Location: Lakewood, WA

First Course Opened: 1894

Tacoma Country & Golf Club is Washington’s oldest golf club and one of the oldest west of the Mississippi. The original course opened in 1894 on prairie land in what is now South Tacoma. The club later relocated in 1904–1905 to American Lake, where it still operates today. While the modern course isn’t the original layout, the club’s early adoption of the game firmly anchors it at the top of Washington’s golf timeline.