Seattle golf weather guide
Seattle's rainy reputation keeps some golfers indoors, but the city plays more golf than you might think. The trick is understanding what Seattle rain actually is, and how much daylight you have.
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Season by season
Summer (July–September): dry and long days
Seattle summers are among the driest in the country. Rain is uncommon, temperatures are comfortable, and true heat waves are rare and short. Long days near the summer solstice leave room for after-work rounds, with light lasting well past 9 p.m. in late June.
Tip: almost any summer tee time works. Evening rounds are a local favorite, and GWI's daylight check will tell you whether a late start can finish before sunset.
Fall (October–November): the rains return
The wet season usually starts in October. Early fall still brings plenty of crisp, dry days. By November, gray skies and frequent rain are the norm, along with the first windy storm systems moving in from the Pacific.
Winter (December–February): short days, mild temperatures
Seattle winters are cool and damp but rarely freezing for long, so courses stay open most of the year. The real limit is daylight: in December the sun sets around 4:20 p.m., which rules out many afternoon starts.
Tip: a late-morning tee time gets the warmest part of the day and still finishes in daylight. Snow and hard freezes are occasional and usually short-lived.
Spring (March–June): slow to warm up
Spring brings longer days and gradually fewer rainy ones. Showers come and go, sometimes with sun breaks in the same hour. Courses can stay soft into late spring after the wet winter.
Drizzle isn't a downpour
Much of Seattle's rain falls as light rain or drizzle spread over many hours. That is very different from a Texas thunderstorm. A round with a high chance of rain but only a trace amount may be perfectly playable in a rain jacket. This is exactly why the GWI score looks beyond the chance of rain. A drizzly Seattle morning can score far better than a "40% chance of storms" afternoon in Texas.
Thunderstorms are rare in Seattle. When the forecast does include them, the score still drops sharply for safety.
Notable public courses
- Jefferson Park: on Beacon Hill, Seattle's oldest municipal course, opened in 1915. Fred Couples learned the game here, and it has views of the downtown skyline.
- Jackson Park: a hilly North Seattle course that opened in 1930 and is one of the busiest in the area. It also has a short nine-hole course.
- West Seattle Golf Course: opened in 1940 and often considered the toughest of the city courses.
- Interbay: a nine-hole executive course and practice facility close to downtown, ideal for a quick round.
- Chambers Bay (University Place): about an hour south, a public links course on Puget Sound that hosted the 2015 U.S. Open.
Plan your next Seattle round
GWI shows live tee times within 50 miles of Seattle, scored for the weather during each round. See today’s live Seattle tee times to find the best window for your date.
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