Foster Golf Links

About This Course: A Century of Public Golf on the Duwamish

Foster Golf Links in Tukwila is a city owned 18 hole course on the banks of the Duwamish River, about 10 miles southeast of downtown Seattle, and it has been open to the public since February 1925. The draw is a short, walkable layout where two par 3s shoot across the river and the wildlife is part of the round.

The course plays to a men’s par 68 and 4,804 yards from the Blue tees, with a 62.8 rating and a 101 slope. The course celebrated its centennial in 2025.

Foster Golf Links Fast Facts

Course Overview

Martin Pool’s history for the Northwest Hickory Players tells the story. George Eddy, a Cornish golf professional, bought 50 acres of the old Foster homestead in 1924 and built a public, daily fee nine when most courses were private clubs. It opened on February 13, 1925, with Governor Louis F. Hart hitting the first tee shot and green fees of 50 cents for the day. A full 18 opened on June 29, 1928, and the Eddys kept it going through the Depression and a 1933 flood. Eddy’s son Robert sold the course in 1951 to Joe Aliment, its original greenkeeper, and the City of Tukwila bought it from the Aliment brothers in 1978, under a maple pioneer Joseph Foster planted in 1873 that still stands by the parking lot. The course’s booking profile says the city spent nearly $5 million on a new 15,000 square foot clubhouse and course renovations in 2004.

On the card, Foster is about placement rather than power. The men’s par 68 has one par 5, five par 3s and plenty of par 4s under 300 yards. The course says players get to shoot across the river on two par 3s, and head professional Deron Pointer told Seattle Southside you can see bald eagles, coyotes and sometimes seals and sea lions when the salmon are running.

Hole by Hole Highlights

Yardages are from the Blue tees and handicaps from the men’s row of the course’s posted scorecard.

• Hole 1, 324 yards, par 4: The number 5 handicap, a real test right out of the gate.
• Hole 6, 420 yards, par 4: The longest par 4 and the number 1 handicap. Women play it as a par 5 from the Red tees.
• Hole 7, 334 yards, par 4: The number 3 handicap.
• Hole 10, 445 yards, par 5: The only par 5 on the men’s card and the number 4 handicap, two good swings from a birdie look.
• Hole 12, 326 yards, par 4: Short on paper but the number 2 handicap.
• Hole 15, 224 yards, par 4: The shortest par 4 on the course. Pick a club that leaves a full wedge.
• Hole 16, 120 yards, par 3: The shortest hole on the course and the number 18 handicap.
• Hole 17, 220 yards, par 3: The longest par 3. Women play it as a par 4.

Amenities and Practice

There is no driving range, so warm up at the chipping and putting practice greens. A golf simulator books through its own online tee sheet, and the lesson menu lists a short game lesson at $50, a simulator lesson at $75 and a three lesson beginner series at $199, booked through head professional Deron Pointer.

The 2026 rate sheet prices pull carts at $7.27, power carts at $24 for 9 holes and $30 for 18, and rental clubs at $27.22 for a standard set or $40.87 for a VIP set. You must be 21 with ID to rent a power cart. The clubhouse has meeting and banquet rooms for up to 220 guests, plus patio and pavilion seating for another 220.

Food and Drink

Pasifika NW Grill and Bar opened in the clubhouse in 2026 and is open to anyone, golfer or not. The menu draws on Hawaiian, CHamoru, Samoan, Tongan and Palauan cooking, from lumpia and empanadas to kalbi short ribs and yuzu salmon, with an all ages dining room, a separate 21 and over bar and a patio over the course. Hours vary by day, so check before you go.

Plan Your Visit

Rates, Tee Times and Local Tips

The posted April to October 2026 rates, which include the facility fee and are subject to state and local tax, are $46.75 for 18 holes and $33.73 for 9 on weekdays, and $52.61 and $45.78 on weekends and holidays. Seniors and military pay $41.89 and $31.16 on weekdays. Tukwila residents pay $37.98 and $31.16 on weekdays and $44.23 and $32.93 on weekends and holidays. On Family Weekends, juniors 6 to 17 play for $13 with a paid adult on Saturday and Sunday after noon, and WA Golf lists Youth on Course play after 3 PM (any day March through September, weekends October through February). Senior rates start at 62 with ID. Rates for November through March were not posted when we checked.

Book a tee time online, through the course app or by calling the pro shop at 206-242-4221. House rules that change a visit: no fivesomes, no spectators on the course, children under 6 only with prior approval, and no carts in the last three hours before sunset, when twilight carts are good for 9 holes only. King County Metro routes 150 and 193 stop within walking distance.

Our conversation with Mark Everton, Think You Know Seattle’s Southside? Think Again, covers coffee and micro adventures around Tukwila, and the Tukwila Village Farmers Market is a good stop on a summer afternoon. For a second round, Maplewood Golf Course in Renton is about 5 miles east and Riverbend Golf Complex in Kent about 7 miles south.

How to Score Here

• Leave the driver in the bag on the short par 4s. Holes 13, 14, 15 and 18 all play under 300 yards.
• Bank a shot on the 10th. It is the only par 5 on the men’s card and plays just 445 yards.
• Respect 6, 7 and 12. They are the three hardest holes on the card, and bogey is no disaster there.
• Know your number on the par 3s, which run from 120 to 220 yards.

Final Word

A century on, Foster Golf Links is still the walkable public course George Eddy set out to build, with river views, a new island inspired restaurant and a round that fits into an afternoon.