Meadow Park Golf Course

About This Course: Tacoma’s First Public Golf Course

Meadow Park Golf Course in Tacoma is the city’s municipal golf facility, run by Parks Tacoma, and it is worth the drive for a John Ball design that has been in South Tacoma for more than 100 years, a ravine crossing par 3 the course calls its signature hole, and a covered, heated driving range with Toptracer. Beyond the Championship 18 there is the family friendly Williams Nine executive course and FootGolf.

The Championship 18 plays 6,136 yards to a par of 71 from the Black tees, with a 69.7 rating and a 115 slope for men. Five tee sets, plus a combination set, let families “Play it Forward” from as short as 3,965 yards.

Meadow Park Golf Course Fast Facts

Course Overview

Parks Tacoma’s history of the course says the first nine holes opened for play on November 14, 1915, about six months after Seattle’s first municipal course. Partners W.F. Jowders and W.B. Beal had bought 165 acres north of a streetcar line in what was then the Manitou neighborhood and hired architect John Ball to lay out the links. Meadow Park was the first course in Tacoma open to the public, and an opening day advertisement proclaimed “Ladies May Play Any Day in the Week” at a time when most private clubs limited women to certain days. In its early years an 18 hole round cost 25 cents. The course came under Parks Tacoma in 1961.

The layout is lined with tall trees on most holes, and the course’s own notes describe uphill par 5s, two tiered greens and a stretch it calls “Amen Corner” from the 12th through the 14th. Water comes into play near the 5th green and around the 16th and 17th.

Hole by Hole Highlights

Yardages are from the Black tees and handicaps from the men’s row of the course scorecard; the notes come from the course’s hole descriptions.

• Hole 1, 402 yards, par 4: A straight opener with trees down both sides and a two tiered green guarded by bunkers front left and back right.
• Hole 3, 429 yards, par 4: The number 1 handicap, a dogleg right to a long, narrow green with a false front.
• Hole 5, 260 yards, par 4: A short par 4 that long hitters can reach, but a large pond guards anything short and left of the green.
• Hole 7, 559 yards, par 5: The longest hole on the course, and it plays longer because it runs uphill.
• Hole 13, 161 yards, par 3: Meadow Park’s signature hole, a tee shot over a 60 foot deep ravine to a skinny, upsloping green.
• Hole 15, 277 yards, par 4: A drivable uphill par 4 with out of bounds right; the number 18 handicap, but it rewards a smart play.
• Hole 16, 471 yards, par 5: A risk and reward par 5 where the approach must carry a pond around the front and right of the green.
• Hole 17, 157 yards, par 3: An uphill shot over the same pond; the course says to add an extra club.

Amenities and Practice

The covered, full length driving range has 36 heated stalls and LED lights, with buckets at $10, $14 and $15 from the machine. Six Toptracer stalls are available for drop in play at $13 an hour, and two larger Toptracer bays in the indoor and outdoor learning center can be reserved for $200 plus tax for two hours, with balls included. The putting and chipping area is lit into the evening.

PGA group instruction includes Get Golf Ready, five lessons for $139, and the course hosts PGA HOPE sessions for veterans and service members. The Williams Nine is a family friendly nine hole course with five sets of tees, and FootGolf is played there too. Power carts are $25 and first come, first served, pull carts are $5 and rental sets are $20 to $25. The course does not accept cash.

Food and Drink

Foley’s Sports Bar and Grill is the bar and grill at the course, open 9 AM to 10 PM on weekdays and 8 AM to 10 PM on weekends. Outside alcohol is not allowed on the course.

Plan Your Visit

Rates, Tee Times and Local Tips

Current rates are posted for April through September. On the Championship 18, weekdays are $47 for 18 holes and $30 for 9 at the public rate, or $44 and $28 online; weekends are $50 and $33, or $47 and $28 online. Juniors pay $22, and twilight after 4 PM is $33. On the Williams Nine, 9 holes are $19.50, or $17.50 online, and FootGolf is $18.50. Rates for October through March were not posted when we checked, so confirm with the golf shop.

Book a tee time online for the best rates, up to two weeks ahead, or call 253-473-3033; call in tee times open 72 hours ahead. Cancel at least 24 hours out for a full refund. The golf shop is open 7 AM to 8:30 PM, and groups of four are expected to finish 18 holes in 4 hours and 15 minutes or less.

Our Tacoma guide covers the rest of the city. For a second Tacoma round, Allenmore Golf Course is about 4 miles northeast and Highlands Golf Course is about 5 miles north.

How to Score Here

• Respect the 3rd. It is the hardest hole on the men’s card, and the course says even a bogey is not a bad score.
• Take the extra club. The course suggests one more club on the 4th and 17th, and the 7th, 10th and 11th all play uphill, so they play longer than their yardage.
• Play the 13th to the middle of the green. A straight tee shot over the ravine is all that matters.
• Pick your spots on 5, 15 and 16. Each is reachable for long hitters, and each has water or out of bounds waiting for a miss.

Final Word

More than a century on, Meadow Park is still Tacoma’s open door to golf: a classic tree lined 18, a short course for families, a range that runs into the night and a sports bar for the 19th hole.