Golf near Upper Arlington: the courses you can actually play, ranked
Early morning fairway with mature trees on a central Ohio golf course
Jack Nicklaus learned the game at a private club inside Upper Arlington's borders, but visitors can still get on eight public courses within 30 minutes for $25 to $130 — here they are, ranked honestly.
The two great courses you cannot play — and why they matter
Upper Arlington's golf reputation rests on Scioto Country Club, on the city's southern side, a Donald Ross design from 1916 that hosted the 1926 U.S. Open won by Bobby Jones and the 1931 Ryder Cup. Jack Nicklaus grew up in Upper Arlington and learned the game there as a boy, going on to Upper Arlington High School — whose teams are the Golden Bears, a nickname that followed him around the world. Scioto is strictly private. Members and their guests only, no exceptions for enthusiasm.
Twenty minutes north in Dublin, Muirfield Village Golf Club is Nicklaus's own design and host of the Memorial Tournament each spring, usually in the first week of June. Also private. But the tournament is the one week a year you can walk those fairways as a spectator, and it is the best golf-watching in the Midwest. Check the 2026 dates and ticket process with the tournament directly, and book Dublin accommodation months ahead or plan to stay in Upper Arlington's ring and drive in.
1. The Ohio State University Golf Club, Scarlet Course
The best golf a visitor can buy near Upper Arlington. The Scarlet is an Alister MacKenzie routing later reworked by Nicklaus, sitting about ten minutes west of campus off Tremont Road at Kenny, and it is a serious championship test — long, bunkered with intent, and conditioned to a standard no municipal course matches. Public access is available with rates that vary sharply by season and time; budget roughly $80 to $130 in peak summer and considerably less on a shoulder-season twilight.
Two practical notes. Tee times release on a published schedule and prime weekend slots go fast between May and September, so book as far ahead as the system allows. And the Gray Course next door is the underrated companion — shorter, friendlier, cheaper, and the right call if you are playing with mixed abilities or teenagers. Verify current public rates and access rules with the club before turning up, as university course policies change with the academic calendar.
2. Columbus city courses — Raymond Memorial and its siblings
The city of Columbus runs a cluster of public courses, and for value they are unbeatable: green fees in the $25 to $45 range, walking allowed, and no attitude at the counter. Raymond Memorial on the west side is the pick for quality — a mature parkland layout with real trees and enough length to matter, about 15 minutes from Kingsdale. Wilson Road, Mentel Memorial, Champions and the Airport course fill out the roster around the metro at similar money.
Conditioning is the honest catch. These are high-volume municipal tracks and in a wet April or an August drought the greens will tell you so. Rounds run slow on weekend mornings — five hours is not unusual after 8am — so play at 7am or after 3pm. For a visitor with clubs in the boot and a spare morning, a $35 round at Raymond beats paying four times as much for a resort experience you did not come to Ohio for.
3. The Dublin and Delaware County publics
North of the city, the newer suburban public courses fill the middle of the market at roughly $45 to $75 with a cart. The Golf Club of Dublin is the closest of these and plays with a links-inspired openness that is unusual in central Ohio's tree-lined norm. Further north around Galena and Sunbury, courses like Blackhawk offer more space, better conditioning than the municipals, and drive times of 30 to 40 minutes from Upper Arlington.
Safari Golf Club in Powell deserves a specific mention because of its neighbour: it sits beside the Columbus Zoo, plays around $30 to $45, and is a genuinely enjoyable, walkable, unpretentious round. It is the single best pairing in the region for a family split between golfers and non-golfers — one group plays, the other does the zoo, everyone meets for lunch. Book weekend times a week out in summer; midweek you can often walk on before 9am.
4. Practice, simulators and the winter problem
Central Ohio golf effectively runs April to early November. December through March means frozen ground, temporary greens, and the odd 55-degree February day when every course in the county is fully booked within an hour of the forecast. Plan a golf trip for late April to early June or from mid-September to late October, when the weather holds and the courses are at their best. October in particular gives you $40 rounds on courses that cost $70 in July.
In winter the answer is indoors. The metro has a growing set of simulator bars and indoor practice facilities, plus the large driving-range-and-entertainment venue north of the outerbelt, and rates typically run per-hour per-bay rather than per-person, which makes a group of four the efficient way to book. Ranges attached to the municipal courses often stay open in shoulder season on dry days — call before driving, since hours track the weather rather than a published schedule.
Where to stay if golf is the point of the trip
For Ohio State's courses and the city municipals, the Upper Arlington ring is ideal: Lane Avenue hotels at $135 to $195 put you within ten minutes of the Scarlet and twenty of Raymond Memorial, and you can be on a first tee at 7am without crossing a highway. Worthington at $105 to $150 is the value version, adding five minutes of driving. Both give you free parking, which matters when the boot is full of clubs.
If the trip is built around Dublin and the northern publics, stay in Dublin at $175 to $265 or Polaris at $160 to $210 and cut half an hour a day. The exception is Memorial week in early June, when Dublin rates double and rooms vanish — that week, base yourself in Upper Arlington's ring and drive up Riverside Drive early. Confirm the tournament dates before you plan any golf trip for late May or June 2026.
What to skip, and the round I would book
Skip trying to talk your way onto Scioto or Muirfield Village. Both are private in the traditional sense and the answer will be a polite no. Skip the cheapest executive tracks around the outerbelt unless you specifically want a fast nine — for $10 more the municipals give you a real course. And skip weekend mornings in July, when a $40 round takes five and a half hours and you will not enjoy any of it.
The round I would book with one free morning: the Gray Course at Ohio State on a Tuesday in early October, walking, first light, then breakfast at Tremont Center afterwards. It is close to Upper Arlington, it costs a fraction of the Scarlet, the autumn colour on those fairways is the best golf scenery in Franklin County, and you will be back in the car by 11am with the rest of the day intact.
Before you book
What people ask before booking Upper Arlington.
No. Scioto is a private members club in Upper Arlington with guest play through members only. The realistic Nicklaus-adjacent experience for a visitor is playing the Scarlet Course at Ohio State, which he reworked, or attending the Memorial Tournament at Muirfield Village in Dublin.
Columbus city courses run roughly $25 to $45, suburban publics in Dublin and Delaware County $45 to $75 with a cart, and the Scarlet Course at Ohio State around $80 to $130 in peak season. Twilight and shoulder-season rates cut those figures significantly. Confirm current pricing with each course.
Reliably April through early November, with the best conditions in late April to early June and mid-September to late October. Winter play happens on mild days with temporary greens, but plan on indoor simulators from December to March rather than a genuine round.
