When to Golf in Chicago: A Season-by-Season Guide

Golf in Chicago runs on a short clock. The season goes roughly from April to early November, most courses close or drop to limited winter play from about November to March, and the Wisconsin resorts keep a shorter calendar still. This guide is for golfers picking dates, whether that means a summer weekend in the suburbs or the year's trip north, and its weather figures come from NOAA's 1991-2020 climate normals for O'Hare and Milwaukee.

The season at a glance

NOAA's normals for O'Hare give the shape of the golf year (average daily high and low, in degrees Fahrenheit):

• April: 59.0 and 40.3, with about six nights at or below freezing
• May: 70.5 and 50.6, and the wettest month of the year, at 4.49 inches of precipitation
• June: 80.4 and 60.8
• July: 84.5 and 66.4, the warmest month, with an average of 6.5 days at 90 degrees or above
• August: 82.5 and 65.1
• September: 75.5 and 57.1, and the driest month from April through October, at 3.19 inches
• October: 62.7 and 45.4
• November: 48.4 and 34.1, with 14.5 nights at or below freezing on average

Milwaukee, the nearer station for Kohler and Erin Hills, runs a few degrees cooler through spring and summer: a May high of 66.5 against O'Hare's 70.5, and 81.9 in July.

Spring: April and May

Opening day depends on the course and the ground, not the calendar. In half of years O'Hare's last spring freeze has come by April 16, but April still averages six nights at 32 degrees or colder, so early tee times can wait on frost. The Glen Club says in its own FAQ that the length of a frost delay varies day to day. Spring can also mean aeration: The Glen Club aerates its greens in April and again in October and allows 5 to 10 days for recovery, so ask about the maintenance calendar before booking a round that matters.

May is warmer, with a normal high of 70.5, but it is the wettest month of the year at O'Hare. Leave a spare day in a May trip if you can.

Wisconsin runs on its own schedule. Kohler starts its golf season in the last two weeks of April, when it briefly reopens Blackwolf Run's original routing: nine holes from the River and the back nine of Meadow Valleys, the layout used for the 1998 and 2012 U.S. Women's Opens. Erin Hills lists its first 2027 green fees for May 3.

Summer: June through August

Summer is peak season, and the normals explain why: average highs of 80.4 in June, 84.5 in July and 82.5 in August, with lows in the 60s. July brings the heat, with 6.5 days at 90 or above in an average July at O'Hare, so early tee times are worth the alarm.

It is also the stretch that rewards planning. Cog Hill No. 4 opens public tee times 60 days ahead, ThunderHawk 30 days and The Glen Club seven days for non-members, so book summer weekends as soon as the window allows. Wisconsin is in high season too: Erin Hills' 2027 rate sheet puts its peak rates between May 28 and September 26. Head west and it gets hotter; Moline, the Quad Cities airport near TPC Deere Run, averages a July high of 86.1.

Fall: September and October

September is the best month to golf in Chicago. It keeps summer's warmth without the heat, with a normal high of 75.5 and a low of 57.1 at O'Hare, and it is the driest month from April through October: 3.19 inches of precipitation and 5.6 days with a tenth of an inch or more, against 4.49 inches and 8.1 such days in May.

October cools to a 62.7 high and a 45.4 low, and in half of years O'Hare's first fall freeze has arrived by October 28. Fall is when the hardwood courses earn the drive. TPC Deere Run is routed through hardwoods on high ground above the Rock River, Blackstone in Marengo sends nine holes through hickory and oak, and ThunderHawk plays past remnant oak and hickory groves.

Wisconsin shuts down first. Sand Valley closes its courses for the winter, and its 2025 golf season ended on October 19. Erin Hills' 2027 rate sheet stops at October 16. For a trip from Chicago, think of the resorts as roughly a May-to-October proposition.

November through March

November averages a 48.4 high and 14.5 freezing nights at O'Hare. From December through February, normal highs sit between 31.6 and 36.6, and most of the airport's 38.4 inches of annual snowfall arrives in those three months. Most Chicagoland courses close or go to limited winter play. ThunderHawk closes for the winter, and White Hawk, a semi-private club in Crown Point, Indiana, ends public play after December 6 under its 2026 rate sheet. The Wisconsin resorts are closed. If a course does offer winter golf, its own tee sheet will show it, so check before you drive out.

The tournament calendar

The PGA TOUR's John Deere Classic is played at TPC Deere Run each summer; the 2026 edition ran July 2-5. If your dates are near tournament week, check the course's tee sheet before planning around it.

The 2026 Presidents Cup was played September 24-27 on Medinah Country Club's No. 3 course; Medinah is private, for members and their guests. Cog Hill No. 4 is a former PGA TOUR venue: it hosted the Western Open from 1991 to 2006 and the BMW Championship in 2007, 2009-2011 and 2013. The Glen Club has hosted a Korn Ferry Tour event since 2019, now the Evans Scholars Invitational, which moves to Aurora in 2027. In Wisconsin, Erin Hills hosted the 2025 U.S. Women's Open, and the Trevino course at Geneva National is scheduled to host the WIAA state boys championship in June 2027.

How to book

Public courses book through GolfNow or their own tee sheets, linked from each course page; the best public golf courses in Chicago is the place to start. Resort courses book through the resort, and the Wisconsin trips guide compares Kohler, Sand Valley and Erin Hills. Private clubs are for members and their guests only. For more on access, see how to play golf in Chicago, and for the itinerary, planning a Chicago golf trip.