The Boston Parks permit system, explained (and how it affects your tee time)

If you've tried to book a Saturday morning at George Wright and watched every slot disappear before you could click one, you weren't too slow. You were in the wrong booking window.

The City of Boston runs a two-tier tee time system for its two municipal courses: George Wright in Hyde Park and William J. Devine at Franklin Park. Permit holders get first access. Everyone else gets what's left. Once you understand how the tiers work and when each window opens, the whole thing becomes predictable. Still competitive, but at least you know what you're up against.

The two tiers

Permit holders book five days in advance, starting at 7 AM. For a Saturday tee time, that's Monday at 7 AM.

Non-permit holders book four days out, also at 7 AM. For Saturday, that's Tuesday at 7 AM.

One day separates the two groups. On a course as popular as George Wright — Golf.com ranked it 3rd best municipal in the country in 2021 — that 24-hour gap is the whole game. Permit holders clear out the prime morning slots before non-permit holders can see them.

This is why you look on Tuesday and find 7:44 AM already gone.

What the permit actually is

The Boston Parks season permit is a Boston residents-only pass with a meaningful booking edge over the general public. The exact cost isn't listed anywhere publicly — you have to call the pro shop.

Getting one is not as simple as paying for it. The City runs a lottery. For 2026, the deadline was May 6, with the drawing on May 11. Existing holders from 2025 got first renewal before the lottery opened, which means if you don't have one now, you're waiting for the 2027 cycle.

The lottery is Boston residents only. You apply, you either get drawn or you don't, and if you do, you pay and get permit holder status for the season.

George Wright: why it's so hard to book

George Wright is a Donald Ross design from 1938. Ross lived nearby in Newton and was reportedly skeptical the site could even support a golf course — it was described at the time as “a mix of ledge and swamp.” Building it took 60,000 pounds of dynamite and more than a year of WPA labor. The finished product is a par-70 with a slope of 133. More than half the holes have blind approaches or real elevation change. Hole 12 drops sharply enough that locals use it for winter sledding.

It's one of the most interesting public tracks in New England. That's why it books out.

Rates for 2026: $46 for 18 holes on weekdays for Boston residents, $55 on weekends. Non-residents pay $61 weekdays and $70 weekends. For a Donald Ross course with a 133 slope and that history, those prices are low — which compounds the demand problem.

William J. Devine at Franklin Park

Same rules apply at Devine: same permit structure, same booking windows, same green fees. Devine opened in 1896 — second oldest municipal golf course in the country. It's in Dorchester, 4.4 miles from downtown, the closest 18-hole public course to the city center. Also a Ross layout.

Devine gets less press than George Wright, so weekend availability is somewhat better. But it's the same permit/non-permit split, so the same approach works.

How to actually get a tee time

For a Saturday or Sunday morning at George Wright without a permit, be at cityofbostongolf.com at 7:00 AM on Tuesday. Not 7:05. The best morning slots go in the first few minutes. The booking system opens the window to everyone at the same moment, and plenty of people are refreshing at the same time.

Late morning and afternoon weekend times are easier. If you're flexible on the start time, Tuesday is still your window, just with more remaining inventory.

Weekdays are a different story. You can usually find time with a day or two of notice, sometimes same-day. Singles can walk on during the week, which bypasses the online system entirely.

If you're a Boston resident who plays George Wright or Devine regularly, the lottery is worth entering every year. You can't buy your way into the permit — only the lottery puts you there — so you enter in late April or early May and find out in mid-May.

What Carl does with this

Carl tracks the booking windows for both courses. When you text a request for George Wright or William J. Devine, Carl knows which tier applies and what's actually in the available window. If Saturday is gone, it checks Devine, checks what weekday slots exist, and tells you what's open. It doesn't just return “sold out” and stop.

The pro shop call matters here too. Both courses occasionally hold back inventory from the online system. If the website shows nothing for a Saturday morning, calling the pro shop directly sometimes surfaces times the platform doesn't list. Carl makes that call.

George Wright earns everything the rankings say about it. The booking situation is annoying, but it's learnable. Now you know the actual rules.