The Golf Trip On-Time Report
Your group has a 1 p.m. tee time on arrival day. Will the flight get you there? We matched 7.0 million U.S. domestic flights from the Department of Transportation against the airports golf groups actually fly into.
Headline findings
- Book the first flight out. Flights into golf-destination airports that leave between 6 and 9 a.m. arrive on time 86% of the time. Flights that leave between 5 and 9 p.m. manage 64%, and 13% land an hour or more late (vs. 4% in the morning).
- The most reliable golf airports: St. George (SGU, 84%), Maui (OGG, 83%), Bandon Dunes (EUG, 81%), Pebble Beach & Monterey (MRY, 79%).
- Timing matters as much as the airport. Northern Michigan (TVC) runs 81% on time in October and 49% in December. Myrtle Beach (MYR) is 81% on time in April and 65% in July. September is the most on-time month at most Southeast golf airports.
- Most nonstops isn't the same as most on time. Salt Lake City golfers have the most reliable golf flights (83% on time across their nonstop golf routes). Chicago has the most golf nonstops in our Nonstop Map but ranks 36th of 37 here.
- Most delay time starts with the airline, not the weather. At most golf airports, the airline itself or a late incoming plane accounts for roughly three-quarters of delay minutes. Weather is usually under 15%.
On time by departure time
Flights into the 26 golf-destination airports, by scheduled departure hour. On time = arrived less than 15 minutes late; cancelled and diverted flights count as not on time.
Golf destinations: how often flights arrive on time
Arrivals at each destination's main airport. Where the closest airport has too few flights to measure, we use the nearest larger one and say so.
| # | Destination | Airport | On time | Best month to fly in | Toughest month |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | St. George | SGU | 84% | Nov (89%) | Jun (72%) |
| 2 | Maui | OGG | 83% | Sep (92%) | Mar (77%) |
| 3 | Bandon Dunes | EUG closest (OTH) has too few flights | 81% | Oct (86%) | Jun (73%) |
| 4 | Pebble Beach & Monterey | MRY | 79% | Mar (85%) | Aug (70%) |
| 5 | Scottsdale | PHX | 79% | Feb (83%) | Jun (74%) |
| 6 | Big Cedar Lodge | SGF | 78% | Feb (83%) | Jun (73%) |
| 7 | Palm Springs | PSP | 78% | Sep (84%) | Jul (70%) |
| 8 | Las Vegas | LAS | 77% | Feb (82%) | Jun (70%) |
| 9 | French Lick | SDF | 75% | Sep (86%) | Dec (69%) |
| 10 | Robert Trent Jones Golf Trail | BHM | 75% | Sep (87%) | Jul (65%) |
| 11 | Myrtle Beach | MYR | 75% | Sep (85%) | Jul (65%) |
| 12 | Hilton Head | SAV | 75% | Sep (84%) | Jul (63%) |
| 13 | Nemacolin | PIT | 75% | Sep (84%) | Jul (65%) |
| 14 | Pinehurst | RDU | 74% | Sep (83%) | Jul (62%) |
| 15 | Streamsong | TPA | 74% | Sep (85%) | Jul (66%) |
| 16 | Kiawah Island | CHS | 74% | Sep (84%) | Jul (63%) |
| 17 | Bethpage State Park | ISP | 74% | Sep (87%) | Mar (61%) |
| 18 | Sea Island | JAX closest (BQK) has too few flights | 73% | Sep (81%) | Jul (62%) |
| 19 | Ponte Vedra & TPC Sawgrass | JAX | 73% | Sep (81%) | Jul (62%) |
| 20 | Williamsburg | RIC closest (PHF) has too few flights | 73% | Sep (80%) | Jul (63%) |
| 21 | Kohler & Whistling Straits | MKE | 72% | Sep (82%) | Jul (65%) |
| 22 | Turning Stone | SYR | 72% | May (80%) | Dec (63%) |
| 23 | Sand Valley | MSN closest (CWA) has too few flights | 72% | Sep (81%) | Dec (61%) |
| 24 | Cape Cod | BOS | 70% | May (79%) | Jul (62%) |
| 25 | Northern Michigan | TVC | 70% | Oct (81%) | Dec (49%) |
| 26 | The Greenbrier | ROA closest (LWB) has too few flights | 68% | Sep (80%) | Jul (52%) |
Home cities: how reliable are your golf flights?
Each city's nonstop routes to golf destinations (from the Nonstop Map), combined. Cities with fewer than 3 measurable routes aren't ranked. Find your city for route-by-route odds.
| # | City | On time | Golf routes measured |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Salt Lake City | 83% | 14 |
| 2 | Portland | 81% | 10 |
| 3 | Raleigh-Durham | 79% | 7 |
| 4 | Minneapolis | 79% | 16 |
| 5 | Columbus | 78% | 6 |
| 6 | Seattle | 78% | 13 |
| 7 | Cincinnati | 78% | 9 |
| 8 | Pittsburgh | 77% | 10 |
| 9 | Los Angeles | 77% | 12 |
| T-10 | Houston | 77% | 13 |
| T-10 | Indianapolis | 77% | 6 |
| 12 | Milwaukee | 77% | 6 |
| 13 | Tampa | 77% | 10 |
| 14 | Atlanta | 76% | 22 |
| 15 | Kansas City | 76% | 8 |
| 16 | Baltimore | 76% | 16 |
| T-17 | Las Vegas | 76% | 14 |
| T-17 | Phoenix | 76% | 16 |
| 19 | Albany | 76% | 3 |
| 20 | Cleveland | 75% | 7 |
| 21 | Detroit | 75% | 18 |
| 22 | Buffalo | 75% | 6 |
| T-23 | Charlotte | 74% | 20 |
| T-23 | Denver | 74% | 23 |
| T-23 | San Francisco Bay Area | 74% | 11 |
| 26 | Austin | 74% | 13 |
| 27 | San Diego | 74% | 11 |
| 28 | Orlando | 74% | 13 |
| 29 | Philadelphia | 73% | 18 |
| T-30 | Boston | 73% | 16 |
| T-30 | St. Louis | 73% | 13 |
| 32 | Nashville | 71% | 17 |
| 33 | New York City | 71% | 18 |
| 34 | Miami | 70% | 17 |
| 35 | Washington, D.C. | 69% | 18 |
| 36 | Chicago | 68% | 24 |
| 37 | Dallas | 68% | 23 |
Five ways to make the tee time
- Book the first departure of the day. It has the least chance of inheriting a delay.
- Don't book a tee time for the afternoon you land. If you do, make it late and refundable.
- Fly nonstop where you can. One leg is one chance to be late, not two.
- Check the month. Summer storms make July the least on-time month at most Southeast golf airports.
- Ship the clubs or carry on what you can't play without.
Methodology
- Data: U.S. DOT Bureau of Transportation Statistics, Reporting Carrier On-Time Performance, Sep 2025 to Aug 2026. Every domestic flight by U.S. carriers that report on-time data (7,049,869 flights).
- On time: arrived less than 15 minutes after schedule (the DOT standard). Cancelled and diverted flights count as not on time.
- Airports: each destination's closest commercial airport, unless it had fewer than 1,000 arrivals or fewer than 10 measurable months, in which case the next listed airport is used.
- Routes: the nonstop routes in our Nonstop Map. Routes with fewer than 100 flights in the period are left out. Months with fewer than 100 arrivals are left out.
- Limits: international airports (Muskoka, Cabot, Los Cabos, Scotland, Ireland, Portugal) aren't in DOT on-time data. Past performance doesn't guarantee your flight.
For media and bloggers
Free to cite and republish with a link to this page (CC BY 4.0). Last updated 2026-11-09. Media contact: Eric Worral, [email protected]. We can pull on-time odds for any route or month.
City cards to embed: open your city in the table above, or use https://teetraveler.com/embed/on-time/<city>/ in an iframe.
Suggested citation: TeeTraveler, "The Golf Trip On-Time Report," teetraveler.com/research/golf-trip-on-time-report/, based on U.S. DOT on-time data (Sep 2025 to Aug 2026).