Golf Courses Per Capita

The study has been concluded and the results are in. The most golf-mad state in the union, based on per capita golf courses is ….

North Dakota.

With one course for every 5,468 people, it is far and away the best served state in terms of course availability.

The most golf-impoverished state, on the other hand, is California, with one course for every 32,679 people. I find it funny that USGA Headquarters, is in Far Hills, NJ, a state which is in the bottom five most golf-impoverished.

Michigan is just out of the top ten.

So I’ve just created a new statistic: Golf Wealth. That’s the number of golf courses per capita. For this “study,” I used the number of courses for each state as listed by golflink.com, and the 2010 census data, as listed on wikipedia.

A table showing all the states, and their Golf Wealth is below:

StateCoursesPopulationPer capita (Golf Wealth)
North Dakota123672,5915,468
South Dakota132814,1806,168
Iowa4413,046,3556,908
Wyoming70493,7827,054
Nebraska2491,826,3417,335
Vermont76608,8278,011
Montana119989,4158,314
Maine1501,328,3618,856
Minnesota5755,303,9259,224
Wisconsin6045,686,9869,416
Michigan1,0479,883,6409,440
South Carolina4624,625,36410,012
Kansas2732,853,11810,451
New Hampshire1231,316,47010,703
Florida1,48115,982,37810,792
Indiana5276,483,80212,303
Idaho1261,567,58212,441
Ohio90111,536,50412,804
Arkansas2232,915,91813,076
Hawaii1041,360,30113,080
Kentucky3154,339,36713,776
West Virginia1331,852,99413,932
North Carolina6649,535,48314,361
Arizona4216,392,01715,183
Alabama3114,779,73615,369
Oklahoma2413,751,35115,566
Pennsylvania81112,702,37915,663
Mississippi1892,967,29715,700
Massachusetts4086,547,62916,048
Colorado3065,029,19616,435
Illinois77712,830,63216,513
Oregon2313,831,07416,585
Delaware53900,87716,998
Missouri3365,988,92717,824
Rhode Island591,052,56717,840
Connecticut2003,574,09717,870
Georgia5239,687,65318,523
Tennessee3296,346,10519,289
Virginia4148,001,02419,326
New Mexico1062,059,17919,426
New York97619,378,10219,855
Nevada1332,700,55120,305
Washington3276,724,54020,564
Utah1342,763,88520,626
Louisiana1944,533,37223,368
Texas1,04125,145,56124,155
New Jersey3608,791,89424,422
Maryland2315,773,55224,994
Alaska25710,23128,409
California1,14037,253,95632,679

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StateCoursesPopulationPer capita (Golf Wealth)
North Dakota123672,5915,468
South Dakota132814,1806,168
Iowa4413,046,3556,908
Wyoming70493,7827,054
Nebraska2491,826,3417,335
Vermont76608,8278,011
Montana119989,4158,314
Maine1501,328,3618,856
Minnesota5755,303,9259,224
Wisconsin6045,686,9869,416
Michigan1,0479,883,6409,440
South Carolina4624,625,36410,012
Kansas2732,853,11810,451
New Hampshire1231,316,47010,703
Florida1,48115,982,37810,792
Indiana5276,483,80212,303
Idaho1261,567,58212,441
Ohio90111,536,50412,804
Arkansas2232,915,91813,076
Hawaii1041,360,30113,080
Kentucky3154,339,36713,776
West Virginia1331,852,99413,932
North Carolina6649,535,48314,361
Arizona4216,392,01715,183
Alabama3114,779,73615,369
Oklahoma2413,751,35115,566
Pennsylvania81112,702,37915,663
Mississippi1892,967,29715,700
Massachusetts4086,547,62916,048
Colorado3065,029,19616,435
Illinois77712,830,63216,513
Oregon2313,831,07416,585
Delaware53900,87716,998
Missouri3365,988,92717,824
Rhode Island591,052,56717,840
Connecticut2003,574,09717,870
Georgia5239,687,65318,523
Tennessee3296,346,10519,289
Virginia4148,001,02419,326
New Mexico1062,059,17919,426
New York97619,378,10219,855
Nevada1332,700,55120,305
Washington3276,724,54020,564
Utah1342,763,88520,626
Louisiana1944,533,37223,368
Texas1,04125,145,56124,155
New Jersey3608,791,89424,422
Maryland2315,773,55224,994
Alaska25710,23128,409
California1,14037,253,95632,679

14 thoughts on “Golf Courses Per Capita”

  1. So what’s the point? That people should be building more golf courses in California? An analysis like this might be appropriate for grocery stores, because everyone eats. Or doctors, because everyone needs one. But analyzing golf based on courses per capita, when just 9% of the population plays golf, means absolutely nothing.

    Reply
  2. Interesting to the 9% of us (less 1) who play golf.

    Golf courses per square mile, who beats Rhode Island?  One course per 20.6 square miles.  North Dakota is 1 course per 574.8 square miles.

    Reply
  3. I was thinking of the golf course per sq. mile too.  What good is the availability of tee times in ND if you have to travel 45 miles to the nearest course?

    Reply
  4. Many of California’s golf courses of the 1900s were either bulldozed for freeways or fell to the pressure to build houses. Many of the ones left, however, are gems.

    “So what’s the point? That people should be building more golf courses in California?”

    No, though that might help its economy.

    It’s that statistics is a game anyone can play. Even the humorless.

    Reply
  5. Can you imagine people actually getting upset because of a survey that is nothing more than a little unimportant information.  I wonder what they do when there is a really important survey.  Probably wrap themselves in ashcloth and beat their chests.

    Reply
  6. You should be using the number of golfers per state, not the population.  Granted, that is a hard number to get, but you could maybe look at the number of registered USGA members by state or annual golf club sales per state as your numerator to get some kind of reasonable metric.  I guarantee I would have an easier time getting on a golf course in California than North Dakota.

    Reply
  7. I would have assumed that Florida had the most golf courses per capita. Although five of the top ten are states with less than 1 million people although Iowa has a pretty impressive number. Florida isn’t too far out of the top ten and it does have the most courses of any state.

    Reply
  8. Please come to Hot Springs Village AR if you want to luxuriate in golf heaven.  We have 8 1/2 courses and 14,000 residents!  We have wonderful private homes with 2 – 5 bedrooms in all price ranges for your comfort during your stay.  And you will have full access to all golfing facilities as well as lakes for fishing, mountain trails for hiking and lush forest foliage to enjoy on the side while you’re here.  Especially for the ladies there’s pampering galore available in Spa City USA, Hot Springs, AR only 20 minutes away.

    Reply
  9. Maybe you can see it the other way around. Less courses per capita may be a business oportunity to build the course. Or, it may mean that more people in that state play golf.

    Reply
  10. Pingback: Which country has the most golf courses per capita? - The Millennial Mirror

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