You Won’t Believe The Most Googled Golf Course In Your State

What is the most Googled golf course in your state? In other words, what Michigan golf courses are Michiganders Googling? What Iowa golf course are Iowans Googling? And so forth.

To answer the question, I used one of Google’s search data tools to drill down to find what courses people in each of the fifty states are Googling. The answer is not what I expected. I thought that the results would turn up the most famous golf course in every state.  I expected that Augusta National would be the most searched site in Georgia and Pebble Beach the most googled golf course in California. Instead, the results highlight munis and other relatively less-well-known daily fee courses.

The most googled golf course in California, for example, is not Pebble Beach or Torrey Pines. It’s the Los Angeles area muni Ranch Park. And in Oregon, the most googled golf course is not Bandon, but Glendoveer, a 36 hole daily fee facility in Portland.

Bethpage might be the exception. It’s both one of New York’s most famous courses, AND a muni.

As I considered the results, though, it makes sense. People in Georgia are not going to google Augusta National any more than I am going to google Oakland Hills here in Michigan. When I use Google to find a course, it is to find a place to play.

So for the most part, municipal courses rule the day. The most googled golf course in your state is the one people actually play.

College courses also are popular. Courses at Georgia Southern University, Rutgers In New Jersey, the University of New Mexico and Michigan’s Grand Valley State are tops in searches in those states. Mountaineer golf course in West Virginia is not affiliated with the University, but it’s in Morgantown, the home of WVU.

While residents of each state surely are familiar with the most googled golf courses, I suspect that is true of few outsiders.

For what it’s worth, yes I know that the headline is “clickbait.” I thought I’d see how it performs.

A pdf with a chart of the complete list of most googled golf course in your state follows: