Golf Courses Per Capita - GolfBlogger Golf Blog

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 6, 423 people, it is far and away the best served state in terms of course availability. The per capita per 100,000 is 15.57.

The most golf-impoverished state, on the other hand, is California, with one course for every 41,117 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 inside the top ten.

For this “study,” I used the number of courses for each state as listed by golflink.com, and the 2023 census data. Here are the calculated figures:

State	Courses	Population	Per Capita (100k)	Pop/ Course
Alabama	247	5,157,699	4.79	20,881.37
Alaska	22	740,133	2.97	33,642.41
Arizona	392	7,582,384	5.17	19,342.82
Arkansas	197	3,088,354	6.38	15,676.92
California	959	39,431,263	2.43	41,117.06
Colorado	296	5,957,493	4.97	20,126.67
Connecticut	195	3,675,069	5.31	18,846.51
Delaware	47	1,051,917	4.47	22,381.21
District of Columbia	6	702,250	0.85	117,041.67
Florida	1,346	23,372,215	5.76	17,364.20
Georgia	417	11,180,878	3.73	26,812.66
Hawaii	96	1,446,146	6.64	15,064.02
Idaho	128	2,001,619	6.39	15,637.65
Illinois	669	12,710,158	5.26	18,998.74
Indiana	414	6,924,275	5.98	16,725.30
Iowa	404	3,241,488	12.46	8,023.49
Kansas	248	2,970,606	8.35	11,978.25
Kentucky	260	4,588,372	5.67	17,647.58
Louisiana	133	4,597,740	2.89	34,569.47
Maine	147	1,405,012	10.46	9,557.90
Maryland	196	6,263,220	3.13	31,955.20
Massachusetts	382	7,136,171	5.35	18,681.08
Michigan	941	10,140,459	9.28	10,776.26
Minnesota	519	5,793,151	8.96	11,162.14
Mississippi	142	2,943,045	4.82	20,725.67
Missouri	341	6,245,466	5.46	18,315.15
Montana	112	1,137,233	9.85	10,153.87
Nebraska	246	2,005,465	12.27	8,152.30
Nevada	113	3,267,467	3.46	28,915.64
New Hampshire	117	1,409,032	8.30	12,043.01
New Jersey	336	9,500,851	3.54	28,276.34
New Mexico	86	2,130,256	4.04	24,770.42
New York	873	19,867,248	4.39	22,757.44
North Carolina	555	11,046,024	5.02	19,902.75
North Dakota	124	796,568	15.57	6,423.94
Ohio	706	11,883,304	5.94	16,831.88
Oklahoma	191	4,095,353	4.66	21,441.64
Oregon	203	4,272,371	4.75	21,046.16
Pennsylvania	674	13,078,751	5.15	19,404.68
Rhode Island	62	1,112,308	5.57	17,940.45
South Carolina	373	5,478,831	6.81	14,688.55
South Dakota	132	924,669	14.28	7,005.07
Tennessee	257	7,227,750	3.56	28,123.54
Texas	837	31,290,831	2.67	37,384.51
Utah	135	3,503,613	3.85	25,952.69
Vermont	76	648,493	11.72	8,532.80
Virginia	341	8,811,195	3.87	25,839.28
Washington	280	7,958,180	3.52	28,422.07
West Virginia	107	1,769,979	6.05	16,541.86
Wisconsin	561	5,960,975	9.41	10,625.62
Wyoming	66	587,618	11.23	8,903.30

The original results for this article with data from 2011 is below:

State	Courses	Population	People Per Course (Golf Wealth)
North Dakota	123	672,591	5, 468
South Dakota	132	814,180	6,168
Iowa	441	3,046,355	6,908
Wyoming	70	493,782	7,054
Nebraska	249	1,826,341	7,335
Vermont	76	608,827	8,011
Montana	119	989,415	8,314
Maine	150	1,328,361	8,856
Minnesota	575	5,303,925	9,224
Wisconsin	604	5,686,986	9,416
Michigan	1,047	9,883,640	9,440
South Carolina	462	4,625,364	10,012
Kansas	273	2,853,118	10,451
New Hampshire	123	1,316,470	10,703
Florida	1,481	15,982,378	10,792
Indiana	527	6,483,802	12,303
Idaho	126	1,567,582	12,441
Ohio	901	11,536,504	12,804
Arkansas	223	2,915,918	13,076
Hawaii	104	1,360,301	13,080
Kentucky	315	4,339,367	13,776
West Virginia	133	1,852,994	13,932
North Carolina	664	9,535,483	14,361
Arizona	421	6,392,017	15,183
Alabama	311	4,779,736	15,369
Oklahoma	241	3,751,351	15,566
Pennsylvania	811	12,702,379	15,663
Mississippi	189	2,967,297	15,700
Massachusetts	408	6,547,629	16,048
Colorado	306	5,029,196	16,435
Illinois	777	12,830,632	16,513
Oregon	231	3,831,074	16,585
Delaware	53	900,877	16,998
Missouri	336	5,988,927	17,824
Rhode Island	59	1,052,567	17,840
Connecticut	200	3,574,097	17,870
Georgia	523	9,687,653	18,523
Tennessee	329	6,346,105	19,289
Virginia	414	8,001,024	19,326
New Mexico	106	2,059,179	19,426
New York	976	19,378,102	19,855
Nevada	133	2,700,551	20,305
Washington	327	6,724,540	20,564
Utah	134	2,763,885	20,626
Louisiana	194	4,533,372	23,368
Texas	1,041	25,145,561	24,155
New Jersey	360	8,791,894	24,422
Maryland	231	5,773,552	24,994
Alaska	25	710,231	28,409
California	1,140	37,253,956	32,679

State	Courses	Population	Per capita (Golf Wealth)
North Dakota	123	672,591	5,468
South Dakota	132	814,180	6,168
Iowa	441	3,046,355	6,908
Wyoming	70	493,782	7,054
Nebraska	249	1,826,341	7,335
Vermont	76	608,827	8,011
Montana	119	989,415	8,314
Maine	150	1,328,361	8,856
Minnesota	575	5,303,925	9,224
Wisconsin	604	5,686,986	9,416
Michigan	1,047	9,883,640	9,440
South Carolina	462	4,625,364	10,012
Kansas	273	2,853,118	10,451
New Hampshire	123	1,316,470	10,703
Florida	1,481	15,982,378	10,792
Indiana	527	6,483,802	12,303
Idaho	126	1,567,582	12,441
Ohio	901	11,536,504	12,804
Arkansas	223	2,915,918	13,076
Hawaii	104	1,360,301	13,080
Kentucky	315	4,339,367	13,776
West Virginia	133	1,852,994	13,932
North Carolina	664	9,535,483	14,361
Arizona	421	6,392,017	15,183
Alabama	311	4,779,736	15,369
Oklahoma	241	3,751,351	15,566
Pennsylvania	811	12,702,379	15,663
Mississippi	189	2,967,297	15,700
Massachusetts	408	6,547,629	16,048
Colorado	306	5,029,196	16,435
Illinois	777	12,830,632	16,513
Oregon	231	3,831,074	16,585
Delaware	53	900,877	16,998
Missouri	336	5,988,927	17,824
Rhode Island	59	1,052,567	17,840
Connecticut	200	3,574,097	17,870
Georgia	523	9,687,653	18,523
Tennessee	329	6,346,105	19,289
Virginia	414	8,001,024	19,326
New Mexico	106	2,059,179	19,426
New York	976	19,378,102	19,855
Nevada	133	2,700,551	20,305
Washington	327	6,724,540	20,564
Utah	134	2,763,885	20,626
Louisiana	194	4,533,372	23,368
Texas	1,041	25,145,561	24,155
New Jersey	360	8,791,894	24,422
Maryland	231	5,773,552	24,994
Alaska	25	710,231	28,409
California	1,140	37,253,956	32,679