10 U.S. States with the Most Golf Courses

Scotland might be known as the home of golf, but it’s the United States that dominates the global golf landscape with 42 percent of worldwide supply.

Consider that 10 U.S. states boast more than 500 golf courses, according to the National Golf Foundation. That’s a benchmark only nine other countries in the world can match.

While the concentration of golf tends to be higher in warm-weather states, it might be a surprise to many that Arizona, Georgia, and South Carolina don’t crack the top 10 when it comes to course supply. Of those, only Georgia has more than 400 courses.

So, who does make the top 10?

(Course counts are as of January 2024 and courtesy of the NGF, which maintains the most comprehensive database of golf facilities in the industry and has been the game’s official recordkeeper on the supply side since 1936.)

1. FLORIDA (1,262)

No surprise here, as the Sunshine State boasts year-round golf weather and draws retirees and seasonal snowbirds from the northeast U.S. and Canada. Florida has by far the most residential golf developments in the country and is second to only California when it comes to golf resorts, with a wide variety of destination properties such as TPC Sawgrass, Streamsong, PGA National, Cabot Citrus Farms, Innisbrook, World Golf Village, Hammock Beach, The Biltmore, and Trump National Doral, among others.

2. CALIFORNIA (961)

From the Monterey Peninsula and Palm Springs to Orange County and San Diego, the Golden State has an extensive range of courses that showcase its diverse landscape. Pebble Beach is the gold standard when it comes to iconic public golf in California, while high-end spots like Torrey Pines, PGA West, CordeValle, Omni La Costa, and Pasatiempo draw golfers from across the country. It also doesn’t hurt that California has a population that dwarfs any other state.

3. MICHIGAN (859)

Michigan’s claim to fame in the golf world is that it has more public golf—by a wide margin—than any other state, with many of the facilities being family-owned, daily fee properties. That said, there’s also a deep well of great destination golf in the northern part of Michigan’s mitten, with resort names like Boyne, Forest Dunes, Arcadia Bluffs, Bay Harbor, Grand Traverse, and Treetops that are immensely popular during the summer months. And that doesn’t even include the Upper Peninsula getaways.

4. NEW YORK (833)

The breadth of golf in New York is surprising to some, as Long Island and Westchester are well-known historic hotbeds when it comes to exclusive private clubs—roughly a dozen from those pricey zip codes alone in the latest Top 100 U.S. course rankings. But beyond the Big Apple and its surrounds, including the famous Bethpage State Park courses, there’s a wealth of public golf in the northern parts of the state, from rough-around-the-edges local daily fee courses to standout spots like Leatherstocking, The Sagamore, and Turning Stone.

5. TEXAS (821)

When they say everything is bigger in Texas, that extends to the golf offerings as well. No state has as many municipal courses—public facilities owned and operated by a city, county, or town—than Texas. A good number of those are local 9-holers. (Only Iowa has more 9-hole facilities.) The recently opened PGA Frisco courses are among the state’s standouts on the resort side, a lineup that includes TPC San Antonio, Omni Barton Creek, Horseshoe Bay, and Black Jack’s Crossing.

6. PENNSYLVANIA (658)

The second-smallest state in the top 10 (in total area), Pennsylvania, like neighboring New York, has more than its share of classic private clubs, from Merion and Aronimink in the Philadelphia area to Oakmont and Fox Chapel on the western side of the state near Pittsburgh. There are also some good resort offerings in the Keystone State, among them Nemacolin, Omni Bedford Springs, and the sweet smells that accompany the golf at Hershey Country Club.

7. OHIO (648)

The smallest state in the Top 10 in terms of geographical footprint, Ohio also ranks seventh nationally in total population. That translates to an abundance of golf in and around cities like Columbus, Cleveland, Cincinnati, and Toledo. Ohio is the home state of Jack Nicklaus, whose Muirfield Village design is regarded as perhaps the finest among the deep pool of private clubs that counts The Golf Club, Camargo, Inverness, Scioto, and Double Eagle. But three-quarters of the Buckeye State’s golf supply is public, even without much in the way of well-known resort offerings.

8. ILLINOIS (646)

Buoyed by a plethora of public golf in and around the Chicago area, Illinois ranks third nationally when it comes to its total number of municipally owned properties. Chicago Golf Club, Shoreacres, Medinah, and Butler National are part of the rarefied air in the Windy City, though Cog Hill and The Glen Club are strong higher-end options for the recreational player just outside the nation’s third-most populous city. TPC Deere Run on the west side of the state is another public layout that may be familiar to PGA Tour viewers, as the longtime host of the John Deere Classic.

9. WISCONSIN (528)

The northernmost state in the Top 10 quietly has the strongest collection of top-tier public golf anywhere in the nation. Showcasing resort offerings at the top of your best-in-state rankings is a good start, with destination properties like Destination Kohler (home of Whistling Straits), Erin Hills, Sand Valley, SentryWorld, Lawsonia, and The Club at Lac La Belle attracting golfers from throughout the Midwest and beyond. Almost nine of every 10 courses in Wisconsin are open to public play, a proportion that’s not only highest in the Top 10 but among the highest in the U.S. overall.

10. NORTH CAROLINA (521)

More than one-third of courses in the golf-rich Tar Heel State have a resort or real estate component, a percentage exceeded only by states like Florida, Arizona, and neighboring South Carolina. Pinehurst Resort and its 11 courses start any discussion on destination golf in North Carolina, but the Sandhills region is also home to public gems like Tobacco Road, Pine Needles, Southern Pines, Mid Pines, and more. The Pinehurst area also boasts a wealth of private golf, but it’s important to note that many of North Carolina’s most highly rated private clubs are on the mountainous west side of the state.