Golf continued its growth nationwide in 2025

Denver area had highest growth nationwide in rounds played in 2025

By Jim Bebbington

The National Golf Foundation put its annual ‘state of golf’ summary about as succinctly as it can:

“More people are playing more golf in more ways than any time in history,” the foundation summarized in its annual look at the state of the business of golf.

“The trajectory, which began even before the pandemic, has now settled into a recalibrated, higher baseline for the game,” the NGF concluded.

The numbers are in for the 2025 season and while the national scene has some hot and cold spots – Denver is among the hottest – most the country saw more people playing more golf.

All aspects of the game – from off-course use of simulator-based golf experiences to green-grass golf played over 18 holes – grew in 2025, according to several reports issued in the past few weeks by the NGF as well as the USGA.

NGF data estimated  that 48.1 million Americans participated in the game either on-course or off-course. The number of off-course golfers – who use driving ranges, simulators or experience-based business like TopGolf and golf lounges – is nearly 19 million people, more than the 10.2 million who report playing just on green-grass courses.

“Total golf participation (on-course and off-course, using a real club and ball with a full swing) climbed to an all-time high, fueled by both traditional play and the continued expansion of technology-enabled ranges, simulators and entertainment venues,” The NGF concluded. “These off-course formats are proving to be powerful entry points that complement, rather than replace, the green-grass game.”

On-course participation reached its highest level since the Tiger Woods boom of the late 1990s and early 200s. The NGF data found more than 8 million women and girls play on-course golf, up 46 percent since 2019.

And as any Colorado player can attest, costs have risen as well. The average 18-hole fee nationwide is up 29 percent since 2019, the NGF stated.

NGF President Greg Nathan, in a letter to the organization’s members and course owners, challenged the industry to not be complacent.

“We have to face the unvarnished truth that despite the generationally positive state of the industry, traditional golf is still scary/intimidating to those who aren’t already in the franchise,” he summarized. “There were more than 6 million people playing green-grass golf in 2025 who didn’t play in 2024… and yet we grew the number of on-couse players by just 1 million. That indicates millions of what NGF calls “failed trials.”

Partly because of the warm start to winter, 2025 for Colorado courses was strong all the way to the end. The number of rounds played in December in Colorado was up 2.8 percent, capping a year in which total rounds statewide rose 7.8 percent. The Denver-area had the highest year-over-year growth in the U.S.  in rounds played in 2025 – 10.9 percent.

The USGA released its own annual report – on the growth of it’s handicap index product GHIN – that also gave a glimpse into the growth in the game.

In 2025 nearly 3.7 million golfers maintained a handicap index through the GHIN program. That included 3 million men and more than 650,000 women. That total is up 8.2 percent over 2024 and up 1.2 million since 2020.

The average handicap index for men is 14 and for women is 28.8. The data shows that women – especially ones new to the game – are much more likely to play 9 holes than men. Overall, the number of players posting scores for nine hole rounds has risen since 2020 and in 2025 accounted for 18 percent of all posted rounds.

Florida and California players post by far the most scores – with 11.4 million for Florida and 9 million for California. Colorado was deemed the ‘golfiest’ state by the USGA in the central US in terms of the number of days golf is available and how many rounds were posted to the handicap system.

Colorado AvidGolfer Magazine is the state’s leading resource for golf and the lifestyle that surrounds it, publishing eight issues annually and proudly delivering daily content via coloradoavidgolfer.com.

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