USGA: Domestic golf booming

The USGA released the 2025 Golf Scorecard, its annual data report that uses information from scores posted under the World Handicap System to highlight golf participation trends. The numbers are large.

According to the USGA, 3.68 million golfers with a Handicap Index posted a record 82 million scores domestically in 2025, providing a unique macro snapshot of how the game was played last year. 

Comparing the 82 million-plus scores posted in 2025 to data going back to 2020, notable trends and stats include:

• Continued growth in 9-hole score posting: For the fifth consecutive year, there was a record number of 9-hole rounds played with 14,998,824 scores posted in 2025 — a 5 percent increase over 2024 and up 46 percent since 2020.
• More golfers with a Handicap Index: 3.68 million golfers in the U.S. maintained a Handicap Index in 2025 — up more than 8.2 percent year over year, and up 46 percent since 2020.
• New golfers posting more 9-hole rounds: Those who established a Handicap Index in 2025 were more likely to play and post 9-hole rounds. Among these golfers, 50.2 percent of scores posted by females and 26.7 percent of scores posted by males were 9-hole scores.
• Short-course posting trend continues: Building on the success of score posting at short courses in 2024, more than 290,000 scores were posted at more than 470 short courses nationwide.
• Most rounds posted are recreational: A widely held notion that a Handicap Index is only for golfers who are playing in elite competitions continues to be dispelled by the data, as 94.4 percent of the 82 million rounds posted were recreational, and more than 75 percent of all golfers with a Handicap Index were playing and posting purely for fun.

“We were thrilled at the positive response to last year’s inaugural snapshot of the recreational game and enjoy using World Handicap System data to help tell these compelling stories about golf in the U.S.,” USGA Handicapping and Course Rating managing director Steve Edmondson said. “Alongside our Allied Golf Associations, we have seen another record year of score posting and golfer engagement and are all excited to see trends continue to evolve.”

New to the 2025 Scorecard is America’s Golfiest State, which considers the total number of scores posted by golfers in the state with a Handicap Index, as well as days in the active posting season window, to provide a look at which state truly plays the most golf.

With one of the shorter active posting seasons in the country, Maine takes the title of America’s Golfiest State in 2025, with the most golf played when taking each factor into account. Across the country, Florida leads the Southeast based on these metrics, Wisconsin paces the Midwest, Colorado heads up the Central and Arizona carries the torch for the West.