There’s now more golf courses in the world than ever before.
Golf is truly a global game, which continues to grow and with that comes an increasing demand for golf courses.
Not all the golf courses in the world will be as good as Augusta National or as iconic as The Old Course at St Andrews, however, playing golf has never been easier with such a huge supply of great courses.
So how many golf courses are there in the world?
How Many Courses Are There In The World?
How Many Golf Courses Are There In The World?
According to the recent “Golf Around the World” report from the R&A, there are 38,081 golf courses in the world, a total of 544,866 holes of golf and one golf hole per 14,306 people.
206 of the 251 countries in the world have at least one golf course, which means golf is played in over 80% of the world.
Out of the 206 countries, the top 20 account for 90% of the total golf course supply in the world and the top 10, including the USA, the United Kingdom and Japan, account for 80% of the world’s golf courses.
48 countries in the world have just one golf course, while 19 countries have at least 300 golf courses.
Over recent years, there’s been a greater shift in golf becoming a popular sport worldwide. In 2020, there were 365 new golf courses under development outside of North America.
Golf might still be seen as a little closed off, with a large emphasis on private courses, however, most courses are actually open to the public. Out of the 38,081 courses in the world, 80% are public courses or open to visitors in some capacity. Just 20% of the global courses are private golf courses.
The UK has plenty of golf courses, with England home to the highest number of courses per square miles of landmass, with one golf course every 22.8 square miles. The number of golf courses in Scotland, Northern Ireland and Wales also has a very high course density in the space available.
For comparison, the USA has a very large amount of golf courses, however, due to its vast size, there’s just one golf course every 235 square miles.
Asia and Africa are both major regions which have seen a huge growth in golf courses in the last 50 years or so. 51% of golf courses in Africa are located in South Africa. Japan and South Korea hold the largest and second-largest share of Asia’s golf courses, with 3,140 and 810 golf courses respectively.
Which Country Has The Most Golf Courses Worldwide?
The USA has the highest number of golf courses in the world, mainly down to the size of the country and the fact golf is one of the most popular sports.
Next on the list of the world’s supply of golf courses is Japan, where there’s a total of 3,140 golf courses, 2,202 of which are golf facilities.
In 2020, Asia and the Middle East saw the second-highest increase in golf course development, with 153 new courses in the making.
How Many Links Golf Courses In The World?
Out of the 38,081 courses in the world, only 246 of those are regarded as true links courses according to the golf book, True Links.
Due to the style of a links golf course, almost all of the world’s links courses are based in the UK and Ireland and include courses like Royal St George’s and Royal County Down.
The US has just four classic links courses, mostly because of the type of land available in the US. Many courses in the US are regarded as links courses, such as Pebble Beach Golf Links, however, this is not actually a true links course.
Final Thoughts
The world is full of great golf courses. From Africa to South America, golf is a growing game with new courses in development every year.