How Many Golf Courses Are In The World?
According to the fourth edition of the R&A’s Golf Around The World Survey, there are 38,081 golf courses. Unsurprisingly there is a dense concentration of golf facilities in the top 10 golfing markets with 80% of the planet’s golf courses being found in the USA, Japan, UK, Canada, Australia, Germany, France, South Korea, Sweden and China.
Let’s see what other nuggets of information this report has revealed.
How Many Golf Courses In Europe?
Europe has 8,888 courses within its borders. That represents 23.3% of all golf courses.
The UK, Germany and France account for 56% of the total. You can see the breakdown in the table and graph below.
Europe’s population of 748,900,178 and a total of 124290 holes means there are 6025 people per golf hole.
Looking at the countries with at least 20 courses the worst one to live in would be Russia with almost 5.4 million people per golf course! Clearly, there can’t be too many Russians keen on golf.
Interestingly, Iceland has the fewest people per course at just under 5300. Ireland is the next best at 14,000 with Sweden and Denmark beating the UK.
| Courses | Population | People per course | |
| UK | 3101 | 66329000 | 21389 |
| Germany | 1054 | 83695430 | 79407 |
| France | 811 | 67874000 | 83691 |
| Sweden | 650 | 10475203 | 16115 |
| Spain | 493 | 47432805 | 96212 |
| Ireland | 365 | 5123536 | 14037 |
| Netherlands | 350 | 17710526 | 50601 |
| Denmark | 347 | 5883562 | 16955 |
| Italy | 312 | 58887391 | 188741 |
| Austria | 204 | 9027999 | 44254 |
| Norway | 193 | 5435536 | 28163 |
| Finland | 190 | 5550312 | 29212 |
| Czech Republic | 135 | 10519913 | 77925 |
| Belgium | 122 | 11584008 | 94950 |
| Switzerland | 117 | 8753933 | 74819 |
| Portugal | 109 | 10361800 | 95062 |
| Iceland | 71 | 376248 | 5299 |
| Poland | 54 | 38014000 | 703962 |
| Slovakia | 33 | 5434712 | 164688 |
| Russian Federation | 27 | 145557500 | 5391018 |
| Others | 150 | 134872764 | 899151 |
| Total | 8888 |
If you want some more interesting golfing statistics then take a look at this article on statistics and fun facts.
How Many Golf Courses In North America?
North America accounts for just over half of all the courses on planet Earth with 19,160. Although the USA alone has more than 16,000 courses. Despite having six times as many courses the USA is actually beaten by Canada in terms of courses per head of population at 14,975 versus 20,759.
North America has the second lowest population per hole at only 2097 people.
| Courses | Population | People per course | |
| USA | 16156 | 335379847 | 20759 |
| Canada | 2564 | 38395507 | 14975 |
| Mexico | 256 | 130000000 | 507813 |
| Dominican Republic | 35 | 10535535 | 301015 |
| Puerto Rico | 22 | 2700000 | 122727 |
How Many Golf Courses In South America?
Argentina dominates the South American market. They have 348 out of the total 702 courses. With a population of just under 431 million, this gives a population per hole of 47,124.
Not surprisingly Argentina has far away the fewest people per course at just under 133,000.
| Courses | Population | People per course | |
| Argentina | 348 | 46208747 | 132784 |
| Brazil | 126 | 215907741 | 1713554 |
| Chile | 80 | 19678363 | 245980 |
| Colombia | 67 | 52049498 | 776858 |
| Venezuela | 22 | 28705000 | 1304773 |
How Many Golf Courses In Asia?
There are 6323 golf courses in Asia with very nearly half of those in Japan (3140). This means that Asia has a population per hole of 54,649. Japanese and South Koreans have the best chance of accessing a course with 40000 and 63700 people per course.
Of the Asian countries with at least 20 courses, Bangladesh has the highest number of people per course – 8,560,000!
| Courses | Population | People per course | |
| Japan | 3140 | 124891000 | 39774 |
| South Korea | 810 | 51617000 | 63725 |
| China | 617 | 1450000000 | 2350081 |
| Thailand | 317 | 70100000 | 221136 |
| India | 298 | 1400000000 | 4697987 |
| Malaysia | 243 | 34032000 | 140049 |
| Indonesia | 170 | 278462000 | 1638012 |
| Philippines | 131 | 116699395 | 890835 |
| Myanmar | 117 | 54486200 | 465694 |
| Taiwan | 88 | 25055000 | 284716 |
| Vietnam | 86 | 99100000 | 1152326 |
| Pakistan | 51 | 229785000 | 4505588 |
| Turkey | 33 | 85214000 | 2582242 |
| UAE | 31 | 10100000 | 325806 |
| Singapore | 28 | 5541000 | 197893 |
| Bangladesh | 20 | 171200000 | 8560000 |
How Many Golf Courses In Africa?
Africa has a total of 930 courses with just over half of them located in South Africa. The continent’s population of 1.34 billion means they have an average population of 109,222 per golf hole or 1.4 million people per course. That’s about 50 times higher than the figure for North America!
South Africa has almost 8 times as many golf courses as the next country (Morocco, 61). Even here though there are more than 127,000 people for every golf course.
| Courses | Population | People per course | |
| South Africa | 477 | 60800000 | 127463 |
| Morocco | 61 | 37034729 | 607127 |
| Nigeria | 55 | 218839599 | 3978902 |
| Kenya | 45 | 54900000 | 1220000 |
| Egypt | 39 | 108000000 | 2769231 |
| Zimbabwe | 38 | 15790716 | 415545 |
| Zambia | 26 | 19400000 | 746154 |
How Many Golf Courses Are In Australia and New Zealand?
With 2000 out of the 2077 courses in Oceania, Australia and New Zealand totally dominate the golf market there. Only Fiji, Guam and Papua New Guinea even manage to break into double figures.
With a population of 42,273,644 and a total of 29,784 golf holes, it means that Oceania has the lowest population per hole at 1419.
New Zealand manages to pip Australia to the lowest number of people per course though. Outside of those two countries, your chances of accessing golf are much more remote.
| Courses | Population | People per course | |
| Australia | 1584 | 25766605 | 16267 |
| New Zealand | 416 | 5122600 | 12314 |
| Others | 77 | 11384439 | 147850 |
How Many Golf Courses Are In USA?
There are 16,156 golf courses in the United States of America. Spread across 14,139 facilities there are a total of 240,369 holes. That represents 42.4% of all the courses in the world. Given that the USA has 30.6 million out of 66.6 million golfers (45.9%) that seems about right.
How Many Golf Courses In The UK?
The United Kingdom has a total of 3,101 golf courses across 2,660 golf facilities. England has 2,213 courses, Wales has 184 and Northern Ireland has 113. With Scotland having the remaining 594.
The UK has an average population of 21,389 per golf course. You can see below that this varies significantly between the four constituent countries.
| Courses | Population | People per course | |
| England | 2213 | 59597300 | 26931 |
| Scotland | 594 | 5479900 | 9225 |
| Wales | 184 | 3107500 | 16889 |
| Northern Ireland | 113 | 1903100 | 16842 |
How Many Golf Courses In Scotland?
The home of golf has 594 courses spread across 30,081 square miles giving it a density of one course every 50.6 square miles. It has one course for every 9225 people.
Is There A Golf Course In Every Country In The World?
Not quite but according to the survey, there are 206 out of 251 countries/territories with at least one golf course.
What Country Is Golf Most Popular In?
Far and away the USA has the largest golfing population with just under half of the world’s 66 million golfers (30.6 million). Although England manages to have the best ratio of golf courses to land mass with 2,213 courses in 50,346 square miles. That’s one golf course every 22.8 square miles.
How Many Golf Courses Are In The World: Conclusion
I’ve got about 37,500 courses to play if I’m going to play them all so I had better get my skates on!
Depending where you are in the world can have a dramatic effect on how easy it will be for you to access a golf course. If you are fortunate to live in one of the developed golf markets then don’t take your good fortune for granted. Get out there and sample some of the courses you haven’t played yet!
What are the most famous golf courses in the world?
Probably the two most famous golf courses are the Old Course in St Andrews and the Augusta National. This article covers many other famous golf courses.
