US Golf Course Construction by Decade
According to US Golf Course Registry's registry, the United States has 15,735 golf facilities: 6,974 public (41 %), 3,651 private, 1,320 municipal and 3,767 nine-hole courses.
Construction decade is known for courses with a recorded founding year (~88 % of the registry). Counts below are courses still operating today, by the decade they opened.
| Decade | Courses opened (still operating) |
|---|---|
| 1880s | 20 |
| 1890s | 246 |
| 1900s | 227 |
| 1910s | 456 |
| 1920s | 1,467 |
| 1930s | 534 |
| 1940s | 356 |
| 1950s | 933 |
| 1960s | 2,461 |
| 1970s | 1,549 |
| 1980s | 1,216 |
| 1990s | 2,367 |
| 2000s | 1,574 |
| 2010s | 238 |
| 2020s | 102 |
Methodology
Counts come from an OpenStreetMap-derived course registry (ODbL), machine-verified per course: state assignment by point-in-polygon against Census boundaries, course size derived from par bands (never from mapping coverage), access type normalized from source tags. Facilities with neither a website nor a phone number are excluded from publication until verified. Counts change as courses open and close.